Adapt the talk to the audience

Even before beginning to prepare your talk, you have to know what kind of audience you will be talking to. It is important to know how many people are expected to be there, how strong their background in your subject is, and whether your field is among their main interests. This information will tell you what you should define and what not, and in what pace.

More importantly, this information will also help you decide what aims you should set for your talk: do you want to give an educational talk about a field you know better than they? Or do you rather want to present very specific ideas and results? Do you hope that they will try to solve some of your conjectures?

A. Georgakopoulos: How to give a talk that is not too bad.

back to index