Thread by @skdh

There's lots of advice on the net for how to give talks, but sorely missing seems to be advice for how to properly invite people for talks!

Here's a minimal checklist for your invitation (thread):

1/10 Where is the talk supposed to be?

Chances are I have no idea where your institution is located. Don’t direct me to a website unless you are sure that website has an address on it.

2/10 What’s the expected audience?

How many people and what level of knowledge?

3/10 When is it supposed to be?

A list of dates, or at least a month or season would be of great help.

4/10 How do I get there?

Does it take 4 hours on a bus to get there from the closest airport, the one where planes land only Tuesdays? Please tell me right away.

5/10 What do you want me to talk about?

You probably had a reason to invite me, or did you?

6/10 How long should the talk be and does that include questions?

This info is always almost missing. How the heck am I supposed to prepare a talk if I don’t even know how long it’s supposed to be?

7/10 Will it be recorded and/or live-streamed?

I need to know before I prepare my slides, so please don’t inform me of this 5 minutes prior to the talk.

8/10 Any other commitments implied?

Do you expect me to also got to lunch with the students? Humor the dean? Sit on a panel discussion? Give interviews to journalists? Sign books? Attend dinner with the queen? I want to know about this before I agree to come.

9/10 How much do you pay?

Sorry for being materialistic, but before I book a flight I want to know who eats up my bills. And, yes, I actually expect to get paid if I work for you.

10/10 By when do you need a reply?

It isn’t always easy for me to work out my schedule and probably it isn’t any easier for you. So please let me know how I can help.