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ABSTRACT: Presentations at professional meetings are usually
soporific. For almost half a century physicists such as K.K. Darrow,
Jim Garland, and David Mermin wrote articles which failed to improve
the quality of talks at meetings of the American Physical Society
(APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) . But
hope springs eternal. Perhaps the insightful Scott Berkun, coming out
of Carnegie Mellon with a degree in Logic and Computation, and a
sterling record of publications, can stem the tide of mediocrity with
his latest book "Confessions of a Public Speaker."
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I recently received an alert from Oregonian David Sokoloff titled
"Abstract Deadline March 1 for AAPT Summer Meeting in Portland, OR."
[AAPT = American Association of Physics Teachers]. David wrote:
"Ultimately, THE QUALITY OF THE PORTLAND MEETING WILL DEPEND ON YOUR
PARTICIPATION AND CONTRIBUTIONS.. . . . [[My CAPS]]. . . . If you
have been thinking about submitting an abstract (or even if you have
not yet begun thinking about it) please remember that the March 1
deadline is quickly approaching. Use the AAPT submission form at
<http://aapt.org/Events/abstractForm.cfm>.
Concerning the quality of AAPT meetings and the like, the
presentations are usually soporific, even including my own.
Perhaps Scott Berkun, coming out of Carnegie Mellon with a degree in
Logic and Computation, and author of:
a. the insightful essay "Why smart people defend bad ideas" [Berkun (2005)],
b. the brilliant "The Myths of Innovation" [Berkun (2007)],
c. the helpful guide "Making Things Happen: Mastering Project
Management" [Berkun (2008)], and now
d. his "Confessions of a Public Speaker" [Berkun (2009)],
will succeed in elevating public speaking where others have failed.
For example, Karl K. Darrow's "How to address the American Physical
Society" [Darrow (1951)] is, in my opinion, a masterpiece, but had
near zero effect on the abysmal quality of APS talks. Later
republications of the same article [Darrow (1961, 1981) had even less
effect, as I can attest from having attended many APS meeting in the
post 1960's era.
Among other physicists who attempted to improve the talks at physics
meetings are Jim Garland (1991) in ''Advice to beginning physics
speakers,'' and David Mermin (1992) in ''What's wrong with those
talks?'' . However, in my opinion, their articles had about the same
null effect as those of Darrow.
I think Berkun's latest book "Confessions of a Public Speaker" might
serve to upgrade the average meeting presentation if it were widely
read by physicists and other professionals.
Berkun, S. 2008. "Making Things Happen: Mastering Project
Management," O'Reilly Media, publisher's information at
<http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517717/>, including the table of
contents and a short video. Note the "Browse Contents" feature.
Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/6syjrv>. Note the
searchable "Look Inside" feature.
Darrow, K.K. 1951. "How to address the American Physical Society,"
Physics Today 4(2), February; online to subscribers at
<http://tinyurl.com/yk665y6>: "Does everyone head for the corridors
when you rise to read your paper? If so, the Secretary of the
Physical Society wishes to have a word with you."
Darrow, K.K. 1961. "How to address the APS," Physics Today 14(10),
October, pp. 20-23; online at <http://tinyurl.com/ykvzlms>:
"Reprinted here, for the benefit of those who missed the first
performance, is an article by Dr. Darrow which originally appeared in
the February 1951 issue of Physics Today under the title, "How to
Address the American Physical Society." A photo of a typical hostile
APS-meeting audience of the 1960's (note the ties and coats) adorns
the frontispiece.
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Darrow, K.K. 1981. "How to address the APS," Physics Today 34(12):
25-30; online to subscribers at <http://tinyurl.com/yho79ro>. A
forward by W.W. Havens, executive secretary of the APS reads, in part
[My CAPS.]:
". . . .as the size of the meetings expanded and the halls- in which
papers were presented became larger and less suited to regular class-
room techniques, it became obvious that most physicists were not
coming across very well in presenting papers at APS meetings. Darrow,
who was an excellent public speaker, was persuaded to write a set of
instructions for presenting a paper at a meeting of The American
Physical Society. These instructions were first published in Physics
Today in February 1951. HOWEVER, THE QUALITY OF MEETING PRESENTATIONS
DID NOT IMPROVE SUBSTANTIALLY and the article was printed again in
Physics Today in 1961. Several thousand reprints of this article were
distributed to all APS members who contributed papers to APS
meetings. HOWEVER, THE QUALITY OF PAPERS PRESENTED AT APS MEETINGS
DID NOT IMPROVE.
Physicists did not see themselves in the role of Sir Lawrence
Olivier. The suggestion that the article be reprinted again in 1981
when the AIP turned 50 and Karl Darrow turned 90, was received with
reservation because it was thought the article might be out of date.
However, rereading the article shows that, except for the change of
visual aids from slide projection to viewgraph. . . . .[[and now
PowerPoint!]]. . . ., all of the instructions given by Darrow for
presenting a papers at an APS meeting still are as appropriate today
as they were when they were written. The article is reprinted here as
originally published to celebrate Darrow's 90th birthday on 26
November 1981 and shows that while some things change, others remain
very much the same."
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Garland, J.C. 1991. ''Advice to beginning physics speakers,'' Phys.
Today 44(7): 42-45; online to subscribers at
<http://tinyurl.com/ygef9wm>.
Hake, R.R. 2005. "Re: Why Smart People Defend Bad Ideas," online on
the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://tinyurl.com/yhuxbsm>. Post of 28
Nov 2005 12:19:40-0800 to AERA-L, AP-Physics, ITForum, Physhare,
PhysLrnR, Physoc, POD, STLHE-L, and TIPS.
Hake, R.R. 2007. "The Myths of Innovation," online on the OPEN! POD
archives at
<https://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0705&L=POD&T=0&P=78089>.
Post of 26 May 2007 20:39:34-0700 to AERA-L, AP-Physics, ITForum,
Physhare, PhysLrnR, Physoc, POD, STLHE-L, and TIPS.
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Mermin, N.D. 1992. ''What's wrong with those talks?'' Phys. Today
45(11): 9-11; online to subscribers at <http://tinyurl.com/ygfggcy>.
A spoof of Garland (1991) beginning:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
My friend Professor Mozart recently ran across some advice to young
physicists on how to give talks . . . . . [[Garland (1991)]]. . . . .
He came to me seething with indignation.
"What's the problem, W. A.?" I asked. "I thought Jim Garland spelled
out concisely and effectively just about every- thing the novice
ought to take into consideration."
"As you say," he snarled, "it was a precise recipe for how to produce
a contemporary physics talk-an almost perfect codification of all the
ingredients."
"Well what more could you ask?"
He gave me a look of withering scorn.
"The contemporary physics talk is a disaster," he proclaimed. "The
only pleasure it affords is the relief that washes over you as you
realize, finally, that perhaps the end is in sight. To assemble a
respectable audience you have to bribe people with cookies and
muffins. You must offer gallons of coffee to those honorable enough
not to take the food and run, to help them maintain consciousness
during the next hour. The article in PHYSICS TODAY did a masterful
job of passing on to future generations everything necessary to
maintain this dreary art form."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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