Content Evaluation
Feedback on talks and lectures (of both academic and popular natures) that focuses on clarity of argument, narrative structure, evocative imagery and crafting an oral presentation that speaks to your specific audience.
Crafting a talk or lecture (or youtube video) is not the same as writing an article or book that conveys the salient ideas of your research. Ideas need to be presented in certain ways for people to absorb them. In this form, storytelling, emotion and persuasion come into play in a way that is not necessarily the case in a written piece. You often want your audience to do something as a result of the talk; p you want them to give you a job, get them to fund your research, or want them to take the idea you’ve presented and use it for good. Your ideas have power - and for that power to create the change you hope it will, it needs to engage and motivate your audience.
Whether you have a talk already written or constructed, or in the process of crafting a talk from a written work, I can assess the degree to which your ideas are hitting their target, explain why they might not be getting through as successfully as you hope, and provide concrete ways to revise the talk to increase its impact. This may take the form of my reading the talk if you have fully drafted it, talking through it with you if you are still at the beginning stages of developing it, or giving feedback on a live or recorded performance if you tend to work off the cuff based on notes.
What You’ll Get:
A assessment of the talk on the level of argument, narrative, accessibility, evidence, engagement and tone, either written or oral, depending on the format in which the talk is delivered.
An analysis of the reasons that certain parts of the talk are effective or ineffective from the perspective of the particular audience that you intend to deliver it to and a detailed plan for revising it to make it more effective.