Technical Talks

• The technical talks should last a maximum of 15 minutes with 5 minutes for set-up and 5 minutes for Q&A. No team/group presentations are allowed. The objective of a technical talk is to communicate information to the audience.
  Elements of an effective oral presentation include the following:

The Speaker

• Keep in mind that your objective is communication of information. Mumbling, monotone speech and use of obscure terminology are not effective methods of communications.
• Engage the audience. An oral presentation can be informative, exciting and even humorous.
• You are a speaker not a reader. Take advantage of the verbal medium.

Presentation Methods

• Use visual aids whenever possible. A picture is worth a thousand words and a graph is worth a thousand numbers.
• A picture is only worth a thousand words if the purpose of the picture is clear. Clearly introduce any graph, table or picture. It is often difficult to read graphs on overhead projections, so verbally repeating some things can assist the audience.
• Demonstrations, models, and short videos can all be effective means of communication.
• Limit the number of overheads. Too many slides can distract from the main point of your research.

The Structure of the Presentation

• At the start of the presentation the speaker should introduce herself/himself and identify both the sponsoring organization and other contributors to the research.
• As in most technical presentations, it is best to give some background information on the subject. This allows both the speaker and the audience to place the topic in perspective before the technical information is presented.
• Clearly communicate what you intended to accomplish in your work and how your research relates to the larger body of research in the field.
• Do not spend time describing the details of well-known techniques.
• If you made little progress during your research, describe what problems held up your progress and how, if given more time, you might have overcome those problems.
• Describing plans for future experiments is a common way to end a presentation.

Audiovisual Equipment

A computer and proxima will be available for presentations. You must bring your presentation on a CD or flash drive. Please contact Kristin at kpatterson@lanl.gov if you have any questions.