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Tips on giving an online mathematics seminar
An online math seminar can be delivered using a tablet or using slides (beamer, PowerPoint, etc.).
Giving a tablet talk is much like giving a blackboard talk. You need a tablet with a stylus. If you have an android tablet, Windows surface or an iPad, join the call with the tablet directly. You can also join the call separately with your laptop to get better video of your face while you are presenting. If you are joining with two devices, mute the mic and speaker of your tablet to avoid a feedback loop.
Some further tips of tablet talks:
1. Use a good "Note" software for your presentation. Practice the use of colours, cutting and pasting, moving fragments around. Such a presentation can be much better than a blackboard talk.
2. You can also give a hybrid talk using both the tablet and slides.
3. Practice well before you give the talk. Try out all the features of your note-taking software.
Some tips for a slide talk:
Giving an online talk with slides is not too different from an offline talk. Just share your screen and play through your slides as you speak.
1. Use visually appealing arrangements of your content rather than bullet points.
2. Do not have very wordy slides full of complete sentences. Just have the main ideas and formulas on the slides. The details are to be filled in by you when you speak.
3. Use colours, figures, tables and liberally in your slides.
4. Do not give references as "[2]" in your slides, instead provide them as [Gauss, 1801] or some more informative format. You could even include a screenshot of the first page or a relevant page of the cited paper!
General advice for an online talk:
1. Lack of feedback from the audience during an online talk can be unnerving. It is easy to go too fast. Speak slowly, at an even pace, clearly enunciating all your words. Make it a point to pause often, and ask people if they have questions.
2. Do not cram more material than you can cover while speaking at a measured pace. Sometimes less is more. Carefully choose the content you will be presenting.
3. It is not always necessary to give full formal definitions of everything during a talk. It is more important to communicate the essence of the mathematical object in a short time.
--- written by Prof. Amritanshu Prasad (IMSc Chennai)
"During the Covid-19 lockdown, many online meetings are happening at different places across America and Europe. Many of these are organised mainly by young post docs and early career researchers. On the other hand, there has not been much academic e-activities in India other than regular courses taught by several universities/institutes. In view of this, essentially to get themselves active during the tiring lockdown, the young organisers of this MathFest decided to hold some sort of online activity in India! They approached me with their proposal and wanted me as a scientific advisor. I was reluctant at the beginning, but eventually was convinced by them, and that’s how my name has been associated with this Math conference.
The initial aim was to hold it as a forum for active young researchers in the country who would be requested to give mainly survey type of talks. The idea was to have talks that would facilitate some research directions for interested graduate students and post docs. And to a large extent, that is the core of this conference. It does not aim to be a vehicle for representation of every area of Mathematics, but rather the topics have been chosen as per the taste and interest of the committees involved here. The name Math Fest might sound like a complete and comprehensive representation of Mathematical areas. But here is a disclaimer that it is not. It essentially represents the areas which are close to the organising committee. To say things precisely, this virtual conference may also be called: GAAP (Geometry, Algebra, Analysis and PDE)!
The young organisers are very enthusiastic and have worked very hard in arranging this. Hope they would get something out of it, and would be able to contribute in similar directions. Hopefully some research collaborations will also be initiated following this meeting. My best wishes to the organising committee for the success of this meeting."
--- comments from Prof. Krishnendu Gongopadhyay (IISER Mohali)
"Kudos to the core organizing team for taking the initiative to organize the Virtual Math Fest. While necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, I hope this new model will survive into the post-pandemic era. It is a cheaper, more inclusive, and environment-friendly way to bring together mathematicians from all corners of the country (and even the whole world) to talk about their work. There will no doubt, be technical glitches, and perhaps the overall experience may not be as rewarding as being physically present at a conference, but these are issues pioneers always face. Future efforts of this kind will only be able to improve with experience."
--- comments from Prof. Amritanshu Prasad (IMSc Chennai)