Guidelines for Trainees:
- Aim to stay within the time limit--don't cut short the time and opportunity for questions and discussion!
- Each talk should include at least 10 minutes of introductory background information, to provide context and make the remaining content 'accessible'--such that a new grad student can understand it.
- Research talks are most commonly of interest, but it's also OK to give a literature-review talk (occasionally).
- Either before or after your talk, state your purpose and/or requests (e.g., if your talk is prepared for a conference or lecture you'll be attending/giving, if you'd like feedback on specific sections or aspects of your content or presentation style, etc.).
- Ask a fellow trainee to serve as moderator for your talk--this is good practice for them too (e.g., if someday asked to moderate or chair a session at a conference).
- Moderators, your job is to:
- introduce the speaker, with a few quick sentences on their background (where and what they've studied, any relevant/related accomplishments, etc.) and the topic on which they'll be presenting;
- silently/subtlely keep the speaker aware of their pace/the time limit as it approaches--e.g., halfway, 5 min remain, 2 min remain, 30 seconds wrap it up; and
- afterward: thank the speaker, ask the audience for questions, have at least 1-2 questions of your own ready in case no one in the audience has any, and thank the speaker again before moving on.
