By: Rafe Champion

Rafe Champion — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 23:08:08 +0000

Richard Hamming did a nice paper on the attributes and work practices of high achieving researchers.
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.pdf
Work on the right problems, be at the right places, have lunch with the right people and know how to present your results. He actually used the term “sell” and of course that can be overdone, but it can be under-done by people who think that selling is beneath our dignity.

He noted three kinds of presentation and most researchers focus on the kind that presents their work in all its novelty, depth and complexity. That loses most of a general audience who need to know where the work fits into the bigger picture of the field. So the second type of presentation goes for context and connections more than the tecnical details. He found that was hard at first so he made a point of going out of his way to do more of that kind of thing to get good at it.

The third kind is the one that is really hard for the quiet achievers, that is the contribution to the discussion that you make off the cuff, standing in a crowd of not necessarily friendly strangers.

By: bobvis

bobvis — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:45:38 +0000

It is possible to spend too much time on motivation and implications as well leaving the listener with the impression that they are being sold vaporware. I have been in academic presentations where I feel like asking “yes, but what did you actually *do*?”

So, there is a need to achieve some sort of balance.

Comments on: Tips for Presenting Your Research

By: Rafe Champion

By: bobvis