2/19/2023 0 Comments Speek conferenceYour final words should recap the things the audience must take away.Įven experts can make lightning-talk mistakes. ![]() ![]() The important parts should already be highlighted - no pointer required. ![]() You don’t have time to practise your aim. Even with an expert audience, don’t assume that they’ll pick up on the importance of your work tell them why it matters. Lightning talks are by necessity focused, but if they’re for a general audience, you might need to spend a few moments setting the stage. After a practice talk, or even the real thing, ask an audience member - perhaps one who was asking the tough questions - to provide feedback. Don’t follow a script, but you should practise your talk enough to know where you’re going and how long it takes to get there. Images should be as economical as words, holding just enough information to make important points without visual overload. Some lightning speakers try to cram many concepts into each slide, but that’s a mistake. Don’t try to fit in more words per minute instead, find words and images that really matter. It’s normal to speak quickly when the clock is ticking, but that isn’t the best way to convey complicated scientific concepts. Start with a research question and follow up with experimental methods and results: the credibility that you established at the outset will build, and the audience can actually learn something. Whether a talk is one minute long or 20, it should be framed by a basic narrative. You have a fraction of your alloted minutes to establish credibility. In the first few sentences, the audience should know why they need to pay attention. Here are some of his tips for a successful lightning talk: “Whatever you do in the time you have, do it well,” he says. It can be more challenging to deliver an impactful lightning talk than a 20-minute presentation, says Paul Charlton, a science-communication instructor at the German Center for Infection Research in Munich.Ī lot can go wrong in those few minutes, but great things can happen, too. It takes a real expert to make something simple.” “People think that because you only have a few minutes, it must be easier. “It’s not a matter of dumbing things down,” he says. The speaker needs to be organized, prepared and sufficiently well informed to make the most of their allotted minutes (see ‘Lightning tips’). Whether it’s a lightning talk at a conference or a short presentation as part of a grant application, the basic approach remains the same. Researchers at all career stages should know how to crystallize their work into quick, effective sound bites, Charlton says. “You’ll be surprised how much return you can get on that investment.” “You never know who’s in the room, so you should always strive to make a good impression,” Charlton says. “Too many people talking too fast can lead to total cognitive fatigue.”Īnd even though the talks are short, the stakes can still be high. But if not done well, lightning talks can bring more chaos than light, he says. The appeal is clear: at their best, quick talks can get an audience to engage with a wide variety of topics in a short amount of time, says Paul Charlton, a science-communication instructor at the German Center for Infection Research in Munich. As in-person conferences slowly return, live lightning talks will strike once again. Lighting talks were a feature of many pre-pandemic scientific gatherings, and their popularity carried over into virtual conferences and meetings. “It seemed like a good idea to have short talks instead of a tired audience,” says Fatemeh Torabi, a data scientist at Swansea University, UK, and one of the conference organizers. The students presented 4-minute ‘lightning talks’, bite-sized bits of science that showcase the essence of their research. But when five PhD students spoke at the Health Data Research UK conference, held virtually on 23 June, the whole session, including questions and feedback, was set to be over in less than 40 minutes. Credit: GÉANTīy the usual standards of conferences, a series of talks by five early-career researchers should add up to a full afternoon (at least) of slides, charts, equations and digressions. ![]() Renato Furter delivers a lightning talk at the 2019 Terena Networking Conference in Tallinn, Estonia.
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