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Scientific Presentation Guide: How to Create an Engaging Research Talk

Creating an effective scientific presentation requires developing clear talking points and slide designs that highlight your most important research results..

Scientific presentations are detailed talks that showcase a research project or analysis results. This comprehensive guide reviews everything you need to know to give an engaging presentation for scientific conferences, lab meetings, and PhD thesis talks. From creating your presentation outline to designing effective slides, the tips in this article will give you the tools you need to impress your scientific peers and superiors.

Step 1. Create a Presentation Outline

The first step to giving a good scientific talk is to create a presentation outline that engages the audience at the start of the talk, highlights only 3-5 main points of your research, and then ends with a clear take-home message. Creating an outline ensures that the overall talk storyline is clear and will save you time when you start to design your slides.

Engage Your Audience

The first part of your presentation outline should contain slide ideas that will gain your audience's attention. Below are a few recommendations for slides that engage your audience at the start of the talk:

• Create a slide that makes connects your data or presentation information to a shared purpose, such as relevance to solving a medical problem or fundamental question in your field of research
• Create slides that ask and invite questions
• Use humor or entertainment

Identify Clear Main Points

After writing down your engagement ideas, the next step is to list the main points that will become the outline slide for your presentation. A great way to accomplish this is to set a timer for five minutes and write down all of the main points and results or your research that you want to discuss in the talk. When the time is up, review the points and select no more than three to five main points that create your talk outline. Limiting the amount of information you share goes a long way in maintaining audience engagement and understanding. 

Create a Take-Home Message

And finally, you should brainstorm a single take-home message that makes the most important main point stand out. This is the one idea that you want people to remember or to take action on after your talk. This can be your core research discovery or the next steps that will move the project forward.

Step 2. Choose a Professional Slide Theme

After you have a good presentation outline, the next step is to choose your slide colors and create a theme. Good slide themes use between two to four main colors that are accessible to people with color vision deficiencies. Read this article to learn more about choosing the best scientific color palettes .

You can also choose templates that already have an accessible color scheme. However, be aware that many PowerPoint templates that are available online are too cheesy for a scientific audience. Below options to download professional scientific slide templates that are designed specifically for academic conferences, research talks, and graduate thesis defenses.

Step 3. Design Your Slides

Designing good slides is essential to maintaining audience interest during your scientific talk. Follow these four best practices for designing your slides:

• Keep it simple: limit the amount of information you show on each slide
• Use images and illustrations that clearly show the main points with very little text. 
• Read this article to see research slide example designs for inspiration
• When you are using text, try to reduce the scientific jargon that is unnecessary. Text on research talk slides needs to be much more simple than the text used in scientific publications (see example below).
• Use appear/disappear animations to break up the details into smaller digestible bites
• Sign up for the free presentation design course to learn PowerPoint animation tricks

Scientific Presentation Design Summary

All of the examples and tips described in this article will help you create impressive scientific presentations. Below is the summary of how to give an engaging talk that will earn respect from your scientific community. 

Step 1. Draft Presentation Outline. Create a presentation outline that clearly highlights the main point of your research. Make sure to start your talk outline with ideas to engage your audience and end your talk with a clear take-home message.

Step 2. Choose Slide Theme. Use a slide template or theme that looks professional, best represents your data, and matches your audience's expectations. Do not use slides that are too plain or too cheesy.

Step 3. Design Engaging Slides. Effective presentation slide designs use clear data visualizations and limits the amount of information that is added to each slide. 

And a final tip is to practice your presentation so that you can refine your talking points. This way you will also know how long it will take you to cover the most essential information on your slides. Thank you for choosing Simplified Science Publishing as your science communication resource and good luck with your presentations!

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Explore scientific illustration templates and courses by creating a Simplified Science Publishing Log In. Whether you are new to data visualization design or have some experience, these resources will improve your ability to use both basic and advanced design tools.

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Data Storytelling Techniques: How to Tell a Great Data Story in 4 Steps

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• CAREER GUIDE
• 19 December 2018

How to give a great scientific talk

• Nic Fleming 0

Nic Fleming is a freelance science writer based in Bristol, United Kingdom.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

You have full access to this article via your institution.

Credit: Haykirdi/Getty Images

“It was horrific,” says Eileen Courtney. “I was just a bundle of nerves. I wasn’t able to eat for the whole of the previous day. That’s when I realized I needed to get over my fear of public speaking.”

Courtney is a third year PhD candidate studying interactions between metals and two-dimensional semiconducting materials at the University of Limerick, in the Republic of Ireland. Her moment of revelation came as she contemplated presenting her research at the Microscience Microscopy Congress in Manchester, United Kingdom, in July 2017.

The gut-punch feeling of dread that the prospect of being on stage can trigger will be familiar to many early-career scientists. It could be induced by an invitation to an international conference, an academic group meeting or a public engagement event. Or it might be caused by an all-important presentation as part of an interview process.

Although the audiences and goals of a talk may differ, the skills and techniques required to pull it off are similar. So what differentiates a good presentation from a bad one? How can you up your game in front of the lectern? And is being able to impress an audience really all that important?

The answer to that last question is an emphatic yes, says Susan McConnell, a neurobiologist at Stanford University, in California, who has been giving talks on giving talks for more than a decade. “The whole point of doing science is to be able to communicate it to others,” says McConnell. “Whether it is to our close colleagues, other scientists with a general interest in our area or to non-scientists, clarity of communication is essential.”

Engage like a champ

Great public speaking skills are not sufficient for good presenting, but they help. In August, Ramona J. Smith, a high-school teacher from Houston, Texas, was crowned Toastmasters 2018 World Champion of Public Speaking.

These are her top 10 tips, which she plans to outline in more detail in a forthcoming e-book.

1 Be yourself:  people relate to and connect with authenticity.

2 Prepare, practice and perfect: get rid of those crutch words, like ‘um’ and ‘you know’.

3 Describe what you’re telling us: use vivid words to help the audience paint a picture.

4 Vocal variety: change up your tone, volume and pitch to keep the audience engaged.

5 Study the greats:  watch what really great speakers do.

6 Get feedback:  a practice audience can help you get the bugs out.

7 Appearance: if you look good, you’ll feel good, which will help you give a great speech.

8 Pauses: they give the audience time to think, and help them engage.

9 Body language:  use gestures and make use of the space to help deliver your message.

10 Be confident: use your face, body language and stance to own the stage.

Not all researchers recognize the value of taking time out of the lab to tell colleagues about their work. “Some have this idea that if you're spending time giving a talk, you're spending time on marketing which could be better spent doing science,” says Dave Rubenson, co-founder of Los Angeles-based nobadslides.com, a company that provides courses on giving effective slide presentations. “In fact the process of creating a compelling talk and getting your audience to understand it improves both your understanding and theirs, and is central to science itself.” On top of this, Rubenson says, presenting at conferences is a great way to attract the collaborators who can help you break new ground and advance in your career, but only if those listening understand what they’re being shown.

Nature Events Guide 2019

A good place to begin is in your audience’s shoes. They need to know early on why they should care about what you’re saying. What is the ‘story’ at the heart of your presentation? Creating a concise summary of your talk, upon which you can add complexity, is a better starting point than pondering which of your file of 500 slides you can leave out, Rubenson says.

Presenters often fail because they try to deliver too much complex information. Language and content, normally, has to be designed with the non-specialist scientist in mind. “You have to think about the least knowledgeable person in your audience that you care about reaching,” says Rubenson.

Another common mistake is the use of slides as ‘data dumps’. Remember those times you’ve squinted at overly-busy slides packed with eight small graphs and wondered why the presenter mentions only one? Keep that in mind when designing your own slides. Animation software that lets you add information to slides as you talk about it can help.

Above all, it is important to maintain the focus of your audience.

Conquer nerves

Credit: Institute of Physics

Different methods work for different people. Here are Eileen Courtney’s tips for keeping calm at the lectern.

1 Practice in an environment similar to the one in which you will give your talk.

2 Memorize key sentences within an outline, rather than learning it word for word.

3 Ensure you are within the time limit, so the clock is one less thing to worry about.

4 Wear something professional-looking and comfortable, not a new outfit.

5 Avoid overeating and limit coffee intake on the day itself.

You can help to prevent wandering minds by including summary slides at the end of sections. “You can think of a talk as a series of data dives,” says McConnell. “You need to come up for air periodically, and say ‘this is what we just learnt, this is the conclusion and this is how it links to the next part’.”

McConnell describes this and many more ways for researchers to improve their scientific presentation skills in a popular 42-minute online video. Another source of advice is the 2013 book Designing Science Presentations by American neuroscientist Matt Carter. While these offer useful pointers, most people find that when it comes to public speaking and presenting, practice makes, if not perfect, then certainly better.

That notion is central to Toastmasters International, a non-profit organization that helps individuals improve their public speaking skills through its network of more than 16,000 branches in 143 countries. At weekly or fortnightly meetings, members practice speeches and give each other feedback. It was to her local branch that Eileen Courtney turned last summer after realizing her presenting skills needed work. It seems her decision paid off. In May she was runner-up and audience favourite in the 3 Minute Wonder competition, a science communication challenge run by the London-based Institute of Physics in which entrants have one slide and 180 seconds to present their research to non-specialists.

“I’ve recently had to give other presentations and I’ve calmed down a lot, as a result of both going to Toastmasters and through teaching as part of my PhD,” says Courtney. “As you get more experience of speaking in front of a crowd, it becomes a lot less scary.”

Nature 564 , S84-S85 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07780-5

This article is part of Nature Events Guide 2019 , an editorially independent supplement. Advertisers have no influence over the content.

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Ten Secrets to Giving a Good Scientific Talk

More people will probably listen to your scientific talk than will read the paper you may write. Thus the scientific talk has become one of the most important communication forums for the scientific community. As proof, we need only look at the rising attendance at and the proliferation of meetings. In many ways your research reputation will be enhanced (or diminished) by your scientific talk. The scientific talk, like the scientific paper, is part of the scientific communication process. The modern scientist must be able to deliver a well organized, well delivered scientific talk

I have compiled this personal list of "Secrets" from listening to effective and ineffective speakers. I don't pretend that this list is comprehensive - I am sure there are things I have left out. But, my list probably covers about 90% of what you need to know and do.

Most scientific presentations use visual aids - and almost all scientific presentations are casual and extemporaneous 1 . This "scientific style" places some additional burdens on the speaker because the speaker must both manipulate visual media, project the aura of being at ease with the material, and still have the presence to answer unanticipated questions. No one would argue with the fact that an unprepared, sloppy talk is a waste of both the speaker's and audience's time. I would go further. A poorly prepared talk makes a statement that the speaker does not care about the audience and perhaps does not care much about his subject.

So what are the secrets of a good talk? Here is my list of do's and don'ts.

The Introduction should not just be a statement of the problem - but it should indicate your motivation to solve the problem, and you must also motivate the audience to be interested in your problem. In other words, the speaker must try and convince the audience that the problem is important to them as well as the speaker.

The Method includes your approach and the caveats. To me , the Method becomes more interesting to the listener if this section is "story like" rather than "text book like". In other words "I did this and then I did that, but that didn't work so I did something else." This Rather than, "The final result was obtained using this approach." This adds the human element to your research which is always interesting.

The Results section is a brief summary of your main results. Try and be as clear as possible in explaining your results - include only the most salient details. Less salient details will emerge as people ask questions.

The Conclusion/Summary section should condense your results and implications. This should be brief - a bullet or outline form is especially helpful. Be sure to connect your results with the overview statements in the Introduction . Don't have too many points - three or four is usually the maximum.

These four items are the core of a good talk. Good speakers often broaden the Introduction to set the problem within a very wide context. Good speakers may also add fifth item: Future Research .

