Thread by @NicoleBarbaro

Last week I gave my first invited, hour long talk at a conference and had a strange new experience.

I wasn’t nervous before. No increase in heart rate. Just calm energy.

And it was the best talk I’ve given.

Not sure when the transition occurred, but I have some thoughts. 1/

In grad school we practice tons of research presentations at conferences and in classes. But despite all those presentations I still got nervous before every talk.

Looking back, I realized that a limitation of this practice was that it’s just one form of presentation. 2/

Practice of course matters, but more important are consistency and varied types of practice.

This variability is key and means that practicing only research tasks isn’t the most effective way to make you a better presenter. 3/

I havent given a live talk since 2019. But in the time since I’ve worked in a professional role where I spend upwards of 20 hours a week in conversation with colleagues and strangers, presenting varied ideas and plans. I’m in front of an audience every single day. 4/

Every single day I’m presenting documents, PowerPoints, explaining ideas, listening to others, actively problem solving, etc.

The consistency of being put on the spot each day made standing up in front of a room to share research I know really well is easy. 5/

PhD programs are designed for students to practice the same skills repeatedly. Although obviously necessary, it also comes with the trade-off of being inflexible and unable to adapt in situations at times. And it actually may inhibit learning of the skills we’re so focused on. 6/

So although practicing presenting research is needed, we should give students a variety of opportunities to present ideas in varied formats under varied conditions to help them excel in both familiar and new situations. /end