‘Giving a talk’ is part of everyday life for the working scientist—it is one of the most important ways in which we communicate our research and our ideas to others. The ‘talk’, of course, covers an enormously wide range, from a 10-minute briefing on progress to a handful of colleagues at the regular Monday afternoon group meeting to a keynote address to a major international conference with more than a thousand delegates. However, whatever the occasion, the aim of the talk is the same—to get your message across to your audience clearly and effectively. Members of an audience usually appreciate a good talk. Often, someone will come up afterwards and say something like ‘Thank you very much for that talk; I really enjoyed it and I learnt a lot.’ When that happens, you have achieved at least some of your goals; you have informed, you have educated and you have entertained. Presentational skills are becoming more important in all walks of life. Presenting science, professionally to other scientists and to a wider public, has particular issues that need to be addressed. Our aim in this short book is to equip you, the reader (undergraduate, postgraduate, professional researcher, junior academic . . .) with the basic skills needed to make a good presentation. Our approach is essentially pragmatic and not dogmatic, with emphasis on four essential points: 1. The goal is to communicate the science to the audience. 2. The speaker is responsible for everything that appears, and does not appear, on each slide. 3. The structure and appearance of the presentation, as well as the content, are part of the communication process. 4. There is no standard way of doing things—each slide, and each presentation, is different, and must be tailored to the needs of the audience. Before you read further, we need to make one thing clear—we do not pretend to be able to give you ‘Five Simple Steps to the Perfect Presentation’, and we are somewhat sceptical about any such approach. There are several reasons why we take this stance.
Is archaeology useful? An archaeological dialogue