• Practice your talk . There is no excuse for this lack of preparation. The best way to familiarize yourself with the material and get the talk's timing right is to practice your talk. Many scientists believe that they are such good speakers, or so super-intelligent that practice is beneath them. This is an arrogant attitude. Practice never hurts and even a quick run through will produce a better talk. Even better, practice in front of a small audience.
• Don't put in too much material . Good speakers will have one or two central points and stick to that material. How many talks have you heard where the speaker squanders their time on unessential details and then runs out of time at the end? The point of a talk is to communicate scientific results, not to show people how smart you are (in case they can't figure it out for themselves). Less is better for a talk . Here is a good rule of thumb - each viewgraph takes about 1.5-2 minutes to show. Thus a 12-minute AGU talk should only have 6-8 viewgraphs. How many "viewgraph movies" have you seen at the AGU? How effective were those presentations? Furthermore, no one has ever complained if a talk finishes early. Finally, assume most of the audience will know very little about the subject, and will need a clear explanation of what you are doing not just details.
• Avoid equations . Show only very simple equations if you show any at all. Ask yourself - is showing the equation important? Is it central to my talk? The problem is that equations are a dense mathematical notation indicating quantitative relationships. People are used to studying equations, not seeing them flashed on the screen for 2 minutes. I have seen talks where giant equations are put up - and for no other purpose than to convince the audience that the speaker must be really smart. The fact is, equations are distracting. People stop listening and start studying the equation. If you have to show an equation - simplify it and talk to it very briefly.
• Have only a few conclusion points . People can't remember more than a couple things from a talk especially if they are hearing many talks at large meetings. If a colleague asks you about someone's talk you heard, how do you typically describe it? You say something like "So and so looked at such and such and they found out this and that." You don't say, "I remember all 6 conclusions points." The fact is, people will only remember one or two things from your talk - you might as well tell them what to remember rather than let them figure it out for themselves.
• Talk to the audience not to the screen . One of the most common problems I see is that the speaker will speak to the viewgraph screen. It is hard to hear the speaker in this case and without eye contact the audience loses interest. Frankly, this is difficult to avoid, but the speaker needs to consciously look at the object on the screen, point to it, and then turn back to the audience to discuss the feature. Here is another suggestion, don't start talking right away when you put up a viewgraph. Let people look at the viewgraph for a few moments - they usually can't concentrate on the material and listen to you at the same time. Speak loudly and slowly. . I like to pick out a few people in the audience and pointedly talk to them as though I were explaining something to them.
• Avoid making distracting sounds . Everyone gets nervous speaking in public. But sometimes the nervousness often comes out as annoying sounds or habits that can be really distracting. Try to avoid "Ummm" or "Ahhh" between sentences. If you put your hands in your pockets, take the keys and change out so you won't jingle them during your talk.
• Use large letters (no fonts smaller than 16 pts!!) To see how your graphics will appear to the audience, place the viewgraph on the floor - can you read it standing up? Special sore points with me are figure axis and captions - usually unreadable.
• Keep the graphic simple . Don't show graphs you won't need. If there are four graphs on the viewgraph and you only talk to one - cut the others out. Don't crowd the viewgraph, don't use different fonts or type styles - it makes your slide look like a ransom note. Make sure the graph is simple and clear. A little professional effort on graphics can really make a talk impressive. If someone in your group has some artistic talent (and you don't) ask for help or opinions.
• Use color . Color makes the graphic stand out, and it is not that expensive anymore. However avoid red in the text - red is difficult to see from a distance. Also, check your color viewgraph using the projector. Some color schemes look fine on paper, but project poorly.
• Use cartoons . I think some of the best talks use little cartoons which explain the science. It is much easier for someone to follow logic if they can see a little diagram of the procedure or thought process that is being described. A Rube-Goldberg sort of cartoon is great for explaining complex ideas.
• Use humor if possible . A joke or two in your presentation spices things up and relaxes the audience. It emphasizes the casual nature of the talk. I am always amazed how even a really lame joke will get a good laugh in a science talk.
• First, repeat the question. This gives you time to think, and the rest of the audience may not have heard the question. Also if you heard the question incorrectly, it presents an opportunity for clarification.
• If you don't know the answer then say "I don't know, I will have to look into that. " Don't try to invent an answer on the fly. Be honest and humble. You are only human and you can't have thought of everything.
• If the questioner disagrees with you and it looks like there will be an argument then defuse the situation. A good moderator will usually intervene for you, but if not then you will have to handle this yourself. e.g. "We clearly don't agree on this point, let's go on to other questions and you and I can talk about this later."
• Never insult the questioner. He/she may have friends, and you never need more enemies.

Miscellaneous Points

Thank you - It is always a good idea to acknowledge people who helped you, and thank the people who invited you to give a talk.

Dress up - People are there to hear your material, but when you dress up you send the message that you care enough about the audience to look nice for them.

Check your viewgraphs before you give the talk . Are they all there? Are they in order? This is especially important with slides. Try to bring them to the meeting in a tray, or at least check them to be sure they are not upside down or backwards when the projectionist gets them. It is especially annoying to watch people fumble to get a viewgraph right side up. Don't do this by looking at the screen. Just look at the viewgraph directly. If it is right side up to you, then it will project correctly on the screen assuming that you are facing the audience. Go over the slides or viewgraphs quickly before the talk. Some people attach little post-it notes to viewgraphs to remind them of points to make. This seems like a good idea to me. However, It is very annoying to watch people peel their viewgraphs from sheets of paper. It suggests that they have never looked at them before. It is faster, more permanent, and you are less likely to have a mixed up shuffle, if you put them into viewgraph holders which clip in to a three ring binder.

If you have an electronic presentation - check out the system well before the talk.

Mark Schoeberl and Brian Toon

1 Amazingly, in the field of literature or history the talks are not given extemporaneously but read from written text. Sometimes this is also done in science talks and it can be an interesting and different experience.

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Designing and Delivering Effective Research Talks: A Coaching Workshop

Increase your confidence in designing, preparing, and delivering purpose-driven oral presentations..

Please complete this survey to be contacted if we offer this workshop again

This pilot workshop is designed to support participants who will be delivering a 10-15 minute research talk within the next 3 months. Applicants will be asked to describe the audience, purpose, and topic of their upcoming talk in the application.

Accepted participants will:

• Submit an initial draft of a presentation slide deck for a 10-15 minute research talk.
• Complete 1-2 hours of pre-work, including viewing an introductory video and exploring resources from Harvard Catalyst's Writing and Communication Center .
• Revise and resubmit their presentation slide deck.
• Participate in a 2-hour workshop (via Zoom) in which they will: deliver their 10-15 minute research talk, receive feedback from their peers and a communication expert, and provide feedback for their peers' talks.

Meet the Coach

Jaye Goldstein is the Founder + CEO of Founder to Leader, LLC , a coaching firm that equips biotech leaders for scale.  Previously, Jaye was on the founding team at Petri, where she built a new venture capital firm designed to accelerate formation-stage startups at the intersection of biology and engineering. In addition, Jaye founded and scaled the MIT Communication Lab, which helps engineers learn to communicate effectively, and oversaw education innovation across Harvard University.

Session Dates and Times

We will ask for your availability across these three options. If accepted,  you will attend a live coaching session via Zoom on one of these three days. 

• Monday, May 1, 2023 2:00pm - 4:00pm ET
• Thursday, May 4, 2023 1:00pm - 3:00pm ET
• Friday, May 5, 2023 9:00am - 11:00am ET

Sessions will be held via Zoom. Live captioning will be available. Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact [email protected] in advance of the session.

This workshop is free for participants from Harvard-affiliated schools and institutions .

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This workshop is open only to Harvard-affiliated schools and institutions . Availability is limited. Eligible applicants are accepted on a first come, first served basis through April 12, 2023. 

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Share Your Research: How to Give a Good Talk

Share Your Research is a course that will guide learners through the steps of creating and delivering a good research talk. We designed this course for anyone who will be giving research-based scientific talks in the future. This list includes (but is not limited) to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, as well as early-career or well-established researchers who are interested in learning more about giving a good scientific talk. While most of our instructors have a background in the life sciences, the lessons included in the course are broadly applicable to other disciplines.

By the end of this course, learners will have:

• A detailed outline plan for their research talk.
• Techniques and strategies for delivering an engaging and effective talk.
• Approaches for finding and refining their preferred speaking style.
• Strategies for practicing and receiving feedback on their talk.

This page is for educators to access the whole or parts of the course to use in their own teaching.

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How do I give a great research talk? [VIDEO]

It's not enough to publish your research. You've got to be able to present it.

Research talks are one of the most effective ways of disseminating your results to a large audience, but the way you present your research varies quite significantly from how you do it in an abstrac t. It's a delicate balance. Give an effective talk, and you'll have the audience hooked. Falter, and they'll be asleep in their chairs.

At our Cell Symposia: Hallmarks of Cancer meeting in Seattle , we asked a group of established scientists for their advice for presenters. In this Cell Mentor video, Kornelia Polyak (Dana-Farber), Nicholas Clemons (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre), Didem Ilter (Weill Cornell Medicine), and Allison Nixon (Phenomic AI) describe the characteristics of a great research talk.

Kornelia Polyak

Professor, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Nicholas Clemons

I think a key thing to giving a good talk is practicing and making sure you take as many opportunities as you can to talk to all sorts of different audiences—not just to the experts in the field, but also to lay audiences so you can practice getting your message across in in different ways.

Didem Ilter

Postdoctoral Associate, Weill Cornell Medicine

Allison Nixon

Lead Experimentalist, Phenomic AI

Posted by Jerry Fagerberg Jerry's spent the last decade searching for the perfect cheese danish. That search—among other things—brought him to Minneapolis, where he works from a sunny bedroom as the Product Manager of Cell Mentor. Alongside his winsome, indomitable rat terrier Camper, Jerry keeps Cell Mentor trending and on task.

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Ten simple rules for giving an effective academic job talk

* E-mail: [email protected] (SAS); [email protected] (JOLS)

¶ ‡ SAS, LLS, and MRA contributed equally to this work. CEGA, ACB, ACRG, MJ, GSK, JSM, JM, and ROM also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Affiliation Department of Human Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

• Shayna A. Sura, 
• Lauren L. Smith, 
• Monique R. Ambrose, 
• C. Eduardo Guerra Amorim, 
• Annabel C. Beichman, 
• Ana C. R. Gomez, 
• Mark Juhn, 
• Gaurav S. Kandlikar, 
• Julie S. Miller, 

Published: July 25, 2019

• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007163
• Reader Comments

Citation: Sura SA, Smith LL, Ambrose MR, Amorim CEG, Beichman AC, Gomez ACR, et al. (2019) Ten simple rules for giving an effective academic job talk. PLoS Comput Biol 15(7): e1007163. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007163

Editor: Fran Lewitter, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, UNITED STATES

Copyright: © 2019 Sura et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: The authors acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (to SAS, ACB, and JSM under grant #DGE-1144087, and to GSK and JSM under grant #DGE-1650604), the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (to JSM under grant #DBI-1812292), and NSF research grants OCE-1335657 and DEB-1557022 (to JOL-S and ACRG). ACRG was supported by the CAPES Science Without Borders Doctoral Fellowship. ROM and JOL-S were supported by the US Department of Defense Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (RC-2635). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

You’ve finally completed your dissertation research and have your PhD in hand—yay! Maybe you’re also in the middle of a postdoctoral position. If you’re reading this article, chances are you are actively searching for and applying for faculty positions. (Check out reference [ 1 ] if you’re early in the application process and [ 2 ] for additional advice!) Unfortunately, many graduate students and postdocs are not taught the skills necessary for acquiring a faculty position after passing the “looks good on paper” part of the application and securing an on-campus interview. One of the last crucial steps in earning a faculty position is your academic job talk. No matter how great of a scientist you are, if you cannot give a compelling job talk, chances are low that you will be hired. Yet many candidates receive little guidance on how to ace this unique and vital test.

To help address this gap, we have put together these ten simple rules that will help you give an effective job talk. To be clear, these are rules developed for the academic job talk in a research-heavy department, which is typically in a seminar format. These rules are not targeted toward other formats such as chalk talks or teaching demonstrations, although some pointers may still apply. We are a group primarily composed of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) faculty, postdocs, and graduate students who participated in two recent job searches in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. We evaluated ten job talks over the span of 2 months and discussed their strengths and weaknesses in a weekly seminar course. These ten rules are based on our discussions of what worked (and what didn’t) across the variety of job talks we observed, as well as our various experiences on the job market and search committees over the years.

Rule 1: Know your audience

As with any seminar or presentation, when preparing your job talk, you want to target your specific audience. Therefore, you need to consider the background knowledge and interests of the audience members. Learn as much as you can about the position and what institutional needs the position is meant to address within the department and broader university. If you’re applying for a position within a specific department, what is the scope of the research in that department? Does it have a mission statement? Are any strategic aims or future plans publicly available? Does the department work closely with other academic units on campus, and does the position you’ve applied for have any formal ties to other units? To answer some of these questions, you should read the job ad closely, read about the current faculty’s research, and look through the department’s web page (see also Rule 7 [Understand your potential new workplace] and 8 [Understand your new colleagues] from reference [ 3 ]). If you’re lucky enough to have network connections to the department, use them now to get insights before you visit. We also recommend that after you receive an invitation to interview, you consider setting up a phone call with the chair of the search committee to inquire about the job and ask any specific questions you have regarding the job or department. In particular, it is a good idea to ask what the search committee is looking for—it may have been a long time since the job ad was released, and the search committee’s focus may have shifted from what was initially stated. We recommend a phone conversation as opposed to an emailed list of questions because it saves time; also, people are often more candid and may provide more useful insights over the phone. Depending on when your job talk occurs during your interview schedule, you might even make small changes to customize your talk based on interviews and meetings with department members prior to your talk.

Rule 2: Sell yourself

The faculty and search committee are trying to choose the candidate they’ll be most excited to have as a new colleague, so you need to showcase the reasons you’re their best choice! It is smart to include an explicit introduction about yourself—i.e., the kind of science you do, your grand aims, and your approach to research. You want to communicate your identity as a researcher and, if appropriate given your career stage and research plans, how this differentiates you from your mentors (reference [ 4 ] is an excellent resource).

You also want to convey other traits as a scientist and potential colleague. Reflect on the qualities that make you an exceptional researcher (creative, persistent, thoughtful, rigorous, multidisciplinary, etc.), as well as the specific traits that your audience will be looking for, and try to demonstrate them subtly to the audience over the course of the talk via examples in your work. Consider ways to demonstrate your fundamental strengths as a scientist, such as the ability to question your methods and results to pursue deeper and more robust conclusions. If you have any particular successes on your record, such as big grants or markers of professional stature, don’t be shy about mentioning them (but don’t brag!). Having your publication citations and/or grants listed in smaller text at the bottom of corresponding slides is one way to show your accomplishments without explicitly mentioning them. Finally, you can casually highlight additional non-research skills (e.g., mentoring, outreach, collaborations) throughout your talk. For example, give credit to an excellent mentee who contributed to the data collection or to a gifted collaborator who added a component to your study. Your application materials likely included many of these things, but if you can find ways to incorporate them in your talk, a broader audience can see the full package of who you are.

Keep in mind Rule 1 (Know your audience) when deciding how best to showcase yourself, as different disciplines and subfields may vary in their perceptions of what makes a good scientist. For example, disciplines may vary in their appreciation for deep thought into specific mechanisms and experimental designs versus mathematical elegance and rigor. Others may prize applied over fundamental research or vice versa. This may be especially challenging if your research is interdisciplinary, so make sure to investigate what factors are valued most highly by the decision makers in the audience for your talk so you can design your talk to emphasize those aspects of your work.

