Journal club, and indeed any public presentation, is a good opportunity to hone speaking skills which will allow you to communicate your messages more effectively, and may weigh heavily in getting you a job someday. A little preparation and reflection goes a long way toward turning just any old talk into a effective vehicle for communication and dialog. I compiled the following tips and suggestions for a Departmental Journal Club several years ago, with the aid of students and faculty. I also acknowledge early influence and suggestions by Larry Molnar at the University of Iowa. While this summary is by no means exhaustive, enough people have contributed to this effort that I believe it contains all the major considerations relevant to preparing a public presentation on any technical topic. Certain items are tailed more toward traditional science lecture-style presentations, and may need to be modified for other settings, such as elementary school presentations, after-dinner talks, or Nobel acceptance speeches. For a much more extensive write-up on how to give talks, see this.

Organization and Preparation

• Consider the level of the audience (5 min AAS talk to specialists vs. journal club)
• Motivate the Topic
  Why is it important?
  Why is it topical?
• Provide sufficient background info
• Define key terms
• Organize in a way that's easy for audience to follow (or get back on board if they get lost)
  Start with an outline of the talk (i.e., tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em; maybe even refer back to the outline if a long talk)
  Sometimes it may be good to tell them the punchline at the outset; other times this is best done at the end. Think about which will have the effect you want.
  Wrap up with a strong summary (i.e., tell 'em again what you just told 'em; think about what you want the audience to walk away with)
• Use the proper number of viewgraphs (0.5 viewgraphs/min is a good average in my experience; I'm working on the data to back up this claim.)
• Prepare!
  Organize viewgraphs
  Be familiar with the subject material
  Be familiar with important work in the field; (cite relevant work; people like to see themselves cited)
  Check that slides are in correctly
  Familiarize yourself with pointers, projectors, etc.

Recommendations for Visuals

• Prooofread yur visuall aids!
• Should be large enough to read from back of the room
• Should be clearly written or typed; use color intelligently (not randomly) to highlight similar concepts or items
• Make sure photocopies are sized to fit
  Take time to blow up small graphs
  Enlarge small print
• Take time to read the axes and explain a graph: the audience needs time to process that information
• Place only pertinent information on a viewgraph!
  no 15 column, full page tables! (if essential, hi-light the pertinent info)
  Use equations only to the extent that you would write on a board; only those you intend to spend time on

Stylistic notes (very subjective; feel free to disagree)

• Attitude
  Be excited about the topic (if you're not, why are you there?)
• Pace
  Move the talk forward without rushing
  Pause to allow questions or reflection where appropriate
• Length of Talk
  NEVER run overtime (how many times to you sit and count the remaining viewgraphs of long-winded speakers... No one complains if a talk ends early!)
  Build in time for questions when you plan the talk
  Be prepared to cut out material if discussions develop
• Gestures and use of space
  Shun podiums! If you must use one, feel free to leave it. Don't hide behind it.
  Achieve best eye contact possible; this helps keep sleepy professors from nodding off.
  Point at the screen rather than the overhead if at all possible
• Use some humor to break up a long talk, if you are comfortable doing so. Better to not risk humor if you aren't sure you can pull it off.

Pet Peeves (add your own favorites)

• Don't block the projector (again, practice and be aware of yourself).
• Avoid annoying speech mannerisms (umm, ya' know, like)
• Never apologize for yourself or your work: it diminishes your credibility. (Of course, acknowledge the limitations of your work honestly.)
• Know how to pronounce the words or names in the talk
  ``I'll be presenting a paper by Lequizi...Lequizichski...oh, some Polish dude''
• Avoid nervous mannerisms that detract from the talk
  ``quickly now I'll...''
  ``In the last 30 seconds...''
  ``If I can run just a little overtime...''