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How to give a 12-minute mathematics research presentation
In my area of research, numerical partial differential equations, there is a biannual conference with a unique format, called the Finite Element Circus. What’s special about it is that the order of the talks is randomly determined at the beginning of the conference, and the amount of time you have depends on the number of people who volunteer to speak. Thus the challenge is you have to be ready to shorten (or lengthen) your talk at a moment’s notice. At the most recent Finite Element Circus, which took place at Brown University in April 2024, speakers were given 12 minutes a pop.
Of course, the powers and pitfalls of the abridged talk are not exclusive to one particular area of math. Based on my experience speaking at the Finite Element Circus twice, and discussions I’ve had about presentation organization with colleagues, I hereby present my pieces of advice for how to prepare and give a short research talk in mathematics.
Organizing the talk
If you have 12 minutes, that’s not really a lot of time, so I wouldn’t advise including many bells and whistles. Identify the simplest prototype of your research problem that can succinctly be explained, without as little notation introduced as possible. Also be sure to still motivate the problem: address the question of why the audience should care, and…