Rule 3: Impress the in-crowd…

Likely there will be people in the audience who work in the same field as you. Make sure to impress these experts with your knowledge and convince them you are worthy of being their colleague. You want to show them you have the sophistication and skills necessary to tackle advanced problems. Therefore, it’s a good idea to do at least one “deep dive” during your talk in which you include one or two “muscle-flexing” slides. By this we mean slides with technical content that the general audience member may not be able to fully understand but for which you can flex your intellectual muscles and showcase your skills. Importantly, do not bluff or bluster in this section—a technical error in your deep dive would be fatal.

These deep dives shouldn’t be long, or you risk losing most of your audience. However, a glimpse into the more advanced aspects of your work will convey that you’re able to play in the big leagues in your field. Just make sure to reengage your audience after this show of prowess, ideally providing a big-picture summary of what you’ve just shown.

Rule 4: … but also appeal to the out-crowd

In addition to impressing the specialists in the audience, you want to make sure the people who work outside your discipline are able to follow and enjoy your presentation. When preparing your talk, consider how you can present and frame the material so that even audience members from far-flung disciplines are engaged and can appreciate the broader relevance of your presentation. Be attuned to the breadth of the department you’re visiting, as this can present various communication challenges. The diverse interests of faculty in a broad department (e.g., biology) can make it difficult to make your research program appealing to everyone. However, it can also be difficult communicating to a more focused department (e.g., molecular genetics) if your research is not exactly in line with what everyone else does. It helps to summarize the important findings of your research as you present them, in addition to their implications and why they are exciting, in case not everyone followed the technical aspects of your results. You can also make it easier for audience members from other fields to follow your talk by avoiding excess jargon and keeping your messages clear.

Emphasize the themes in your work that relate to the job and department you’re interviewing for. If applicable and appropriate, it can help to subtly highlight connections between your research to research of other members of the department who have different specialties. But be careful not to overdo this, as it can become distracting.

Rule 5: Play the hand you’ve got to optimal effect

Strategic choice of topics to include in your talk from among your entire research portfolio is critical for giving an effective and memorable job talk. Depending upon what career stage you are in (just finished PhD, postdoc, assistant professor, etc.), you may have a smaller or larger research portfolio. For an hour-long job talk, it is unlikely you will be able to effectively discuss everything you have ever done. And that’s okay, because that is what a CV is for!

For your job talk, you need to assess your portfolio of published work, unpublished but completed work, and ongoing projects to determine which projects showcase your work most effectively and best match what the department is looking for in a future colleague. The most effective talk structures we observed were ones that focused on 2–3 research studies and that combined higher-level information with a few “deep dives” into the nitty gritty of a particular study ( Fig 1 ). This talk structure will help you satisfy Rules 3 and 4 above, which discuss how you want your whole audience to understand and appreciate your talk, while also presenting the “meat” of your research and impressing those most familiar with your field. If you feel that this design doesn’t convey the breadth or quantity of your productivity, consider adding a slide or two on the conceptual structure of your full research program in which you can show (with all your best citations) how all the pieces fit together.

• PPT PowerPoint slide
• PNG larger image
• TIFF original image

You want to start broad during the introduction to get everyone on board and then go into more depth on a few specific studies, including some “deep dives” to show off expert knowledge. Finally, you want to conclude your talk on a broad scale similar to your introduction. The dashed lines indicate flexibility in how many specific studies you incorporate into your talk, based upon your own research portfolio.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007163.g001

In addition to presenting on your past and ongoing research, you need to clearly articulate your plan for your future research program. Tell the audience (and your potential future colleagues!) about your vision for your research lab both in the immediate future (next couple of years) and in the long term (5–10 years from now). This should also help differentiate you and your research from your previous mentors and their research programs. A critical part of establishing and maintaining a research program is your ability to generate funding. If you have already secured funding for your future research plans or you have a track record of successfully acquiring funding, then this is a great opportunity to bring this to your audience’s attention. If you don’t have independent funding yet, you can still demonstrate your awareness of the funding landscape and which funding opportunities are likely to support your research program. For example, in your future directions section, you might briefly touch on how one (or more) of your research questions aligns well with promising funding opportunities in your field, such as open research grants.

In organizing the structure of your talk and your transitions between topics, strive for a cohesive narrative that will make your talk more enjoyable to follow and easier to recall afterwards. What’s the progression of your research? How did one study lead to the next, and what shaped your decisions about how to proceed? What ideas do you have for future research at this new job? Telling a story is always a great way to keep your audience engaged and makes your science more memorable.

Rule 6: Give a good talk

A classic early paper in this series [ 5 ] provides ten useful rules for giving a good presentation. Read it! Showing you are a competent oral communicator is a vital component of giving an academic job talk. In addition to the universal suggestions from [ 5 ] (such as practicing for fluidity without over-rehearsing, making eye contact with the audience, and being enthusiastic and excited about your work), there are a few other pointers to bear in mind for a job talk. First, be aware that your job talk will be judged as an indicator of your ability to teach. Teaching is a crucial element of most academic jobs, but interview schedules often don’t allow time to address it explicitly, so this doubles your incentive to give a clear and engaging presentation. Bonus points if you are able to expand people’s understanding of technical aspects of your work—for instance, with a lucid explanation of your deep dive. Second, the job talk is a direct measure of your ability to sell your work and to act as an ambassador for the department in your future speaking engagements. Third, Rule 4 from [ 5 ] is “Make the take-home message persistent,” and this is a particular priority in the swirl of an academic search in which four or five candidates may visit over the span of a few weeks. We found that a strong thematic structure, including outline and summary slides, was an effective way to emphasize and reiterate your key points and make them memorable for the audience.

Our next three pointers are more pragmatic, but they are still useful to consider. First, be sure to ask for guidance on talk length if you’re unsure. For an hour-long seminar, the actual presentation length is typically 45–50 minutes, allowing for the fact that your host may burn precious minutes introducing you, and being certain to leave time for questions. Second, you should also make sure you understand the audiovisual equipment setup in the room where you are giving your presentation. If there isn’t seminar preparation time on your schedule, ask for it! This way, you can ensure your presentation is loaded properly, your presentation slides appear how you expect, and you are able to navigate through them without glitches. It is a good idea to save your presentation in multiple formats in case you encounter compatibility issues with the primary format (e.g., if your presentation is in PowerPoint, also save a PDF backup version). Third, don’t give your presentation while hungry. You want to exude energy and confidence, which may be difficult if you give a seminar later in the afternoon after many meetings and haven’t eaten since lunch—so take note of your schedule and, if necessary, bring a snack to revive your energy levels before your talk.

The pragmatic pointers we mentioned are great for planning ahead, but overall, you should be adaptable. Problems can arise unexpectedly, and it’s possible you’ll be delayed by interruptions or a lengthy introduction. Do your best to not get flustered, to handle yourself with grace, and to end your talk on time. Make a note of places in your talk where you can go into greater depth if you’re running ahead of schedule or places (particularly toward the end) where you can skim over the details more quickly if you’re behind schedule.

Rule 7: Be kind to your audience’s eyes

Your slides should enhance your presentation, not distract from what you are saying. Make sure your slide aesthetics are appealing to the audience. Your slides should be clear and concise, without too much text. When you have text-heavy slides, you lose some proportion of your audience’s attention while they read the text instead of listening to your words. So only display text that emphasizes the key points you will say out loud. Also, since the figures and images you present are especially important, you will want to construct figures specifically for your slides, keeping in mind that formatting for a presentation is typically different from formatting for a published paper. Refer to Box 1 for additional advice on qualities of good slides and common mistakes to avoid. You should also check out [ 5 , 6 ] for additional advice, noting that the rules in [ 6 ] are not specific to figures for presentations.

Box 1. Qualities of good slides versus slide qualities to be avoided

Slide qualities to aim for:

• ○. Minimal text.
• ○. Figures that are readable and easily understood.
• ○. Figures created specifically for talks (rather than pulled directly from a paper). Talk figures are generally simpler than figure panels from a paper, with fewer items per plot, a focus on the key points, larger labels and axes, etc. Avoid having to tell your audience to ignore parts of the figure by remaking the figure without extraneous information.
• ○. If you have a complicated figure, you can animate your slides to build up the complexity as you explain it to the audience. For example, you can start by showing only a very simple plot and then layer on additional pieces of information as you explain them.
• ○. Clean background.
• ○. Consistent design throughout the talk.
• ○. Color-blind-friendly color palettes or alternative ways to distinguish differences on figures besides just color (e.g., using dotted versus solid lines to represent different measures in a plot).
• ○. Simple visual markers (silhouettes or clip art) that link ideas across slides and jog your audience’s memory (e.g., a human silhouette next to parameters estimated from human data and a mouse silhouette next to data estimated from mice).

Slide qualities to avoid:

• Too much text.
• Text that’s too small to read or overlaid on an image so that it’s not legible.
• Busy background (e.g., photograph) that distracts from the text and/or figures you’re showing on the slide.
• Figures with no or unreadable axis labels.
• Poor color combinations, including combinations that are difficult for color-blind viewers to make out (e.g., red/green, blue/green).
• Visual markers that don’t convey any meaningful information, such as changing fonts and background colors. Even minor inconsistencies are distracting and convey a lack of attention to detail.

Rule 8: Embody the future

Remember that you are the exciting next generation of scientists! Make sure to share your enthusiasm and your fresh ideas for research. Emphasize how your work is new and innovative, whether by showing new solutions to old problems or by describing ways to approach problems that have only recently been recognized. If appropriate, highlight how you will harness the latest technologies and methodological developments to advance your research. This will get the audience thinking about applications to their own research programs and how you’d be a valuable colleague to have around.

You can also emphasize other forward-looking traits you would bring to the job. Maybe you have developed a new online resource or are using a new mentoring or teaching style that helps make research more broadly accessible for students. Find ways to showcase how you are moving science forward and how you’ll be a dynamic force for years to come.

Rule 9: Don’t blow it in the question-and-answer session

You’re almost done with your job talk, so don’t blow it during the question-and-answer (Q&A) session! You want to leave your audience with the best final impression and show that you can think and speak clearly in unscripted moments.

Here are some tips for a strong finish. When someone asks you a question, it can be helpful to paraphrase the question before beginning your answer. This gives you some extra time to compose your own thoughts and make sure you understood the question and ensures the rest of the audience hears the question. Regarding your actual responses, one cardinal rule is to never bluff. If you don’t know the answer, you can say so, but then show how you would think through the question, or relate it to something you have done or know about. If somebody voices a fair criticism, then acknowledge it and discuss approaches to addressing it. If you can, convey enthusiasm in this situation—if it’s truly an idea you’ve never considered, then treat this as an exciting and valuable scientific exchange, not an oral exam you are failing.

Remember that your audience likely includes people from outside your area of expertise, so it is possible you will get questions that seem to have missed key ideas from your talk. As with all questions, make sure you understand what the questioner is asking, and then take advantage of the opportunity to address any misunderstandings in a respectful, productive way. This is a great chance to demonstrate your ability to explain concepts clearly and concisely.

If there are predictable follow-up questions to your presentation, it can be helpful to have a few extra slides prepared. For example, if you presented a mathematical model using a schematic diagram, you may want to have a backup slide that shows the actual equations in case someone asks for more detail. If there is an extra data set or analysis that you’d love to include but just don’t have the time, then a spare slide or two might enable you to deliver a home-run response if you get asked the right question.

Finally, remember to handle yourself with grace during the Q&A session. Be poised, calm, and respectful, and demonstrate your intellectual maturity—all of these are qualities people admire and are seeking in a future colleague. Another past article in this series gives rules for building your scientific reputation [ 7 ]; Rules 1, 2, and 3 are useful during both the Q&A session and the whole interview process! Which brings us to Rule 10.

Rule 10: Be professional

Throughout this whole process, remember you are asking the host department to hire you as a (hopefully) long-term colleague in a small, tight-knit unit. Therefore, it is important to present a good image of yourself. You should dress appropriately for your job talk (i.e., not too casually). Even if you end up being a bit overdressed, it is better to leave that impression rather than showing up underdressed and being remembered as not having taken the job talk seriously. Be conscious of your body language and use of slang throughout your job talk and in any interactions you have during your visit. Humor can be a wonderful way to humanize and enliven your talk, but don’t overdo it, and steer well clear of anything potentially offensive. While you are answering questions, or if you happen to be interrupted during your talk, remember to show yourself in the best light by being polite and calm, even if an audience member is being confrontational or rude.

You are an amazing and productive scientist (you wouldn’t have been invited to give a job talk if you weren’t!), but it’s important to be clear about your specific contributions to the various research projects you present, particularly when the research is part of a big collaboration. It’s essential to acknowledge your collaborators, especially junior mentees. This shows your audience that you are ready to mentor undergraduates, graduates, postdocs, etc., and most importantly, that you do not take collaborators’ contributions for granted or claim them as your own. It’s also good practice to acknowledge relevant previous work that your research and ideas are building upon, as you never know who is in your audience, and you don’t want anyone to feel you are uninformed about or taking credit for this prior research. Again, you’re asking to be hired into an academic family, and you want your new family members to be comfortable and excited about pursuing new research opportunities with you.

Finally, it is a nice touch to write thank-you notes after your visit (but see Rule 10 from [ 3 ] for an alternative opinion). These notes can be sent by email within a few days after the end of your job interview. How many you send is up to you, but we suggest sending follow-up notes to at least the search chair and the other key players in your interview visit. And don’t forget about all the people who helped coordinate the logistical details for your visit!

