If you set a hook at the beginning, answer the question before the end, but not too early. Keep them thinking.
Lots of folks take photos with their smartphone. Do you make it easy for them to take a lesson back home?
Plan your talk to be 5 minutes too short. You will not regret ending early. Ending late when everyone is getting up to walk out while you rush to finish completely ruins what might otherwise have been a great talk. Don’t be that guy.
Make a 1-page handout summarizing your best points. Make it so that it can stand alone, even if they did not hear you speak. Even better, store your document online and make a QR code so they can take it home in their fancy little mobile device.
When you wrap up, create a clear call to action. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Audiences will typically have lots on their mind. They might remember ONE THING. What one thing should they remember?
You decide.
The best talks have moments of mirth.
Thank your audience at the end. I can’t tell you how many talks get to the end and the presenter ruins a great closing by, “… and so that its it. Any questions?” And the audience cannot tell if they should clap or be quiet for the first hand-raise. Just take all the doubt away and ask for applause by saying, “THANK YOU.” Then after the applause, say “We are open for questions!” or “Please come up front, we’re happy to chat with you.”
A small point, but so much clearer. The opening and ending moments are what an audience will remember the most.
I like to have a summary slide with my biggest points, and then my contact info on the same page, that I can leave up during the question and answer period.
And, if the audience has been nice to me, I may take out my ukulele and strum some relevant EHR song parody.
CMIO’s take
Did you make it this far? Do you agree? Are you interested in the entire deck? See the link below to the PDF of the slides. Do you have a favorite book on how to make slides or give a talk? Have you seen Steve Jobs and his infamous Reality Distortion Field? Have you watched TED talks and seen how different they are from most dry academic lectures?
Let’s be both: great scientists and innovators, and also great communicators.
LINK to PDF of How to Give a Talk, Advanced: CT LIN
