Forum:Interview presentation for postdoc

Question

[heididunst]

Dear all, next week i have an invited talk of about 20 to 30 minutes for my post doc. As this will be my first talk, could you please suggest about the number of slides and its contents. I would also be obliged if anyone share sample ppt with me [e-mail]

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

[GenoMax]

Ideally no more than minutes available/2 = number of slides, less the better. Make sure you include an outline and a summary slide to conclude. Please do not include paragraphs/illegible figures (because of size compression)/equations (unless audience is knowledgeable or your work is mathematical). No one wants to read text heavy slides and it creates a bad impression if you just read the material out.

As this will be my first talk

I hope that means your first formal talk :-)

Good luck!

[WouterDeCoster]

The number of slides vs minutes depends entirely on your style, I guess. My slides usually have 5 or fewer words on them, the rest is graphs or pictures, and I usually have more slides than minutes.

[GenoMax]

If you are presenting in a lab/group meeting that may be the way to go where you are providing as much detail as others may want. For an interview talk you want to be concise (yet comprehensive) but hold some things (not critical ones) back so people can ask questions and you can come across as an expert. You also don't want to overwhelm audience with data they can't digest.