In summary, the academic job talk is unlike most other seminars in its goals, context, and aspects of its execution. We have outlined some rules to help you put your best face forward in the job market (and to help all of us get the most out of the job search experience). There are additional resources online (e.g., [ 8 ] and [ 9 ] as two examples), and people should glean whatever insights they can from these sources. So do your preparation, nail the talk, and go get that job!

Acknowledgments

This paper arose from discussions in a graduate seminar course jointly led by KEL and JOL-S. We thank other participants in the course including Katie Gostic, Natalie Lozano, and Bernard Kim for their thoughts on these topics.

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• 8. Reis RM. Giving a job talk in the sciences. 30 March 2011 [cited 2019 May 15]. In: The Chronicle of Higher Education [Internet]. Available from: https://www.chronicle.com/article/Giving-a-Job-Talk-in-the/45375 .
• 9. Aguilar SJ. Tips for a successful job talk. 10 January 2018 [cited 2019 May 15]. In: Inside Higher Ed [Internet]. Available from https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2018/01/10/advice-giving-effective-job-presentation-opinion .

Academic job talks

An introduction to the genre of job talks, and how to make a great one.

Eleanor C Sayre

Academic job talks are their own special genre of talk, and it’s worth learning how to do them well.

Short guidelines for any talk

• Develop and use stylesheets
• Telegraph what you’re doing
• Stick to your allotted space
• Use hidden notes
• Give a sense of something bigger
• Be authentic, personable, and wise.
• Tailor your talk to your audience

The point of a talk is not to give a powerpoint of a paper (even if that’s what many people do anyways). The point of a talk is to give an engaging perspective on your material. Slides help if you use them well; they hinder if there’s extraneous visual information or too much text. Every time you want to put text on a slide, ask yourself, “Could I do this better with a picture?” Every time you want to put a graph on a slide, ask yourself, “How could I build this graph to more effectively draw attention to the salient features?”.

What is a job talk?

A job talk is more than just a research talk. A job talk is also an indicator of how well you lecture. It’s used to tell the department what you’ve already done, and where you’re going next: a sense that you can situate your research within your field(s), use your dissertation to build a successful research program, and perhaps become a leader (or a notable person) eventually. At a teaching school, they want you to treat student questions with respect and show evidence that you can conduct your research with their limited facilities using undergraduates as researchers. At a research school, they want you to engage intellectually with profs and show evidence that your research program will generate lots of grants.

You want to give them the sense that they would be lucky to have you, and you would feel honored to be there.

Job talks in my field are meant to be (and often are used as, at least at smaller schools) departmental colloquia. I aim my talks at the average student member of the audience (undergrad at liberal arts schools, grad at universities). They are usually meant to be 50 minutes with 10 for questions at the end; no one cares if you go a little under, but everyone hates it if you go over. (We still call them hourlong talks, even if they’re really 50 minutes.)

A job talk is not a business talk. You should be able to give 30-second, 2-minute, and 10-minute overviews of your research. However, none of them are the hourlong job talk.

How do I make it beautiful?

In my field (Physics), we have slides. We don’t read papers. If your field reads papers, this might be a little outside what you do. Honestly, I don’t know how I would give a talk without slides. How would I talk about my graphs?

When it’s time to make a new talk, I think about audience. Which research project are they most interested in? Are they cognitive scientists, physicists, or educators? Will there be sound (I have small video clips related to some projects)? Generally, I give background information close to the slides it pertains to, rather than a big chunk at the beginning. You’ll have to spend more time on motivation than on actual background material – you can slip in background information (“This is exactly like we expect because of prior research”) as you go.

I have three ways to think about beauty. There’s the beauty of each slide and the beauty of all them put together, and then the way they interface with your patter and timing. (I’ll leave aside the inherent beauty of your research. Your research is beautiful, right?)

Per-slide beauty

Do not make ugly slides.

• Use pleasing, harmonious colors. Projectors are different from your computer screen, and different from each other. I find that black, white, and blue or purple are best on most projectors. Yellows are often greenish grey; greens are either sickly or neon; reds are either brown or pink. Grays are nice, but hard to calibrate well because projectors are often darker than your screen.
• Black text. White background. Do not be tempted to reverse this, because it will inevitably look bad on the projector when the room isn’t dark enough or the black isn’t black enough. Do not be tempted to use other, lesser contrast schemes.
• Use a readable font. I use 32 for most text, 24 for small text, and 16 for references and slide numbers. I like Gill Sans or Helvetica light (except for numbers because 1 and l look the same, so I use Courier). Times New Roman looks fussy. Never use Comic Sans.
• In some (many?) rooms, you can’t see the bottom quarter of the slides. You may put references, the bottom parts of diagrams, and slide numbers down there. Do not put important conclusions at the bottom of the slide, no matter how tempted you are to finish a slide with a conclusion. Consider perhaps having it appear in the middle part of the slide as a build.
• If there is too much information on a slide, you must assist your audience with interpreting it. Build large diagrams from smaller pieces. Highlight the relevant parts of the graph in order as you talk about them. Get rid of your long bullet points. Make some whitespace.
• Do not do spiffy animations just because they are spiffy. Ask yourself, does this build add information? Does it draw focus inappropriately from my message? Generally, the appear and disappear builds are sufficient. Perhaps also fade in and fade out.

Many slide beauty

Your slides are all in one presentation. Make them look like they belong together, even if you stole them shamelessly from prior talks.

• Master slides are your friend. Know them. Use them. Love them. Put them together into a stylesheet and use it consistently.
• Builds are your friend. Don’t just duplicate slides with more info.
• Powerpoint themes are not your friend. They are ugly and distracting. The key to true beauty in a talk is functionality.
• Whatever your color scheme, keep the palette small and consistent. I usually have five or six colors: background (white), text (black), highlighting (baby blue), data color 1, and data color 2. If you can’t keep it small, at least keep it consistent.
• Think about making a follow-along ball or progress meter. In a talk with five sections, I often make five icons. I put them in the lower left of the talk, and highlight the one I’m on. It’s small and unobtrusive, and I replicate it (larger and centered) on the structural slides that introduce each section. This is more important in longer talks than shorter talks because it orients your audience to their location in the talk.
• If you’re part of a big collaboration, you’re probably going to get slides from your collaborators. You can use them, but try to make them fit visually with all your other slides.

Beautiful patter

It’s your presentation. Don’t look like you don’t know what’s coming.

• Rehearse your talk. Rehearse it from the beginning. Rehearse it from some place in the middle because they will interrupt you with questions.
• Set up your presenter display so that it shows the current slide, the next slide, the time you’ve spent (or the time remaining), and your presenter notes.
• Keep your presenter notes short. Two lines are good; one line is better. Or just skip them.
• If you’re pointing out features on the graph (with highlighting and builds), look at the graph that everyone else is looking at. It makes them feel like they are part of an experience with you instead of just being talked at.
• Deflect questions that come at inopportune times. My favorites are, “Great question! It leads me directly to the next part!” and “You are skipping ahead! Hold your question for a few minutes, and if you still have it at the end, ask it then” They let the audience feel clever for guessing where I’m going next (academics like to feel clever), and let me answer the question in the beautiful way I have planned.
• Encourage people to ask questions at the start, and maintain a respectful tone when answering (or deflecting) them.
• Make sure that that patter needs the slides and the slides need the patter. It’s one integrated talk, not a collection of pictures to accompany your speech!

Talks are not papers

In a talk, you want to give as many cues to listeners as possible about how to react especially if you’re going to deprive them of visual cues. Think about the cadence of speaking as separate from the cadence of writing.

It’s ok – desirable, even – to use phrases like:

• This is surprising, because
• That makes sense, because
• This is exciting, because
• Recall that (thing you said earlier)
• If that were true, we would expect X.

And to tell them where they are in the talk:

• So, we talked about X,Y,Z. Let’s see how that can play out in context A.
• The central problem is X. Before I talk about X, a brief digression into Y.
• Altogether then, the primary research questions are X,Y,Z. I’m just going to focus on X and Y in this talk.

And to ask questions deliberately:

• Why should we care about X?
• What would be the instructional implication for Y?

If your questions are important enough, put them on a slide by themselves.

Think about your style as a speaker. Find a way (within your style) to put funny parts into your presentation. I like to deliver mine deadpan. I like to have one laugh per ten minutes of talk; more is a fun audience, less is a flat audience.

Enough about style! Tell me what to say!

All that said, here’s a basic outline from one of my talks with two research projects (numbers of slides in parens). I gave this talk for the job interview at a faculty job that I accepted, so I know it was effective. It’s a little shorter than normal in terms of slide number, but a lot more of the slides have more builds. If each build were its own slide, there would be 105 slides (which is about right for my style – one build per 20-30 seconds on average).

• What is my field (4)
• What this talk is about (2)
• my postdoc (6)
• Transition slide (1)
• my dissertation (12)
• Curriculum design (7)
• Conclusions (3)
• What I can do for you (1)

Total: 38 slides

Where else can I find information about giving talks?

Matt Might is a computer scientist with lots of advice for academics entering the job market. Here’s his piece on academic talks .

xBlog is full of visual design tips. I like their piece on making movies in Keynote , as one way to think of a good talk is as a dynamic, live-action movie.

Colin Fredericks wrote Be pithy, damnit , a delightfully descriptive talk about how you should title your talks.

Additional topics to consider

Interviewing in a physics department.

The flow of a typical flyout visit and issues to look for.

Reference letters

A practical guide for writing letters, aimed at the faculty who write them.

Generative AI and writing

How does generative writing intersect with generative AI?

This article was first written on January 2, 2015, and last modified on May 30, 2024.

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The Professor Is In

Guidance for all things PhD: Graduate School, Job Market and Careers

Dr. Karen’s (Partial) Rules of the Job Talk

By Karen Kelsky | February 23, 2012

I’ve been asked by many readers to write about the Job Talk. I’ve resisted doing this because I believe that by the time you are writing your job talk, any meaningful advice has to be completely personalized. In other words, general rules about job talks would have to be so general as to be of minimal value. And valuable rules about your job talk can only be delivered personally.

I read job talks as part of my work here at TPII, and I’m convinced that on one occasion at least, my intervention saved a candidate from certain failure. She went on, with a new job talk revamped to showcase her authority and expertise, and proceeded to get the offer.

This morning, when asked again for a post on job talks, I began to think about what I corrected in that particular case, and a few others. I realized that I did correct for some errors that are relatively common, and that these corrections might serve as rules that could be of value to others. These rules will never replace personalized critique, but they may help you to avoid the worst and most embarrassing mistakes.

So, in no particular order, I present a preliminary list of Rules of the Academic Job Talk.

1.  Banish the following words:

Refer to my post: “Do or Do Not. There Is No Try.”

2.  Banish the following phrases:

• “ is worthy of study”
• “deserves study”
• “ merits study”

The fact that you are studying it proves that it is worthy of study. Saying these words makes you sound like a junior grad student trying to convince a skeptical advisor of the value of a dissertation topic.

3.   Be thoroughly formal and professorial

This is not a chat. This is a formal presentation of research. It is meant to showcase your expertise and authority, not demonstrate that you are “nice.” Do not write the job talk as if you are “talking.” An example would be:

“ So then I’m going to ask the question, ‘what would happen if we look at x instead of y?’ And when I do that, a very interesting thing comes up, which I’m sure that you can anticipate, which is that focusing on x puts the whole topic of z in a new perspective….”

Instead, you will write:

“ Focusing on x instead of y reveals a different perspective on z, and it is on that perspective that I focus in this talk today.”

In addition, use formal words exclusively. This is not the place for slang and casual language.

4.  Minimize your use of “us” and “we.”

I’m not saying you have to jettison them entirely, but based on my experiences with job talks, they are vastly overused, and are a central element of the excessive chattiness that I describe in rule #3.

5.  Use humor sparingly

Search committees and audiences always appreciate knowing that you have a sense of humor, but the job talk is not the place to demonstrate it. One small witticism, if it arises naturally from your materials, or some mishap in your presentation, is certainly appropriate. But beyond that, let your sense of humor emerge in your conversations throughout the day; in the job talk, give your research the serious delivery that it deserves.

6.  Use visuals, but don’t over-rely on them .

Academic audiences are generally ambivalent about PowerPoint. They appreciate visuals as much as anyone, but they also resent the “dumbing down” that often happens in a PowerPoint-centric presentation. Be sure that the text stands alone as academic written text, and is not subordinate to slides. In other words, don’t stand in front of the screen and say “and next, in this slide, we see that….”

7.  Leave visuals that you do use on the screen for long enough that the audience can thoroughly assimilate and respond to them.

One of the most common errors that nervous speakers commit is snapping through visuals too quickly. You may have seen these slides 127 times, but your audience is seeing them for the first time. They need abundant time—several minutes most likely—to thoroughly study and assimilate the information on the slide.

8. This goes without saying, don’t read from the paper.

While this may seem to contradict Rule #3 and possibly Rule #6, it does not. You can remain strictly professorial and formal, and still make abundant eye contact, gesture broadly, and in some cases move about the stage or podium area. It is imperative that you draw your audience in and also closely monitor their reactions to what you are saying. For both of those to happen, you must watch them. Know your talk well enough that you don’t have to read it. Also, anticipating nerves, print the talk out in large font and doublespace, so that it’s easy to read, and also don’t be afraid to put stage directions into the text (“point to screen here”; “offer ‘spontaneous’ remark about xxx here”, etc.)

