by Alison » Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:00 pm
Content aside, make sure of the following (very obvious) things:
Each slide is clear, completely legible, and neatly laid out.
Make sure you know the slides inside out and backwards so you are not surprised by the slides. I was at a tt interview presentation recently where the candidate seemed constantly surprised by what the next slide contained and because of this,had already talked about most of it on the previous slides.
If you 'borrow' slides and figures from other people, make sure you fit them in seamlessly to your presentation style (again, based on recent experience, subtle clues like a slightly different background colour, or font give the game away).
Every group has their own 'internal language' and short forms for talking about work, be it abbreviations, shortened names etc. These must be explained or you must become accustomed to using the full names of techniques, etc. Often these shortened names are incorrect and may be spotted by vigilant faculty.
Its highly possible that you will be interupted by the faculty members for questions during the presentation. Come up with a good series of stock answers like: 'that's a very valid point, but I'm going to address it in a few slides time if it can wait until then'. In a similar vein, practice giving the presentation to a 'bad audience' who ask questions, talk amongst themselves, arrive late, leave early, leave their mobile phones on etc. The recent searh at my university saw the faculty behaving generally like a bunch of chimps at the talks (disinterested, rude etc) and this threw the candidates out a lot.
If there are going to be grad students at your presentation it is highly likely they are sitting with assessment sheets for your talk inwhich they will be ranking your potential as a mentor, supervisor and researcher.
One of the candidates in our recent search did not make it clear what parts of the research he presented were actually done by him - turned out on questioning that it was mainly grad students. This did not go down well. Giving credit where credit is due shows your fairness and ability to guide and mentor students in work. They always find out if you are being slightly less than honest in your talk.
Then the usual, make sure you stick to your time, that your presentation will work flawlessly on whatever laptop is used, and that you are comfortable and confident giving the talk.
I like the suggestion of making the slides tell a story, its the perfect analogy.
Good luck.
A