my friend kWild [1] once told me his strategy, when packing luggage for trips:
first i pack what i think i need,
then i get rid of half of it.
i think i see what my friday talk look like,
and it looks to be very long and boring in its nascent form.
so i think the next few days will be spent realising it,
paring it down to comfortable essentials,
and making it more visual than wordy.
after all, pictures are a mathematician's best friends!
[1] to kWild: you may not like the nickname, but i do. q:
2 comments:
That's good advice I think and applies equally well to talks...
Many congratulations on finishing your thesis! And best of luck (not that you'll need it but that's what one says isn't it) for your defence. I'm sure it'll go just fine.
I've been so busy here that I think last time I looked at your blog you were still editing and I was surprised to read now that you're almost done already! But it's the end of April, of course you're finishing...
While in grad school, a prof (not on my committee) told me that one way to write a talk is to make transparencies of what you would like to say, grab three random ones and throw them away. I guess one could also hand them to friend(s) like you were going to do a card trick and have them remove three.
After a while it becomes natural what the right length/content should be. Of course, it helps to use words like "willy-nilly" or "this is the enemy" or some other memorable catchphrase.
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