9.  Make sure the talk speaks to the job being advertised .

Candidates can be so obsessed with their own narrow project, on the one hand, or so over-amped about trying to be all things to all people, on the other, that they often miss the mark in pitching the talk to exactly the position being filled. If it’s a 19 th century literature job, then should your talk be about postcolonial literature? No. Should it be about Fielding? No. Should it be about 20 th century adaptations of Dickens? No. It should be about some aspect of actual literature written in the actual 19 th century. Do interesting things, but don’t forget that they have curricular needs that they are filling.

10.  Get to the point. And stay on point (Brits, I’m talking to you).

Don’t spend 7 pages in prefatory remarks and caveats. You should be into the main topic of your talk by the end of the first page. Make sure that the evidence mobilized and arguments advanced actually speak directly to the topic, and make your core central point.

11.  Articulate an argument.

One of the most startling things about working as The Professor has been discovering just how many young scholars, across the university, cannot articulate a central argument of their research. You should be able to give the core argument of your project in a single sentence. That sentence should be prominently placed in the beginning of your job talk. You will then use evidence and logic to prove the legitimacy of your argument. And then you will conclude by reminding the audience what you argued, and then briefly gesturing to the wider implications and ramifications of that argument.

12.   Be aware of your body language. [Updated below]

I worked with a stellar client who was the real deal, the whole package—brilliant project, fabulous teaching, terrific intellectual pedigree. And then we did a run-through of her job talk on skype. Who was this person? Her typical self-assurance was nowhere to be seen. Her hands fluttered like little fish. She bobbed and swayed. Her eyes darted side to side. “No, start over, try it again!” I said. “No, you’re still doing it!” Three times we went through it. I hung up feeling anxious indeed. Turns out, of course, she totally killed it, when it counted. Thank god. But she told me afterward, without that skype practice she never would have realized just how much she let her nerves show through her body language. You need a level gaze, head high, a firm stance, strongly planted feet (no winding or twisting your feet below the podium), squared shoulders, hands calmly on the podium or gesturing.

Update: as the commenter below notes, this advice is ableist. She writes: “I’m troubled by your guidelines for body language in Rule 12 of your post. These guidelines strike me as ableist. You’re assuming that all candidates are (or should be) capable of orchestrating their bodily movements in accordance with these ideals. 

For myself and for many other people with disabling conditions, these rules are impossible to follow. For example, neurological conditions can cause people’s eyes and heads to move in uncontrollable ways. Such people could not necessarily maintain the “level gaze” that you hold up as the ideal. Similarly, balance issues might make it difficult for people with certain disabilities to stand with a “firm stance.” In fact some disabled people might prefer (or need) to remain seated while delivering a job talk, an issue that you ignore in your assumption that all candidates are able-bodied.

Your advice worked well for the client in your example, as her body language “transgressions” were a product of her temporary nervousness rather than a permanent disability. She benefited from your tips because she was physically capable of bringing her body in line with your body language rules. But that is not the case for disabled job candidates, many of whom would likely feel marginalized rather than empowered by some of your rules.”

This is correct–my advice here reinforces ableist expectations of bodily movement and stance. I want to encourage disabled job seekers to sit where necessary or preferred, to move however you wish, and to work with the search committee to get all possible accommodations for your visit, to the extent you are comfortable doing so. I do believe that search committees and academia as a whole remain profoundly ableist, and I don’t have confidence that bias will not come into play in your reception as a job candidate. But for my part I will do my best to stop uncritically endorsing that ableism in my advice. And I will encourage search committees reading this to proactively OFFER the opportunity for accommodations in all of your arrangements and communications to all candidates as a matter of course.

13.   Have a strong and inspiring finish.

Do not dribble away with “so, yeah, uh, I guess that’s it…. uh, so, yeah, does anybody have any questions…?” leaving the audience to squirm in their seats and wonder when to clap. Finish strong. Asssertively. With a clear falling tone in the final words, then a pause, and then a confident gaze with half-smile taking in the whole audience, and a strong and gracious “Thank You.” Then another pause for applause, and then, “I’d be happy to take questions” (or acknowledge your introducer rising out of his or her seat to mediate questions for you).

14.  Finish on time.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the fastest way to lose a job is to go over-schedule. Searches are grueling and exhausting and inconvenient for departments. The faculty are dragged out of their already over-taxed schedules to sit in your talk. They have things right up to the start, and more things immediately after the finish. They need your talk to start on time and end on time, period. Zero tolerance for mistakes here. Practice 10 times at home until you can say with total certainty that the talk will never, under any circumstances, go over your allotted time.

15.  Don’t forget your conclusion.

All academic writing needs a strong conclusion, and it is the element most often forgotten. Academics often forget that academic speaking is a form of performance. And as with all performances, the build up to the conclusion, and the conclusion itself, are in some ways the most important elements. The finish sits in the air, vibrating, and stays with the listeners for some time. It’s true that in an academic talk, questioners often jump in aggressively; nevertheless, a strong finish, more than almost anything else, demonstrates the speaker’s confidence and elan.

16.  Be prepared for the Q and A.

In my years on searches, it was the Q and A that most often destroyed candidates. Given enough time and help, most people could pull together a decent talk, but it was the Q and A that separated the wheat from the chaff. Remember that by the time you give the job talk, you’ve already proven that your work, on paper, is good. What the job talk proves is that you’re intellectually vibrant and dynamic, that you can defend your work against challenges, while remaining open to intriguing new scholarly possibilities and conversations. Remain friendly, good humored, and affable, but not cringing, obsequious, or pandering. Remember to thank the questioner with words such as “that’s an excellent question,” or “thanks for bringing that up,” or “that’s actually an interesting point.” Call on the most senior people first; they will expect it. Try to avoid calling on graduate students, who often ask questions that are off-point or self-aggrandizing. Master the art of academic jiu jitsu; when directly challenged, acknowledge the value of the questioner’s point, but then turn the focus away from their agenda and back to your own. In other words, never, ever respond “oh, wow, I really wish I’d had time to talk about that and it’s a total oversight that I didn’t include it, I’m really sorry about that…” Instead respond, “you raise a valuable point and it’s certainly one that I considered. However, my findings showed that the primary issue her is in fact xxxx, and so it was to that that I turned my greatest attention.”  

Having reached the Q and A, I will stop here.  Readers, feel free to add your own comments and suggestions.  

Similar Posts:

• Why Your Job Talk Sucks
• Dr. Karen’s (Partial) Rules for the Artist’s Statement
• Women Fail, But Men Bomb: A Special Request Post for Guys on the Market
• #Dispatches: Help, My Campus Visit has Gone Online! 1/2
• #Dispatches: Help, My Campus Visit has Gone Online! 2/2

Reader Interactions

February 24, 2012 at 12:31 am

Very helpful advice, thanks!

Just a quick point: in my department at least, both junior and senior faculty are probably more likely than grad students to ask off-point / self-aggrandizing questions. (Grad students are also more likely to have been awake for the whole job talk.) I agree it’s good to call on more senior people first, but sometimes their comments are going to be completely out of left field and it’s wise to be prepared for that. I think it’s also worth remembering that in some departments grad students get a role in the hiring committee, so it might be wise to answer one or two grad student questions, just to show willing.

February 24, 2012 at 2:11 pm

I do not disagree with you in principle. Faculty are definitely off-point and self-aggrandizing very frequently. I did, however, typically see grad students ask questions that were just “off” enough to be disruptive to the flow, both when I was a candidate and when I was in the audience. It’s hard to put in words what exactly was “off,” but it definitely derived from being insufficiently socialized into question-asking norms, so that the questions would emerge as excessively self-serving, or aggressive, or somehow not pertinent to the agenda of the event. Particularly in the latter case, the question would then cause the faculty to, collectively, grit their teeth, roll their eyes, and audibly sigh. And this is not a good environment for any candidate–you do not want to deal with an antagonized or irritable group of faculty, if you can avoid it. thus, I advise avoiding grad student questions. You know that in general I am a great advocate for grad students, so I am not engaging in an ad hominem attack here, just a general rule that in my observation is helpful to keep in mind.

March 20, 2014 at 3:23 pm

I came down here to say the same thing. In my department, it’s only the faculty types who go off on self-serving tangents during Q&A (Ok I obviously have a few in mind that drive me crazy!). I will say though, and perhaps this is what Karen is referring to, that grad students often tend toward questions about methods or experimental design, which are sometimes off-point or might not always add to thoughtful discussion. This does occasionally lead to an easy question with a clear response though, which always looks good for the speaker.

February 24, 2012 at 5:13 am

A few to add about practical matters:

– You may have a projector or you may have a large TV – have a PPT that works on both (or 2 versions).

– NO WALLS OF TABLES (like regression tables).

– Bring your own laptop and clicker.

– All models or quant results should also be given as handouts.

– Know your audience and tailor your talk to them and the job description.

– Record yourself giving it and watch it. Practice in front of people that can give you real feedback.

February 24, 2012 at 5:14 am

PS, I found this thread helpful: http://ask.metafilter.com/199662/ProTips-for-academic-job-talks

February 24, 2012 at 5:52 am

My advice is to practice, practice, practice. Then when you think you are done, practice again. Practice in front of people in your fields and practice in front of people who know little or nothing about your field. Make them ask questions. We take so much for granted that what is elementary to us is foreign to someone else. Also, make sure you tell a story, don’t put up every single detail from one research project (like your dissertation)….just a few important results.i had two projects that i included in my talk and while they may seem like they are different, i tried to tie them in together to show off who I am as a researcher. Show that you are more than just your dissertation.

February 24, 2012 at 9:37 am

I can’t emphasize enough the importance that you rehearse and time your talk. I’ve never been asked to give one, but I always attend the ones in my department. There have been a couple where an otherwise intelligent person completely bombed their talk because they obviously had no idea what they were doing. Editing on the fly, saying “I am going to cut the next bit, but please ask me about it in the question period,” and referring to theories and scholarship in passing with “But of course you all know the work of so-and-so” does not make a good impression. In fact, it is disrespectful of your audience: it shows you didn’t care enough about what they want you to do, and that you don’t care about their time. If you are at the stage where you are giving a job talk, you should at least be able to figure out how to time your material.

February 24, 2012 at 10:41 am

Use slide numbers in Power Point! It is much easier to return to a previous slide if you have them numbered. For instance, your audience can say “in Slide 8, you said . . . “

February 25, 2012 at 4:42 am

Here are two collections of interviewing advice in sciences that people here might find interesting (they were extremelly useful for my recent interview and negotiation):

http://scientopia.org/blogs/drbecca/tt-job-search-advice-aggregator/ http://bluelabcoats.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/its-the-seasonacademic-job-search-reposts/

This includes info on job talks (i.e. what you did until now) and chalk talks (how you plan to establish your future research programme – I guess in humanities this would be the equivalent of having a second research project).

Hope this is of use to someone.

February 27, 2012 at 10:38 am

thank you, European Academic!

February 25, 2012 at 8:26 am

This was such a good post! I found myself going over the many times I did something awkward in a job talk (I’m definitely a serial offender when it comes to 1 and 2!). I also found very valuable the point you make about “mastering the art of academic jiu jitsu”. I think I would benefit from memorising the line: “you raise a valuable point…”.

Something that came to mind when reading point 3 on ‘being thoroughly formal and professorial’ is that my experience in the UK has been a bit different (and somewhat confusing!). Whilst it’s the case that people expect seriousness, people sometimes interpret being thoroughly formal as a sign of pomposity and self-importance (which British academia doesn’t respond to very well, at least not when coming from candidates at junior level). I struggled at some point with what I thought was a contradiction… on the one hand, the advice I was given on this was that I should approach the job talk as a conversation with colleagues, not a lecture so basically as an opportunity to showcase that I would be a stimulating colleague. On the other hand, the job talk is also used as a kind of “predictor” of teaching quality –I have noticed in my times as panel member that colleagues’ assessment of the presentation has nothing to do with its research quality (stimulating, robust, original or even if it makes a significant contribution) but rather about whether they see the candidate as someone who could be put in front of students and not bore them to death. So issues like ‘ability working the audience’, ‘dynamism’, ‘humour’, and so on seem at times more relevant than the cohesiveness of the talk itself. I think I get your point in terms of the formality (it’s not a brown bag talk!) but I think there’s also the issue of how when speaking to potential colleagues you can also portray that you could ‘get down with the kids’ . How can we balance this? Or should we even try?

February 27, 2012 at 10:37 am

The clients who committed the worst sins of excessive chattiness in their job talks were both Brits, so clearly you’re on to something. In a UK context perhaps it is appropriate to be talky-talky; we need to hear from experts there to be sure. Both of my clients were applying for US jobs, however, and their tone was hugely “off” and would have been completely inappropriate to the setting. On searches in which I participated, job talks were not evaluated as evidence of teaching skill, but rather evidence of research skills and sophistication, as well as general confidence. So basically I’d say the very last thing you want to do in a US job talk is to appear to be ‘getting down with the kids.’ The programs that prioritize that will schedule a “demo class/teaching demo” for that purpose, and that is where accessibility and informality can be demonstrated.

June 4, 2019 at 10:22 am

Hello Dr. Kelsky,

I am in that specific situation currently. I applied to a Teaching position at a Liberal Art school in the US. I was asked to give a presentation on a topic of my choice and highlight my teaching abilities through that presentation. No teaching demo was on the schedule. They didn’t even ask about my research during the first interview. I am at a loss to know what would be the best approach to my job talk. Thanks!

February 29, 2012 at 3:01 pm

Lots of good advice here. Just a quick correction- art historians and perhaps other humanists most definitely read their job talks and other presentations. The prose style matters, and you can’t just memorize 15-20 pages verbatim.

