John was getting antsy. During a hectic time in the clinic, he had carved out a weekend to attend a national oncology meeting and catch up on a new cancer treatment. He felt uncomfortable taking time away from his practice and ruminated for days before finally making his airline reservation. But ten minutes into the third presentation, he wondered if that had been a big mistake. Listening as carefully as he could, he was still trying to figure out what he was supposed to get out of the talk. The presenter shared many slides, but John struggled to follow the data and identify the key facts. It didn’t help that the presenter sounded half-asleep and spoke in an unrelenting monotone, even speeding up as the data slides grew more complex. Having given up on the presenter’s commentary, John did his best to learn what he could by reading each slide. But it was a losing battle as they advanced faster than he could follow. Then, as another dense slide appeared, he felt a buzz from his phone. Carefully hiding his phone under the table, he responded to an email. The presentation was still rolling when he finished, but it was too late to catch up. So he returned to his phone and stayed busy with emails until the coffee break. If you have attended scientific conferences, you might relate to John’s experience. You may have hoped to gain valuable insights from the presentations, but ended up finding yourself more interested in catching up with your friends and colleagues at coffee breaks and over dinner. If you have presented at conferences, your recollections of similar experiences as an audience member may have given you moments of serious reflection. For example, “Will I lose my audience? Am I a boring presenter?” Unfortunately, it may be difficult for you to know the answers to those questions. In-person audience members know how to play their role. If they are silently counting the minutes until the talk is over, they know how to appear attentive by giving the occasional nod and smile. However, you could be unaware that they checked out after the first few minutes of your presentation. Presenting online is even worse. The social contract that operates in a shared, in-person space does not apply as attendees join your talk from their homes and offices. As a presenter, you are just another window on their computer screens. Unseen and unnoticed, they may slip away into their calendars and emails. Read “Expert to Educator” if you want to present better. Read it if you consider yourself an expert in your field, but have never had the time to be formally trained in the techniques of an effective presenter. Even if you are a veteran speaker, skim the early sections of this book for review, check out the advanced techniques in the third section, and see how you can elevate your teaching a game and having more fun doing so.