What a great seminar, that was. I really appreciated his advice on writing recommendation letters, too: the expectation is shifted wildly towards effusive. If you are plainly complimentary, it can come off as a secret warning that you don't think they are worth hiring.

But there were also great AI papers, and meta advice on reading them efficiently. (I don't remember any crimes against ferrets, but presumably the reading list changed over time)

I appreciated that class, and it's only grown on me over time. Another line that really stuck with me was something like "forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit" (Which I remembered as "Perhaps we will look back on even this with fondness") It's so easy to undervalue amazing things when they are happening to you. I was really convinced that I was appreciating it, even more than many around me. But I still look back and think I could have soaked it in, even more.

I've always considered you to be one of my most valuable assets.

This is great advice for the right context, but can be the wrong advice for different situations.

If the slide deck is meant to be something that can be shared around and make sense without you, it needs to have a lot of text on the slides. Even putting it in the speaker notes doesn’t work.

So make sure you know your audience and the context (also important presentation advice)

One downside to not having much text on your slides is that the slides alone are then not as useful as a reference to attendees later.

When I do low-text slides anyway, sometimes I've used the "notes" field of the presentation program to write out complete text of a version of the speech, for my eyes only. Then I don't read the notes while presenting, but I've gone through that writing exercise, to think through the content and presentation more rigorously than is necessary to slap some headings on slides.

> have almost 0 text on your slides

I don't think this is good advice. What you should actually do is not just read out the slide. The slide isn't your autocue.

It's fine to have text on a slide if you are talking about that text. For example you might be analysing some code, or writing techniques or whatever.

Honestly it's really obvious if you've ever watched any presentations in your life... but people still do it because it feels a lot easier.

Someone told me something similar once:

When giving a talk, your slides are not "the show." YOU are the show.

After looking for further reading about Patrick's thoughts on communication, here's what I found.

https://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.803/index.html - The supplementary reading list for this class looks interesting.

https://www.amazon.com/Make-Clear-Speak-Persuade-Inform/dp/0... - Patrick co-authored a book on communication based on said class.

The statement completely overlooks the importance of the ability to listen, to seek clarification. Speaking is important, but listening, soliciting opinion, and incorporating varied perspectives are underrated.

It may become even MORE true when AI’s influence is fully apparent.

I feel like (or thought that) I had the ability to listen and read at the same time, until I heard that line, and it hit me like a bag of bricks. I absolutely cannot read and listen simultaneously! I can type and listen on the other hand, although it feels like I buffer the keystrokes than consciously typing out new sentences...

The joke is almost 5 minutes into the talk: he didn't start with one. His point is that in the first few minutes the audience is still warming up and many wouldn't pay attention to the joke.