February 29, 2012 at 3:26 pm

No, no, no! You don’t have to memorize anything verbatim! But you most certainly do not want to just stand there and read from a paper without eye contact and gestures. Do not just stand there and read! That is the downfall of countless job candidates, humanities or not.

March 1, 2012 at 4:48 pm

Is it lame to talk about your dissertation research in a job talk if you graduated eons ago? All the job talk advice I read seems to be geared towards new graduates/postdocs. I was a research faculty member for almost 6 years (even earning promotion) until funding dried up. Since then, I’ve operated independently and worked on short-term contracts. I’ve worked on a wide range of projects– but I’m not in the midst of a major project producing results right now. The group to which I belonged as a faculty member was highly dysfunctional and didn’t produce anything I would say is compelling (I couldn’t claim any strong results as “mine”). (The whole career trajectory/ research stuckness/ and staying too long in a bad situation is a whole ‘nother story.) I’ve investigated some new lines of inquiry, but it seems that the subject that best aligns with the place interviewing me is that dissertation project. I’ve kept it somewhat alive all this time- revisiting to see if I can start pushing it in new directions (though no strong results yet), and even still trying to publish a couple pieces that just haven’t gotten out yet due to lack of time. So, I’m tempted to recraft old talks and also talk about where I want to take research. My gut reaction is I have nothing to talk about…. Your opinion? Also, know of any resources for interviewing for 2nd/3rd jobs (i.e. non entry level asst. prof positions)?

March 1, 2012 at 7:16 pm

that’s a hard place to be in. I generally suggest someone as advanced as you not talk about the diss. But if it aligns best for the job, then go for it, as long as you really make efforts to update it and connct it with current or new researhc or directions for research. don’t look like you’re resting on past laurels.

April 17, 2012 at 11:26 am

I went to a job talk yesterday and witnessed two pretty obvious errors:

1. the speaker left her own cell phone on and had to silence it in the middle of her talk. I know it seems obvious, but really: turn off your cell phone.

2. She continually addressed everyone in the room *except* for the search committee, who were all sitting in the back of the class. She had met all of them, so she knew who they were, but not once did she glance in their direction. I thought that was a really bad move.

April 17, 2012 at 12:08 pm

God. What is wrong with people?

January 10, 2013 at 9:15 am

Karen, any advice for a job talk (humanities) where you’ve been explicitly asked NOT to give a formal presentation? I’m tenured, interviewing for a senior position, and I have plenty of experience doing formal talks of varying lengths, but less experience with this sort of “talk about your research” approach. What this department is asking for actually sounds a bit like the chatty British approach you critique above. Ironically, I’m pretty sure that the informal “research chat” is what I had to do for my current job, about a decade ago, but I’ve forgotten the details! I can of course put something together, but just wondering if you have any tips.

Also, thank you for this website–luckily, I had great mentorship when I was on the market years ago as an ABD, but doing a job search as a senior person has been more nerve-wracking in some ways because I’m largely flying solo, with few people to ask for advice. You’re doing an incredible service here on the blog. Wish I’d found you in time for an Interview Bootcamp slot!

January 17, 2013 at 8:56 pm

What is a typical outline for a job talk presentation?

Likely varies by field. My field is education administration.

My advisor provided me with a copy of his presentation slides from his own job talk 6 years ago and it follows this agenda: 1. Bio and review of professional experiences 2. Research interests and prominent theories/frameworks informing work to date 3. Presentation of research project (in his case, the dissertation) 4. Prospective/proposed courses 5. Future research project and agenda

Is this typical? Recommended? Thanks Karen and anyone for input on how to structure the presentation.

February 4, 2014 at 12:53 pm

Exactly what is a “job talk” ? Its hard to follow when you don’t define what it is you are talking about.

Sorry for being dense. This vernacular just isn’t used where I am.

February 4, 2014 at 1:16 pm

When you go for a campus visit at most institutions, the centerpiece of that visit is the “job talk,” which is a 45 minute presentation of your research to the whole department, followed by Q and A. For teaching campuses this may be accompanied or replaced by a “teaching demo.” Some departments will have special expectations for their job talk (different length, certain specified content such as future research, or a section on teaching), but in general, the default is the 45 min. research talk.

February 10, 2014 at 3:56 pm

If it takes more than a minute for the audience to “assimilate” a slide, I’d say the slide is probably too complicated.

Also… reading from paper? What is this? High School?

April 12, 2015 at 8:17 am

Hello Karen,

Thank you fro very valuable advise. I was wondering if you have a blog or can make suggestions about the teaching talk. Where I applied they have both ‘research talk’ – 60 min and teaching talk – 45 min.

April 13, 2015 at 9:53 am

See the guest post, How to do a Teaching Demo.

April 15, 2015 at 4:55 pm

September 2, 2015 at 11:28 am

Hi Karen and fellow seekers, I really appreciate this site. Both the advice and comments are very helpful. A new dimension that I think hasn’t been discussed here is video recording. Given 2 job talks in the last couple of months, and both wanted to record it. Others I’ve chatted with have run into this too. The given reason seems to be that some faculty can’t make it. I feel like it makes a tough situation worse. Presumably if a particular faculty member is pushing to have it recorded, they’re taking an interest in the position an want to have a say. But you can’t respond or interact with them, gauge their reactions etc. I think it is fair to ask that it not be recorded, but you’re in a precarious position and nobody wants to be the candidate who is making a fuss.Does anyone have any experience/advice on this?

November 23, 2015 at 9:25 am

Is it normal for Universities to record your research presentation during a campus interview? If so, is it expected all candidates will agree to it?

November 23, 2015 at 10:29 am

yes and yes.

January 23, 2016 at 11:32 am

Dear Karen, I (job seeker in the humanities) have a campus visit at major US research university line up and the brief I received states that my 45-min talk should be mostly about research, “but if teaching works itself in, that’s okay too.” The position I am going for is at entry-level (Ass. Prof.), but since I have already been in postdoctoral for a number of years in the UK (including a full-time but not permanent faculty post), I have produced quite a bit of research output since my dissertation and have been (and am) involved in a number of research projects and collaborations. The way I would like to read the brief is that I am expected to talk about my research trajectory, highlighting impact and outcomes (first book etc.), guiding questions and methodological approaches, avenues for further research, and current and planned projects and collaborations, while also indicating how my interests and results inform my teaching and open possibilities for student involvement. All this I am quite comfortable with, not least because I have done it before. However, I realise (and it has been pointed out in the comments on your post) that the US is not the UK when it comes to job talks (where this kind of trajectory-narrative is more or less the norm). In fact, my research on the web (including your post) seems to suggest that US job talks are more like academic papers in that they showcase a particular research topic (e.g. the dissertation) rather than the entire portfolio. In this case I am a bit at a loss at where best to put my eggs. Should it be the project with the most impact so far (1st monograph, based on the dissertation, from which a number of side-projects have developed), even if it is not the current one? Or should it be the one which I have most recently begun and which I hope will occupy most of my time in the years to come (but which at this stage still includes a lot of blue-sky research and thinking while having produced little outcome)? Or should it be any of the short-term projects in-between? Ideally I want to cover them all, since they all connect. Do you (or anyone else) have any thoughts on what might work in a case like mine?

February 16, 2016 at 9:44 am

Dear Karen,

Thanks for the informative post. One quick question: would it be wrong to present a job talk on the same material as the submitted writing sample?

March 22, 2016 at 3:00 pm

Hi Karen, Any advice for those that have changed fields from their dissertation topic? I am a postdoc and my current project is in a completely different field than what I did not Ph.D. in. The good news is that I have continued to develop ideas and publish in my dissertation field even after graduation, but the current postdoc project is still a work in progress (I received a research grant even though publication is under review). What would be your suggestion about dividing the talk into completely different projects? My plan is to divide my talk into two projects — 1 done during my Ph.D. and the other during my postdoc time. My question is: how important is it to have a flow even though there is none. Or can I use this opportunity to convey that my research field is broad and I can make contributions in either? I am struggling to come up with a coherent title and an abstract. Will appreciate any suggestion. Thank you!

January 1, 2017 at 5:28 pm

I disagree with some of the points, including “be thoroughly formal”. Job talk, after all, is a public speech. The key to a successful speech is building connections with your audience. You want to speak in a way that is meaningful and easily understandable by the audience who may or may not share your research interests. In spoken language, the sentences are shorter and more casual. If you talk about your research as if you are reading out loud the abstract of your manuscript, that’d be a disaster.

December 13, 2017 at 9:44 am

One advice I wish somebody had given and for which I was criticized at my last job interview: Include in your job talk slides that outline specific examples of suggested collaborations with other faculty members. Include in your job talk at least one ‘sales pitch’ slide outlining exactly how you will contribute to the department, from teaching to research to admin with more weight on whichever is most important for that department. e.g. My profile is unique because …..

February 4, 2019 at 11:23 am

Is there any sort of unwritten rule that a job talk should avoid reference to the occasion (i.e. giving a job talk)? For context: applying to direct an interdisciplinary program at the senior level, and I think they want to see how my specific research fits into a direction for the program. Is it ok to address that head-on?

February 5, 2019 at 12:11 pm

This is actually a great question. So, generally spekaing the unwritten rule is indeed, that you don’t allude to the fact of the search/existence of the program in your job talk–it’s a straight research talk. HOWEVER, having said that, some job talks give instructions to the candidate to speak directly to the program, their vision for it, how they’ll teach in it, etc. I can’t give you a general rule that applies to all cases, and senior positions are more likely to seek this. But in your case, I’d suggest you actually ask the search chair.

October 28, 2019 at 5:26 pm

Hi. I’m wondering whether it’s a big no-no to present on an aspect of my research at a job talk that is featured in the writing sample I submitted in my application. What if it’s the most relevant piece of work to the job?

October 29, 2019 at 3:12 pm

Not a no-no at all! it’s pretty normative.

August 1, 2020 at 11:33 am

I’m a disabled independent scholar with multiple sclerosis (PhD, Musicology, Cornell University, 2014). One of my goals is to fight against the barriers that make the academic job market an inhospitable climate for scholars such as myself who have disabilities. To that end, I’m troubled by your guidelines for body language in Rule 12 of your post. These guidelines strike me as ableist. You’re assuming that all candidates are (or should be) capable of orchestrating their bodily movements in accordance with these ideals. 

For myself and for many other people with disabling conditions, these rules are impossible to follow. For example, neurological conditions can cause people’s eyes and heads to move in uncontrollable ways. Such people could not necessarily maintain the “level gaze” that you hold up as the ideal. Similarly, balance issues might make it difficult for people with certain disabilities to stand with a “firm stance.” In fact some disabled people might prefer (or need) to remain seated while delivering a job talk, an issue that you ignore in your assumption that all candidates are able-bodied.

Your advice worked well for the client in your example, as her body language “transgressions” were a product of her temporary nervousness rather than a permanent disability. She benefited from your tips because she was physically capable of bringing her body in line with your body language rules. But that is not the case for disabled job candidates, many of whom would likely feel marginalized rather than empowered by some of your rules.

Would you be willing to edit the material in Rule 12 to make it more inclusive of disabled bodies? Also, in future posts, instead of issuing rules for the bodily movements of job candidates, it would be better to suggest guidelines for search committee members. Search committees should be urged not to discriminate against candidates on the basis of body language.

August 3, 2020 at 9:40 am

Yes I definitely will. Thanks for your comments.

[…] you are (or are planning to be) on the academic job market, do read this detailed and extremely enlightening post on how to prepare a job talk. I only wish I kne… when I was on the market. After reading the post, I realized how badly I have messed up some of my […]

[…] post from The Professor Is In blog discusses delivering effective job talks. Kelsky’s post is full of great advice, all of which would be helpful to anyone preparing for […]

[…] Dr. Karen’s (Partial) Rules of the Job Talk | The Professor Is In One of the most startling things about working as The Professor has been discovering just how many young scholars, across the university, cannot articulate a central argument of their research. You should be able to give the core argument of your project in a single sentence. That sentence should be prominently placed in the beginning of your job talk. You will then use evidence and logic to prove the legitimacy of your argument. […]

[…] importance for a future colleague but also best signaled in the context of a carefully prepared presentation; […]

[…] terms of the content of the job talk—well, read my post on it here, and my Chronicle Vitae post on it here.  Make it interesting. Pitch it high; don’t dumb […]

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Some Tips for Giving Good Research Talks

Organization, general recommendations, external links.

Research Talk

Giving an empirical presentation in psychology.

What is described below is a presentation about an empirical project. The presentation is assumed to be 15 minutes long, with 3-5 of those minutes left for questions. While each presentation will differ by topic, methodology, etc., these are some general guidelines for “standard” psychology talks. This 15 minute format is common at undergraduate conferences, and common for short "Hot Topic" presentations at professional conferences.

Your presentation should be no longer than 10-12 minutes, leaving 3-5 minutes for questions. Within that time frame, the following format is often appropriate:

• Introduction & Method: 4 minutes
• Results & Discussion: 6 minutes

These suggestions depend heavily on the theoretical and/or methodological complexity of your project. 

Unlike your written work where you are asked to provide a great deal of detail, and (in particular) an extensive literature review, a talk is a summary of your work. As painful as it may be to NOT discuss certain literature or, even, certain hypotheses or questionnaires included in your research, you need to figure out what your main/most important point in your research is and just present that. In general, you want to be precise, but present only the basic information that is needed to understand what you did , why you did it , what you found , and why that matters .

