 |
|
Susan McKarns |
During your interview visit, you will be
asked to give a “job talk”—a formal presentation on your current research
and demonstration of your skills; a “chalk talk”—an informal presentation to
discuss your future goals and the fundability of your work; and/or a
“teaching talk”—either a simulated or guest lecture. In any case, this talk
is crucial, as it provides the best opportunity for a candidate to showcase
his/her intellect, skills, congeniality, and teaching promise.
Goal: Your goal is to engage your audience. Typically, you will have
about 90 seconds to capture a person’s attention and convince them that they
really want to spend their time listening to you. You want your audience to
remember what you said and why you said it. You want everyone leaving the
room talking about your talk. Remember—you want them to hire you!
Format: The style of the interview talk will differ between academic,
industry, government, and teaching institutes. It is your responsibility to
know to which type of institute you are applying and exactly what type of
talk the institute requests from you. Regardless of the format, apply the
old adage “Tell them what you are going to say, say it, and then tell them
what you said.” Always introduce yourself, cordially thank the organizers,
and be enthusiastic, focused, punctual, engaging, courteous, and sincere.
Basic Rules for Every Job Talk
Know your audience: This is essential and the only way to know exactly
how much introduction you need to provide. Equally important, you will also
need to determine whether the composition of your talk should be general and
broad or specific and detailed. It is highly unlikely that there is going to
be anyone in the audience who cares more about your research than
yourself—don’t try to tell them everything but, rather, focus on the
highlights.
Before you begin preparing your talk, find out who will be attending. It is
absolutely critical that you address your entire audience—everyone matters!
A tremendous amount of enthusiasm can be generated from a really good job
talk, and everyone in the room can become your advocate, so utilize this
opportunity to reach beyond the scope of the search committee to portray
your talents.
Audiences differ. The audience at a research institute will be other
scientists—they will be representative of all levels and will come from
within as well as outside of the department. The audience at a teaching
institute is more generalized and will be comprised of faculty,
administrators, and students. Make an extra effort to connect with the
students; it is likely that they have been encouraged to provide feedback.
The audience for an industry position will include scientists, business
administrators, and representatives from human resource, financial, and
marketing divisions. Typically, a research institute hires for scientific
excellence, a teaching institute for your teaching capacity, and industry
for your technical skills. Set the tone, focus, and organization of your
talk accordingly. Always deliver your talk to the “outsiders,” not to the
few experts in the audience. Always acknowledge everyone.
Understand the rules: Be certain that you understand what type of
talk is requested. Again, you may be asked to give a “science talk,” a
“teaching talk,” or a “chalk talk.” The science talk is usually given on the
first day of a two-day visit and is usually 45-50 minutes in length. A chalk
talk usually comes on the second day of the first visit or during a second
visit and can last from 45 to 90 minutes. A teaching talk, depending on
whether you are asked to simulate or provide a guest lecture, may be 60 to
75 minutes.
Know what the audiovisual requirements are. For example, don’t assume the
institute will have the latest version of Microsoft Office or the software
required to run any movies that you may have included in your talk. Also,
the institute may ask you to e-mail a copy of your presentation in advance;
be prepared to do this. Do not make any assumptions regarding program
compatibility and equipment function—take overheads as an alternative backup
resource!
Know how much time you have. This will vary between institutes. If they
don’t tell you, then ask. It is better to deliver a talk that is too short
than one that is too long—but aim for the time allotted. It is essential to
leave time for questions—ten minutes is a good rule of thumb. If you prepare
your talk early and practice, you will likely anticipate some of the
questions that may come from the audience. Practice your answers! Include
extra slides at the end of your talk to aid in focusing your responses.
Going over time can be a kiss of death. If you are running short on time,
don’t speed up—cut slides. Incorporate guideposts into your talk that will
help you determine whether you are staying on your time schedule. You should
generally not use more than 30-35 slides for a 50-minute talk.
Know what the size of the room will be. Prepare your slides accordingly.
There is no excuse for poor slides that cannot be read easily by everyone in
the audience. Practice speaking at the volume that will be needed. Find out
if a microphone will be available. Determine whether you will need to dim
lights to view images.
Know what is being evaluated: Often times the individual trumps the
science. In addition to your scientific excellence, you will be evaluated.
Will you fit into the department/division? Are you an effective teacher? Do
you possess the leadership and management style that works well with the
organization? Do you share a common vision? Your ability to demonstrate
enthusiasm, display a willingness to collaborate, share credit, identify
people who actually did the work, relate your work in context of what others
have done before you, and be open to new ideas as you address questions are
all key elements to any talk that will help your audience to evaluate you as
well as your science.
Tell a story: “Tell a story; don’t read a paper.” You don’t need to
tell your story in the chronological order in which it actually happened.
Clearly present a big picture. Tell your audience why the big picture is
important. Identify your unique contribution to the big picture. What did
you accomplish? What is the significance of your work? Where is it going?
Remember that your audience does not care about the details the way that you
do. Less is more. A common mistake in many job talks is to include too much
material and too many details. Focus to highlight only your key point so
that you tell an effective story. If someone wants details, they will ask
questions. Repeat for remembrance. It may be a good idea to use transition
slides to emphasize the key points as you move to each new topic. Don’t
memorize your talk. Use body language, eye contact, and gestures to help
turn your talk into a story that engages and excites your audience. It is
your responsibility to let them know that you want the job.
