Never go overtime during a job talk for a postdoc application. That makes you look unprepared and therefore, unprofessional. So, it is super important to use exactly the time that has been allotted for your talk and transition smoothly to questions. Don’t ask for one more minute or anything like that.

When time is up, you should be done. Whatever it takes to make this happen, you should do, such as writing a script for the talk you will give and practicing it.

Practice makes perfect, however, you don’t want to sound too practiced. Always improvise at least a little on the spot to keep things spontaneous and more authentic.

The audience should feel like you are engaging with them right then and there, and you can’t simulate that at home. You need to bring to them something of yourself that is only possible at the moment with them and right there as you live through your talk.

Questions at the job talk for a postdoc application

Factor in that there may be questions during the talk itself. The audience is probably allowed to interrupt during the talk and ask for clarifications on any of the material you show, so be prepared for and expect that. The better you are at fielding these types of questions the more professional and put together you will come across.

By “better” I mean do not get flustered, worried, or annoyed at questions. The answering of questions during a job talk is more about your attitude than anything else. This is because your answer could very well be “I don’t know.” The important thing, though, is to show that you appreciate the question, are willing to think about it on the spot, and are comfortable with admitting that you don’t know things.

Research is always on the cutting edge of knowledge which means that there will be things you don’t know and haven’t yet looked into. When you give a talk, a giant flashlight may be shined upon the stuff you don’t know yet. You must be willing to take that as an opportunity to learn and grow as opposed to an attack.

In academia, even if the audience member’s motive is to attack you for whatever reason, YOU will look better than them if you remain professional and friendly on your end and try to simply do your best to answer their question.

There are so many ways to make the audience feel good and welcome to your research talk. Taking questions well, I believe, is the most important way to do that. Besides that, there is, of course, eye contact and making sure that you survey the room while you give your talk.

Read the room

Look at people’s expressions and note how they are doing. If they look confused, adapt your script to add more explanation on whatever you are discussing.

Make sure to look at various parts of your audience. You are talking to them as a group. The more members of your audience you include by looking at them, the better off they will feel. If you fixate on just one or two people, the others will feel left out. Don’t do that.

Include everyone!

Stay tuned to read about how to best answer questions during a job talk in my next post!