General guidelines:

• Your visuals (e.g., PowerPoint slides) for the Introduction should have simple bullet points which refer to the topic. Do not use the author, date citations as your bullet points. You may put the author and date citations in smaller font on the visual, but keep the major outline points directed toward the content of your talk, not its sources.
• Your goal is to be clear and concise, so you should feel a bit of freedom to organize this section in whatever way seems to tell the best story. (Note, an audience at an oral presentation may have trouble remembering long, complex methodological procedures by the time you get to results.)
• In addition to the basics, you might (depending on your project) want to set up any big qualifications or holes you think people will see in your data (e.g., spend extra time talking about the poor internal consistency of a particular questionnaire). You can follow up this set up in the discussion.
• DON'T:  "Our F value was 3.45 and our p value was .03. The mean for Protestants was 5.56, the mean for Catholics was 4.58, the mean for Rastafarians was...."
• DO: "We found main effect for religion. As you can see from this figure, Protestants scored higher than Catholics, but lower than Rastafarians. We think this is interesting because it suggests that...."
• note and discuss possible alternative explanations or limitations for your significant findings
• note and discuss possible explanations for non-significant findings (consider: could it statistical (e.g., low power), methodological (e.g., did you use an effective scale/measure), conceptual (e.g., re-examine the support for your hypothesis)
• note and discuss how your results add to or change the existing literature
• note and discuss the direction future research could take
• When discussing limitations, DO NOT downplay the quality of your research. We talk about problems/alternative explanations for our own research because a psychologist holds an opinion only as long as the evidence supports it, and is always open to new evidence. Thus, if your results didn't turn out as hypothesized, your job is to discuss what could have caused the gap between your reasoning and your results. If your results did support the hypothesis, you don’t want to seem clueless about potential problems with your conclusions or the limits of what one can infer from your findings. Do not undercut your work when you discuss possible problems. Also, do not list every single limitation. Remember you are telling an abbreviated story: stick to the most important or obvious issues.
• No matter what you talk about in the discussion, try to end up tying your talk back to the opening of your introduction.
• Extra Information:   Have a page with extra information handy (e.g., descriptive statistics, or “follow-up” analyses). You won’t present these things, but it is impressive when you can answer a question quickly with a precise finding.

Visuals 

• You probably want to use a presentation tool like PowerPoint to guide the audience through your talk and/or communicate key information more clearly with visuals (e.g., graphs or images).
• LESS = MORE. A "kiss of death" mistake is to write complete sentences on your slides and read them out loud during the presentation. Put the text of what you want to say in your notes. On the slides, use bullet points and phrases. Do not put every last thought on a slide, no need for complete sentences, and do not list and excessive number of citations. An audience should be able to “ look at ” your slide. If they must “ read ” it, they will stop listening to you and ultimately get lost. If you do put up detailed information, be sure to give your audience enough time to examine it. 
• Try for the biggest font you can on each slide. Minimum font size: 24pt. Bigger is better.
• Use a dark background with light font or a light background with dark font. Go for maximum contrast. What you see on your computer screen often looks very different on a large projection screen, so keep it basic.
• Your visuals should be attractive, but professionally attractive. In other words, no flowers or hearts, no excessive colors, the same font and background should be used for all slides, and be very very careful with clip art or photographs that are not directly relevant to your study. A bit of humor can be nice, but it should not be distracting. No decorative animations or gifs. Watch out for presentation templates that have sounds.
• Think about how you will  access  your presentation at the venue. For example, will you need to login to Google? Do you have 2-factor authentication meaning you'll need to get a text before you can login? Is there time for all of that? If you emailed the presentation to yourself, is there anything in your email you would not want a room full of people seeing? Macbook users: if you want to connect your own laptop, do you have the right connector? Ask the conference organizers what you can expect. Try to bring a copy of your presentation in multiple formats - perhaps a USB drive  and  email it to yourself. Also, be ready to give your presentation without the slides. Computers and projectors break, USB drives fail, internet connections go on the fritz - you just never know. Have print outs of graphs/figures and consider writing them on a chalkboard or whiteboard if needed.

A typical talk should probably have the following visuals:

• Title – one slide with the title, your name(s) and your college.
• Introduction – perhaps one slide per major point/study variable.
• Method  – often you just need two or three methods slides unless your procedure is complex. You should include example items for surveys. If you have a factorial experiment, consider putting up the grid to help your audience conceptualize the study. Tip : sometimes speakers put # of subjects, relevant demographics, basic descriptive statistics, etc. on a slide, but then just summarize the information out loud. Although you would not typically want to put something on a slide and not talk about it, in this instance it is a nice way to both save time and show that you did assess all those little details. If you do this, be certain you leave enough time for the audience to see the information.
• Results – you will probably have several results slides. Graphs and figures are best. Tables are okay. In general, remember the guideline that audience members should be able to "look at" your slides rather than "read" them. Try to be as true to that as possible with statistical results. You can put significance levels, F or t values, etc. in smaller font on these slides. Often one slide per statistical test helps the audience keep track as you move through multiple findings.
• Discussion - often just two or three slides is enough. 

Answering Questions

“I don’t know.” Say it now, out loud. In fact, you will know “the” answer, or “an” answer (or that fact that there is no answer) to most questions you are asked. However, “I don’t know” is also a perfectly legitimate response. Your honesty will be appreciated more than posturing. However, there are multiple ways to say “I don’t know” including:

• “That’s an interesting question. What do you think?”
• “I haven’t considered that option, I’ll have to think about that – thank you for the suggestion.” (Then write down whatever they said if you actually think it has merit).

When you “kind of” understand what they are asking…

• “I’m not sure I understand exactly what you are asking – could you say that again?”
• “I’m not sure I am completely following your question, but let me say this and see if it addresses the problem…” [follow with information you think is related; then ask them if that addressed their point].
• “I’m not actually familiar with Theory X, but this may speak to your general point…” [follow with information related to their question].

SILENCE is not your enemy. Remember, you are the expert who has read all the literature and spent time thinking about your topic. It is perfectly legitimate to listen to a question, pause, breathe, think about all that stuff you know and then respond. Your more thoughtful response will be appreciated.

Additional Tips

• PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
• Don't assume your audience has much knowledge of your topic, but you can assume a basic understanding of scientific research, hypothesis-testing, etc.
• Presenters often put their speaker notes on stapled pages of paper rather than note cards (or use the Presenter Notes feature in PowerPoint or other presentation programs). The use of pages rather than note cards emphasizes the collegial tone of most psychology presentations; i.e., you are sharing information, not dictating a speech.
• Make eye contact with the audience occasionally. If you have to, actually write in your notes: "LOOK UP,"  then highlight that spot so you can find your place on the page easily when you look back down.
• Try to avoid SOUNDING like you are reading. Practice enough that you can give an engaging read with inflection, pauses, etc. Go slow, breathe.
• When referring to something up on a slide (e.g., pointing out one bar on a bar graph), consider walking to the screen and pointing at the screen (if possible).
• Practice working with the visuals: what you want to point at, when you advance to the next slide.
• PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
• Dress professionally but be comfortable (psychology conferences are often "business casual" type events). Go ahead and take the time/effort to pick out an outfit you feel confident and comfortable in. After you’ve done that, you can then forget about what you are wearing and focus on the important stuff.
• RELAX! Think of your audience as consisting of people who are simply interested in what you did and what you found, not a group of people who are evaluating YOU. This is, in fact, the truth about audiences at most psychology presentations.
• Be confident! You know your project better than anyone else in the room. You are the expert. This is your chance to show off your excellent work!

Cancer patients often do better with less intensive treatment, research shows

Scaling back treatment for three kinds of cancer can make life easier for patients without compromising outcomes, doctors reported at the world’s largest cancer conference .

It’s part of a long-term trend toward studying whether doing less — less surgery, less chemotherapy or less radiation — can help patients live longer and feel better. The latest studies involved ovarian and esophageal cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma.

Thirty years ago, cancer research was about doing more, not less. In one sobering example, women with advanced breast cancer were pushed to the brink of death with massive doses of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants. The  approach didn’t work  any better than chemotherapy and patients suffered.

Now, in a quest to optimize cancer care, researchers are asking: “Do we need all that treatment that we have used in the past?”

It’s a question, “that should be asked over and over again,” said Dr. Tatjana Kolevska, medical director for the Kaiser Permanente National Cancer Excellence Program, who was not involved in the new research.

Often, doing less works because of improved drugs.

“The good news is that cancer treatment is not only becoming more effective, it’s becoming easier to tolerate and associated with less short-term and long-term complications,” said Dr. William G. Nelson of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who was also not involved in the new research.

Latest news on cancer treatment

• Cancer-fighting antibodies inject chemo directly into tumor cells, upping effectiveness.
• Long-term study shows 'remarkable' treatment helps patients with deadly nonsmoking-related lung cancer.
• FDA approves groundbreaking treatment for advanced melanoma.

Studies demonstrating the trend were discussed over the weekend at an American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago. Here are the highlights:

Ovarian cancer

French researchers found that it’s safe to avoid removing lymph nodes that appear healthy during surgery for advanced ovarian cancer. The study compared the results for 379 patients — half had their lymph nodes removed and half did not. After nine years, there was no difference in how long the patients lived and those with less-extreme surgery had fewer complications, such as the need for blood transfusions. The research was funded by the National Institute of Cancer in France.

Esophageal cancer

This German study looked at 438 people with a type of cancer of the esophagus that can be treated with surgery. Half received a common treatment plan that included chemotherapy and surgery on the esophagus, the tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach. Half got another approach that includes radiation too. Both techniques are considered standard. Which one patients get can depend on where they get treatment.

After three years, 57% of those who got chemo and surgery were alive, compared to 51% of those who got chemo, surgery and radiation. The German Research Foundation funded the study.

Hodgkin lymphoma

A comparison of two chemotherapy regimens for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma found the less intensive treatment was more effective for the blood cancer and caused fewer side effects.

After four years, the less harsh chemo kept the disease in check in 94% of people, compared to 91% of those who had the more intense treatment. The trial included 1,482 people in nine countries — Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Australia and New Zealand — and was funded by Takeda Oncology, the maker of one of the drugs used in the gentler chemo that was studied.

The Associated Press

Battling burnout: A conversation with resiliency expert Dr. Amit Sood

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly half of employees surveyed have reported experiencing burnout symptoms at work . WHO defines “burnout” as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that’s characterized by exhaustion or lack of energy, job-related negative or cynical feelings, and reduced effectiveness. 1 “Burn-out an ‘occupational phenomenon’: International classification of diseases,” WHO, May 28, 2019, who.int. As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 crisis, the emotional and psychological response to extended periods of uncertainty could have a significant impact on recovery efforts.

The good news is that psychological resilience can be learned, and research shows that people who report higher resilience are physically healthier, more productive, happier, and have closer relationships. 2 Cindy A Kermott et al., “Is higher resilience predictive of lower stress and better mental health among corporate executives?,” PLoS One , June 11, 2019, Volume 14, Number 6, p. E0218092, journal.plos.org. The fact is that while the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s lives might feel new, resiliency in the face of adversity, thankfully, isn’t. As companies tackle the return to the workplace, offering the necessary support could be a top priority.

Amit Sood, MD, a leading expert on psychological resilience for more than two decades, is the executive director of the Global Center for Resiliency and Well-being and the creator and executive director of Resilient Option, an evidence-based framework to improve resilience and build a positive work culture. The COVID-19 crisis has brought years of Dr. Sood’s work and clinical trials to the forefront.

McKinsey’s Ashish Kothari talks with Dr. Sood about how people can tap their psychological resilience to combat the mental-health challenges of the COVID-19 crisis, strategies for maintaining well-being  amid constant volatility, and what companies can do to support their employees. The following is an edited excerpt of their conversation.

McKinsey: Let’s start at the beginning. What is psychological resilience, and how does it help people adapt during a crisis?

Amit Sood: Psychological resilience is defined by the ability to withstand, bounce back, and grow—despite downturns. The COVID-19 crisis could be considered one of the biggest downturns of our lifetimes. Yet psychological resilience during the pandemic is actually ticking higher, even as burnout and other mental-health issues were reported by 42 percent of employees globally since the start of the pandemic.

What does this mean? Historically, stress has always been there. Every generation has experienced it through different events, from the Depression in the 1930s to World War I and World War II to the Cold War to 9/11—and many other challenges in between—and now the COVID-19 pandemic. Uncertainty and lack of control are not new. The stressors just keep changing.

But that’s not really the headline here; the headline is our increasing adaptation. We are a species that is very flexible at recalibrating our expectations. In the current climate, I believe we have dialed down our expectations. And that’s essentially how we are adapting. For instance, I asked a little girl at my daughter’s elementary school, “What makes you so happy?” She said, “I am happy because the grass is green. I’m happy because the swing sets work. And I am happy because the sky is blue.” She had come from a country where there’s so much smog that she had not seen a blue sky for the first eight years of her life. So it is all about meeting an individual’s specific set of expectations.

As we emerge from the pandemic, those with more realistic expectations may have a more balanced outlook on reality, which can then contribute to a happier perspective and sentiment and better position them to confront ongoing challenges.

As we emerge from the pandemic, those with more realistic expectations may have a more balanced outlook on reality, which can then contribute to a happier perspective and sentiment.

McKinsey: How is psychological resilience linked to overall physical and mental well-being?

Amit Sood: Psychological resilience and physical and mental health are all interconnected. As a physician over the past 30 years, I’ve seen a lot of struggle and a lot of pain and suffering. I started studying neuroscience and evolutionary biology to try to understand what brain mechanisms cause struggle. Why do most people want to be happy and yet struggle with being happy and staying happy?

I realized that the brain is designed as an instrument for survival and safety, not peace and happiness. And that is perhaps one of the proximate causes of struggle that was missing from many psychological and mindfulness traditions. Since then, we have done over 30 clinical trials on happiness and resiliency.

