After listening to *many* of these particular talks, I have some faculty interview presentation tips for you (and maybe some general presentation tips too). Take what you need.
Some background
My computer science department, like so many others right now, is undergoing a rapid expansion to meet the growing demand for AI and cybersecurity researchers. For the interviewee, this process involves a full day of talking with faculty, touring the facilities, and giving a presentation of your work.
Recent PhDs looking for jobs sometimes interview at upwards of 30 different universities and corporations and most require a talk, so it’s an important aspect of the process.
I’ve seen over 20 of these academic job presentations, and I often see similar mistakes. Therefore, I’ve made a short list of faculty interview presentation tips for anyone trying to get hired as a professor in a computer science department. While these tips are specifically for folks giving these faculty interview talks, some of these tips may also apply to other types of presentations.
1. Finish early.
If they give you an hour, they mean you have 45 minutes. Unfortunately, often the schedule with block out an hour and a half for your talk but they still expect you to finish around minute 50. I suggest you ask the person guiding you around the facilities just how you they actually expect you to speak. Even better, ask a few days in advance how much time they actually expect you to talk so you can time your presentation better.
If you run late, people may have to run off while you’re talking, which is distracting. When you finish early, the audience will leave in a better mood and their final memory of you will be more positive.
Ask a few days in advance how much time they actually expect you to talk.
2. Try not to skip through slides because you ran out of time.
It gives everyone anxiety and the feeling they’re missing something important. It can also cause your audience to stop paying attention. Practice beforehand and remove unnecessary slides.
3. Know your audience.
You do not need to spend valuable time convincing a room full of CS professors that the world is interconnected and technology is everywhere. You do not need to have a slide listing social media sites. Zoom in on an interesting or motivational use case quickly.
4. Include an outline slide at the beginning.
It’s a road map for your audience so they know what to expect. It also allows your audience to jump back in and orient themselves if they get distracted during your talk.
5. Emphasize your solutions and results.
This is not the section to skip over. Again, practice your presentation to improve the timing.
6. Explain your figures and equations.
Don’t be afraid to guide your audience: “This is our novel OS architecture. Don’t feel the need to examine it closely right now as I’ll go over each section in detail.”
7. Leave out the “Questions?” slide.
Your last slide should be what you what your audience staring at for the next 10-15 minutes. If you’re a recent graduate, this can be your contributions, a list of the papers you have written. If you’re mid-career, this can be the different funding opportunities you’ve acquired.
8. Keep calm when answering questions.
They will interrupt you. It’s okay, they interrupt everyone. Clarify or reword the question if you do not understand.
