Physics Talk Design

Contract

• Input: talk/poster topic, audience, duration / size.
• Output: source + notes + checklist.
• Side effects: none.
• Dependencies: none.
• Stop condition: compiled; checklist complete.
• Risk: low.
• Boundary: prepares talk/poster; does not deliver it.

Physics Talk Design

Build a physics talk or poster — seminar, conference talk, public outreach — with audience-appropriate depth and visual conventions.

When to use

• A seminar or conference talk needs slides.
• A poster needs layout, figure arrangement, and colour rules.
• A public talk needs a reduced-depth version.

Process

1. Audience and duration

• Audience: specialist / cross-disciplinary / student / public.
• Duration: 15 min / 30 min / 50 min / 90 min.
• Format: talk / poster / panel / public lecture.

Completion criterion: audience and format explicit.

2. Structure

Standard talk structure:

• Hook: why should this audience care? (1 minute).
• Context: what is known; what is missing. (2 minutes).
• Method / model: the approach (technical for specialists; conceptual for students). (3–5 minutes).
• Result: clear statement with figure. (3–5 minutes).
• Interpretation: what does this mean? (2 minutes).
• Conclusion / take-away: one sentence. (1 minute).

Completion criterion: structure saved; timing targets set.

3. Figures and conventions

Physics conventions:

• Units: always on axes (e.g. "Energy (eV)").
• Error bars: visible and labelled (statistical, systematic).
• Colour: distinguishable in grayscale; use pattern or line style for colour-blind readers.
• Scale: logarithmic / linear stated; avoid misleading truncation.
• Reference lines: dashed for theoretical predictions; solid for data.

Completion criterion: all figures comply with conventions; accessibility checklist filled.

4. Poster design

• Layout: title, abstract, result figure, conclusion, references.
• Flow: top-to-bottom, left-to-right; highlight result in centre.
• Font size: readable from 1.5 m (min 18pt for body, 36pt for headings).
• Colour: consistent theme; avoid red-green only combinations.
• QR code: link to paper / data / arXiv.

Completion criterion: poster layout saved; readability checked.

5. Speaker notes and timing

• Notes: key message per slide; common question and answer.
• Timing: practice aloud; adjust slides to meet duration.
• Transitions: state what the next slide answers.

Completion criterion: notes saved for each slide; practice timing recorded.