If I had to summarize the whole gamut of well-being research, it is simply this: you want to tell your genes and immune system, “I’m having a good time on this planet.” This type of positive outlook tells your genes to switch from inflammatory to anti-inflammatory actions and boosts your antiviral immunity. The opposite is also true: when we feel miserable or have a negative outlook, inflammation goes up, and antiviral immunity goes down. 3 Steve W Cole et al., “Social regulation of gene expression in human leukocytes,” Genome Biology , September 13, 2007, Volume 8, Number 9, p. R189, genomebiology.biomedcentral.com.

Stress is not a creation of our own volition; it is a part of how the brain operates. By improving psychological resilience, we also can improve our physical resilience to be able to tackle whatever comes next. Mind you, if you are 5 percent more resilient, then you have a 10 to 15 percent lower risk of a mental-health diagnosis. 4 Shasha Song et al., “Psychological resilience as a protective factor for depression and anxiety among the public during the outbreak of COVID-19,” Frontiers in Psychology , January 22, 2021, Volume 11, p. 618509, frontiersin.org. In our practice, we have seen success when we start by validating a person’s experience from a scientific perspective as a struggle we all face and then establishing “micropractices” that offer immediate reward and gratification.

McKinsey: From your vantage point in working with organizations, what can employers do to help ease and improve workers’ mental health overall and, in turn, increase psychological resilience in their workforce?

Amit Sood: I’m very impressed with the depth of the COVID-19 response from many employers. Many are adapting holistically, looking at pandemic-related mental- and behavioral-health problems in their entirety—from preventative, therapeutic, and rehabilitative angles.

From a preventative aspect, I see leaders embracing new ideas  and emphasizing employee equity throughout the process. They are looking at setting up “safe rooms”—places for safe conversations—and removing stigma as best they can. I’ve seen preventative programs range from meditation to mindfulness to weight-loss coaching. Employers are adding supportive services , such as telecare for mental health, and putting programs in place to make sure people have days off for family needs and childcare support, as well as appropriate insurance coverage.

From a therapeutic aspect, I see many employers beginning to offer or already offering treatments for mental-health diagnoses—including counselors, coaches, therapists, and psychiatrists. These programs, when offered freely, help remove stigma and allow people to come forward.

Last, from a rehabilitative perspective, only a small percentage of people really get into a very difficult situation where they need prolonged rehabilitation. If they do, many employers have support or referral programs in place. But the biggest emphasis has been on prevention.

McKinsey: Some employers are grappling with a transition back to the office. What advice would you have for them to make this transition less stressful and more successful for employees?

Amit Sood: I would tell them to continue to keep looking at mental and behavioral health holistically, focusing on prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. Instead of focusing on productivity, focus on purpose, cultivate compassion, and give employees the agency to make decisions.

Helping employees find their purpose and meaning can drive productivity. And people who are compassionate and caring tend to learn skills better and become more competent. Also, the more autonomy employees feel, the more likely they will blossom in what they do, and the more engaged they will be.

It’s important to keep in mind what makes employees tick. What really keeps them going is a sense of control and a sense of purpose. And if you give them both, it can help combat the cognitive overload that we may all be feeling.

McKinsey: People, for the most part, are social beings that tend to thrive in communities, but ongoing restrictions may be damping social relationships. What strategies can help people reconnect and deepen relationships?

Amit Sood: When it comes to connection, wearing masks and physical distancing has created some separation, but the crisis also has brought us together in new ways. There are several techniques that can help deepen connections.

One approach is based on having perspective. We have a practice called “kind attention,” where you assume that everybody is struggling in some form or another. With that awareness in mind, it can help bypass judgment of others and, in its place, produce a sense of empathy—a silent good wish—even before you get to know the person. Doing that preemptively creates a stronger connection and bond with another person.

There is also a lot of support for transformation through gratitude. I believe that when gratitude and kindness become part of our breadth, then the physical distancing and the mandates matter less because the potential to feel connected to the person you’re talking to remotely can be just as strong as it would be talking in person. If you’re dealing with a difficult transactional or potentially adversarial meeting at work, you can preemptively try asking yourself, “Why am I grateful to the person I’m going to meet?”

The other part that connects us is a common purpose and recognizing that we are all in this together. The more we connect through common purpose, the more we will transcend these short-term distances that are artificial.

McKinsey: Reflecting as a medical professional, what has been the biggest lesson or moment since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Amit Sood: First, the COVID-19 crisis has broadened and deepened me as a medical professional because of how the pandemic evolved. It replaced norms at every level and presented new ways to connect with people globally on the topic of psychological resilience, happiness, and mental health.

Fifteen years ago, if I were talking about resilience to healthcare professionals or attorneys, I would most likely have been treated with cynicism by about a third of the people. That’s no longer the case. It has been very powerful to connect with people authentically and know that we are on the same page when it comes to applying some of these ideas.

Second, I’ve become much more aware of children who are struggling. The struggles we’ve seen children face include sudden loneliness, loss of parental attention, parents being too much “in their face,” and parents with excessive stress. And most children don’t know how to cope with this sudden deluge of stressors in their lives.

As a result, we developed a neuroscience-informed and resilience-empowered approach to help elementary-school kids with three skills: breathing, focusing, and feeling. We have completed five pilots of the program, called HappiGenius, and have 40 trainers teaching it.

Overall, I have been impressed by the level of human ingenuity and adaptability through the course of the COVID-19 crisis . The uptick in psychological resilience seems promising as we become more comfortable with things being less controllable. And with lesser stigma related to mental-health issues, I hope we can preserve our growth as we emerge fully from the pandemic by validating each other with gratitude and kindness.

Amit Sood, MD , is the executive director of the Global Center for Resiliency and Well-being. Ashish Kothari is a partner in McKinsey’s Denver office.

This article was edited by Astrid Sandoval, an executive editor in the London office.

Comments and opinions expressed by interviewees are their own and do not represent or reflect the opinions, policies, or positions of McKinsey & Company or have its endorsement.

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Appointments at Mayo Clinic

• Stress management

Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress

Positive thinking helps with stress management and can even improve your health. Practice overcoming negative self-talk with examples provided.

Is your glass half-empty or half-full? How you answer this age-old question about positive thinking may reflect your outlook on life, your attitude toward yourself, and whether you're optimistic or pessimistic — and it may even affect your health.

Indeed, some studies show that personality traits such as optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your health and well-being. The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management. And effective stress management is associated with many health benefits. If you tend to be pessimistic, don't despair — you can learn positive thinking skills.

Understanding positive thinking and self-talk

Positive thinking doesn't mean that you ignore life's less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.

Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information or expectations due to preconceived ideas of what may happen.

If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you're likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking.

The health benefits of positive thinking

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress and pain
• Greater resistance to illnesses
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease and stroke
• Reduced risk of death from cancer
• Reduced risk of death from respiratory conditions
• Reduced risk of death from infections
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

It's unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.

It's also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and don't smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

Identifying negative thinking

Not sure if your self-talk is positive or negative? Some common forms of negative self-talk include:

• Filtering. You magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter out all the positive ones. For example, you had a great day at work. You completed your tasks ahead of time and were complimented for doing a speedy and thorough job. That evening, you focus only on your plan to do even more tasks and forget about the compliments you received.
• Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself. For example, you hear that an evening out with friends is canceled, and you assume that the change in plans is because no one wanted to be around you.
• Catastrophizing. You automatically anticipate the worst without facts that the worse will happen. The drive-through coffee shop gets your order wrong, and then you think that the rest of your day will be a disaster.
• Blaming. You try to say someone else is responsible for what happened to you instead of yourself. You avoid being responsible for your thoughts and feelings.
• Saying you "should" do something. You think of all the things you think you should do and blame yourself for not doing them.
• Magnifying. You make a big deal out of minor problems.
• Perfectionism. Keeping impossible standards and trying to be more perfect sets yourself up for failure.
• Polarizing. You see things only as either good or bad. There is no middle ground.

Focusing on positive thinking

You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it does take time and practice — you're creating a new habit, after all. Following are some ways to think and behave in a more positive and optimistic way:

• Identify areas to change. If you want to become more optimistic and engage in more positive thinking, first identify areas of your life that you usually think negatively about, whether it's work, your daily commute, life changes or a relationship. You can start small by focusing on one area to approach in a more positive way. Think of a positive thought to manage your stress instead of a negative one.
• Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you're thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.
• Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed.
• Follow a healthy lifestyle. Aim to exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week. You can also break it up into 5- or 10-minute chunks of time during the day. Exercise can positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. Get enough sleep. And learn techniques to manage stress.
• Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people may increase your stress level and make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways.
• Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don't say anything to yourself that you wouldn't say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about you. Think about things you're thankful for in your life.

Here are some examples of negative self-talk and how you can apply a positive thinking twist to them:

Practicing positive thinking every day

If you tend to have a negative outlook, don't expect to become an optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually your self-talk will contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance. You may also become less critical of the world around you.

When your state of mind is generally optimistic, you're better able to handle everyday stress in a more constructive way. That ability may contribute to the widely observed health benefits of positive thinking.

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• Forte AJ, et al. The impact of optimism on cancer-related and postsurgical cancer pain: A systematic review. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2021; doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.09.008.
• Rosenfeld AJ. The neuroscience of happiness and well-being. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 2019;28:137.
• Kim ES, et al. Optimism and cause-specific mortality: A prospective cohort study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2016; doi:10.1093/aje/kww182.
• Amonoo HL, et al. Is optimism a protective factor for cardiovascular disease? Current Cardiology Reports. 2021; doi:10.1007/s11886-021-01590-4.
• Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd ed. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition. Accessed Oct. 20, 2021.
• Seaward BL. Essentials of Managing Stress. 4th ed. Burlington, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2021.
• Seaward BL. Cognitive restructuring: Reframing. Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Well-Being. 8th ed. Burlington, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2018.
• Olpin M, et al. Stress Management for Life. 5th ed. Cengage Learning; 2020.
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The problem with being "too nice" at work

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What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness. Numerous research studies suggest that CBT leads to significant improvement in functioning and quality of life. In many studies, CBT has been demonstrated to be as effective as, or more effective than, other forms of psychological therapy or psychiatric medications.

It is important to emphasize that advances in CBT have been made on the basis of both research and clinical practice. Indeed, CBT is an approach for which there is ample scientific evidence that the methods that have been developed actually produce change. In this manner, CBT differs from many other forms of psychological treatment.

CBT is based on several core principles, including:

• Psychological problems are based, in part, on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking.
• Psychological problems are based, in part, on learned patterns of unhelpful behavior.
• People suffering from psychological problems can learn better ways of coping with them, thereby relieving their symptoms and becoming more effective in their lives.

CBT treatment usually involves efforts to change thinking patterns. These strategies might include:

• Learning to recognize one’s distortions in thinking that are creating problems, and then to reevaluate them in light of reality.
• Gaining a better understanding of the behavior and motivation of others.
• Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations.
• Learning to develop a greater sense of confidence in one’s own abilities.

CBT treatment also usually involves efforts to change behavioral patterns. These strategies might include:

• Facing one’s fears instead of avoiding them.
• Using role playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others.
• Learning to calm one’s mind and relax one’s body.

Not all CBT will use all of these strategies. Rather, the psychologist and patient/client work together, in a collaborative fashion, to develop an understanding of the problem and to develop a treatment strategy.

CBT places an emphasis on helping individuals learn to be their own therapists. Through exercises in the session as well as “homework” exercises outside of sessions, patients/clients are helped to develop coping skills, whereby they can learn to change their own thinking, problematic emotions, and behavior.

CBT therapists emphasize what is going on in the person’s current life, rather than what has led up to their difficulties. A certain amount of information about one’s history is needed, but the focus is primarily on moving forward in time to develop more effective ways of coping with life.

Source: APA Div. 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology)

Science Talk: Science Groups’ Evaluations, Learnings for the CGIAR’s 2030 Research Portfolio

• Date 02.07.24
• Time 06:30 pm > 08:00 pm UTC+03:00
• Location United Nations, Conference Room 10, Nairobi, Kenya

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Thematic Areas: Climate Action, Resilient Landscape, Institutional Innovations, Healthy Diets, Better Crops, Agronomy Gains, Sustainable Animal Foods, Future Frontiers, Scaling Innovations, Capacity Sharing, Gender & Inclusion, Digital & Data

In this session, the Evaluation Function of IAES will focus on the real-time learning approach to the evaluation of the three CGIAR Science Groups (SGs) ( ToRs) . Outcomes from evaluating Systems Transformation (ST), Resilient Agrifood Systems (RAFS), and Genetic Innovation (GI) science groups will be featured. 

Speakers will share operational and thematic insights on the collaborative and participatory SG evaluation process, and showcase key methodologies employed: the value of 10 thematic case studies by subject-matter experts; the online survey of internal and external CGIAR partners; and a Kenya country brief.

The session will also demonstrate how forward-looking and how real-time insights from the three evaluations have been informing the design of the 2025-20230 research portfolio real-time. Notably, we’ll discuss the engagement with ISDC and MEL colleagues from the Science Groups’ management teams.

Last but not the least, towards evaluating Sustainable Development Goals the overall framing of evaluating science portfolio in CGIAR, and in like-minded organizations will be featured: EVALSDGs Insight #18: Evaluating Quality of Science towards achievement of the SDG  

• Ibtissem Jouini, Senior Evaluation Manager, IAES’s Evaluation Function
• Enrico Bonaiuti, Research Team Leader: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, CIP-ICARDA
• Amy R. Beaudreault, ISDC Secretariat Lead

Other upcoming events

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