Have high quality slides: Good slides will not rescue bad data, but
bad slides will do great harm! Less is more. Simplify your slides as much as
possible. Show only the most relevant data. Don’t put any more data on an
individual slide than a person can digest in 30 seconds. If your slides are
too complicated or too difficult to read easily, your audience will “tune
out.”
Limit the number of colors that you use. Don’t use extraneous words.
Minimize animation. Eliminate sound. San-serif fonts are easiest to read
from a distance. Each slide should have a title and the title should be 40
points and bold. The title should summarize a key finding and state the take
home message. This will enable your audience to get back on-track if needed.
If your slides are difficult to see, your audience will stop listening and
start reading—this is not what you want. The font size for all major points
should be 24 to 30 points. All caps can be difficult to read. Bold text is
easier to read than italics or underlined. Lines on graphs should be at
least 3 points. The resolution of your computer screen will probably be
greater than that of an LCD projector. Avoid red-green color schemes—someone
in the audience may be color blind. If you are going to show movies,
consider taking your own computer—don’t forget the adaptors.
Hope for the best; prepare for the worst. Make sure that you have a plan in
place should things go wrong. What if the computer won’t start? Can you
begin speaking without your first slides? Also, consider in advance what you
will do if your presentation is taking longer than you anticipated. You
should decide a priori what slides or what material you can skip or gloss
over. It may be a good idea to format one section of your talk that you can
either delete completely or significantly de-emphasize. Do not simply just
speed up—your audience will zone out.
Be engaging and personable: There is no doubt that the audience is
interested in your science, the technical skills that you have to offer,
and/or your ability to capture the attention of a classroom, but they are
also interested in you. Your dress, body language, facial expressions, and
movements will make a strong first impression. Do not overlook these factors
as you practice your talk. Prepare introductory remarks that will enable you
to easily and immediately connect with your audience.
Do not memorize your entire talk, but it is a good idea to memorize the
first two sentences, the final slide, and any particularly difficult
transitions. Make eye contact with your audience. Use a microphone if
available. Move away from the podium if possible. Never turn your back to
the audience. Be enthusiastic—don’t let nervousness overshadow your
enthusiasm. Difficulty using a pointer or slide advancer will be viewed as
nervousness and lack of self-confidence. Get to the presentation room early.
Familiarize yourself with the room layout and the instrumentation. Take the
responsibility to make sure that everything works to your satisfaction. If
you are more comfortable using your own equipment, then do so.
It is possible that someone in the audience will fall asleep. Simply assume
that they just had a long night or are feeling ill. Be sympathetic, retain
your focus, and move on.
Nail your questions: Answering questions can be difficult, but you
should genuinely welcome them. Be sincere, gracious, open, and complete with
your responses. If you don’t understand a question, don’t be embarrassed to
ask to have it repeated or for clarification. You may need to adjust to
accommodate background noise or unfamiliar accents. You can make a strong
impression if you are able to pause, clearly decipher the question, provide
a complete and genuine response, and then immediately get back on track with
the remainder of your presentation. Never ignore a question. Remember that
you are a guest. The use of humor can be dangerous—and this can quickly turn
against you. Don’t use humor unless you have consistently received positive
feedback from practice with your colleagues. Anticipate what your questions
will be and practice your answers. Be able to cite references in your
answers.
Start early: Nothing will compensate for preparedness. Start
preparing for your talk early and practice often. Begin with an outline,
write everything down, and then convert this to Power Point slides. Get
constructive, critical feedback and lots of it. Discuss your job talk
strategies with mentors and colleagues inside as well as outside your field.
Attend job seminars or other job interviews within your own department.
Concluding Remarks: Institutes want more than just great scientists.
They want to surround themselves with great colleagues. They want to fill
their departments with good citizens and focused leaders and their
classrooms with outstanding teachers. To accomplish success, prepare your
talk to capture all of these elements and practice until you have mastered
each of them.
Finally—ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE!
To comment on this article, go to:
http://www.the-aps.org/careers/careers1/mentor/Jobtalk.htm.
|
Check List of Items to Bring |
|
Disk/memory stick copy of your
talk
E-mail copy of your talk
Printout of your talk
Laptop
Computer adaptor
Laser Pointer |
Batteries
Bottle of water
Eye drops
Cough drops
Tissue
Extra contact lenses
Lens cleaner |
| Susan McKarns is
an assistant professor in the Center of Cellular and Molecular
Immunology at the Univ. of Missouri. She received her BS from The
Ohio State Univ., MS from the Univ. of Tennessee at Oak Ridge
National Laboratories, and PhD from the Dept. of Pharmacology and
Toxicology at Michigan State Univ. in the laboratory of Norbert E.
Kaminski. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Ronald
Schwartz at The National Institutes of Health. In 2007, she was
appointed tenure-track assistant professor in the Hugh E. Stephenson
Jr., MD. Dept. of Surgery and the Dept. of Molecular Microbiology
and Immunology in the College of Medicine at the Univ. of Missouri.
She mentors undergraduate, graduate, and medical students and
postdoctoral scholars in her Laboratory of TGF-b Biology,
Epigenetics and Cytokine Regulation. |
|
