Giving a Good Paper
Tenured Radical has some excellent advice on how to give a good paper presentation that I strongly recommend folks take a look at if they are going to be presenting any time soon. Linda Kerber has more good advice, and the Legal History Blog talks about how to incorporate all this into a legal presentation. Here are some excerpts. First, Kerber observes: Dorothy Kenyon, a great feminist and civil rights activist, who spent much of her time speaking in public, once observed that a public talk must “always seem to be improvised, but it must never be improvised.” If you want to hold your audience you must plan ahead, and plan very carefully. Observe time limits scrupulously. The usual rule of thumb is that a typewritten page [old fashioned courier, 12 point type] holds 250 words. It should take a minimum of 2 minutes to say 250 words out loud. If you have 20 minutes to speak your paper, it can be no longer than 10-12 pages. Do not think you can cheat by fixing the font. Begin with a ...