PMU199Y

[Your professor]

Fall Oral Presentations

On October 29th, everyone will be giving a brief oral presentation on a topic of their choice. Each student will be allotted precisely 3-3.5 minutes for their talk. Computers will be strictly forbidden for making presentations. Use of the blackboard or other visual aids will be discouraged (in particular, no props). Typed or handwritten speech notes are not only allowed but recommended.

Please note that you are obliged to not steal other speakers' thunder. In other words, when talking about your own topic you are not permitted to cover someone else's topic.

Topics

(Note: names are truncated to 3 characters for the purpose of anonymization to outsiders not taking this course.)

When Who What
14:10 all setup
14:16 Ali What are nuclear fission and fusion, and why are they sources of energy?
14:20 Waj What particle physics puzzle led to the discovery of the electron-neutrino?
14:24 Tji 1979 Physics Nobel Prize: theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interactions
14:28 Jos 2008 Physics Nobel Prize: spontaneous symmetry breaking
14:32 Sye 2001 Physics Nobel Prize: Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC)
14:36 Joa Why is the Death Star in Star Wars science fantasy?
14:40 Max How do Star Trek/Star Wars tractor beams violate known laws of physics?
14:44 Tal How do Star Trek wormholes violate known laws of physics?
14:48 Jen What is a tachyon, and why is it dangerous?
14:52 Reu Where do cosmic rays come from, and what happens when they bang into the atmosphere?
14:56 Lin Time dilation's sibling: Lorentz Contraction
15:00 all bathroom break
15:16 Geb How does a microwave oven work?
15:20 Lor What are the Van Allen belts and what is an aurora?
15:24 Nas What is the fate of our Sun?
15:28 Pat What is a supernova? What is left behind afterwards?
15:32 Jim What happens when two black holes collide?
15:36 Jam Bending of light by the sun in the 1919 solar eclipse
15:40 Seb What is gravitational time dilation and how does GPS work?
15:44 Tha What is a Quasar?
15:48 Qia The Cosmic Censorship Hypothesis
15:52 Cas What is LIGO?
15:56 all wrapup

Note: each person has been allocated a timeslot of exactly four minutes -- 3-3.5 minutes for the talk, plus 30 seconds to switch places with the next student. There is no spare time available for farting around, so you need to be all ready to give your speech when you walk into the room.

How To Fight Nervousness

Undergrad students get nervous about giving presentations. Grad students get nervous about giving presentations. Postdoctoral research fellows get nervous about giving presentations. Even professors get nervous about giving presentations. In each case, the solution is preparation and practice in advance.

Prof. Peet's Secret Formula

  1. Research the topic you're presenting, with your professor's guidance/assistance (in office hours or via email/SkypeIM) as needed. To combat procrastination, start researching as soon as you know your topic.
  2. Write your draft speech notes, based on your research from step 1. Get this document ready at least five days before the day of your presentation.
  3. Practice your draft presentation all the way through -- in private. Take notes on what needs improving just after you've finished (eg did you go over/under 3.5 minutes? were some sentences out of order? did some of it sound confusing?). Then incorporate improvements into your next draft of your speech notes. Iterate this step, two or three or a few times, until you have 3.5 minutes of material that explains your topic well and gets its physics right.
  4. Practice your presentation all the way through -- to your mirror, your cat, or (in my case) your teddy bear. Repeat (say 2-3 times) until giving the presentation to that ‘audience' feels comfortable.
  5. Practice your presentation all the way through -- to a live friendly human being, e.g. your Mom, your kid brother, Grandpa, Aunty Freda, your cousin, roommate, beer friend, or someone else you trust not to be mean to you.
  6. Presto! You're ready! On the day, you can read your speech notes word for word if you get stage fright. You're not expected to memorize your presentation in advance. (I allow only written notes, no electronics or props.)
  7. If you get stuck preparing/practising, ask your friendly professor for help. Prof. Peet trains undergrads, grad students, and postdocs to give physics presentations, and started building a reputation as a good technical and public speaker twenty years ago.