Andrew Tagg
@andrewjtagg.bsky.social
EM/PEM physician, knowledge spreader, Lego muncher, co-founder www.dontforgetthebubbles.com
Public speaking tip:
Your audience doesn’t just hear your words.
They feel your nervous system.
Let me explain 👇
Your audience doesn’t just hear your words.
They feel your nervous system.
Let me explain 👇
October 1, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Public speaking tip:
Your audience doesn’t just hear your words.
They feel your nervous system.
Let me explain 👇
Your audience doesn’t just hear your words.
They feel your nervous system.
Let me explain 👇
🧵 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬? 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.
Most people focus on slides, script, story.
But none of that matters if your nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight.
Here’s what I teach before any big talk:
👇
Most people focus on slides, script, story.
But none of that matters if your nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight.
Here’s what I teach before any big talk:
👇
September 25, 2025 at 12:00 AM
🧵 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬? 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.
Most people focus on slides, script, story.
But none of that matters if your nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight.
Here’s what I teach before any big talk:
👇
Most people focus on slides, script, story.
But none of that matters if your nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight.
Here’s what I teach before any big talk:
👇
🧵𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦.
Not because you're arrogant.
Because you're cursed.
Not because you're arrogant.
Because you're cursed.
September 10, 2025 at 9:39 PM
🧵𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦.
Not because you're arrogant.
Because you're cursed.
Not because you're arrogant.
Because you're cursed.
🧵
“𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞…”
Harmless phrase? Not quite.
Here’s why it quietly signals a deeper problem 👇
“𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞…”
Harmless phrase? Not quite.
Here’s why it quietly signals a deeper problem 👇
September 4, 2025 at 12:29 AM
🧵
“𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞…”
Harmless phrase? Not quite.
Here’s why it quietly signals a deeper problem 👇
“𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞…”
Harmless phrase? Not quite.
Here’s why it quietly signals a deeper problem 👇
When I was 14, I brought a dead bat to class.
A real one.
A desiccated pipistrelle.
Everyone else brought paper.
I brought a story.
🦇 Here’s what that taught me:
A real one.
A desiccated pipistrelle.
Everyone else brought paper.
I brought a story.
🦇 Here’s what that taught me:
August 27, 2025 at 9:08 PM
When I was 14, I brought a dead bat to class.
A real one.
A desiccated pipistrelle.
Everyone else brought paper.
I brought a story.
🦇 Here’s what that taught me:
A real one.
A desiccated pipistrelle.
Everyone else brought paper.
I brought a story.
🦇 Here’s what that taught me:
Slide tip:
If your deck features Neo, Spock, or Friends—
ask yourself:
“Will this land in 2025… or just remind me how old I am?”
If your deck features Neo, Spock, or Friends—
ask yourself:
“Will this land in 2025… or just remind me how old I am?”
August 20, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Slide tip:
If your deck features Neo, Spock, or Friends—
ask yourself:
“Will this land in 2025… or just remind me how old I am?”
If your deck features Neo, Spock, or Friends—
ask yourself:
“Will this land in 2025… or just remind me how old I am?”
If your audience was born around 2000, they might not even know those references.
August 20, 2025 at 10:08 PM
If your audience was born around 2000, they might not even know those references.
🧵
𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝-𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫.
What the Bene Gesserit said… applies to public speaking too 👇
𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝-𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫.
What the Bene Gesserit said… applies to public speaking too 👇
August 14, 2025 at 1:07 AM
🧵
𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝-𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫.
What the Bene Gesserit said… applies to public speaking too 👇
𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝-𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫.
What the Bene Gesserit said… applies to public speaking too 👇
🧵
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐀 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
(A short thread on why it’s so hard to cut that slide you love…)
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐀 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
(A short thread on why it’s so hard to cut that slide you love…)
August 6, 2025 at 10:04 PM
🧵
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐀 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
(A short thread on why it’s so hard to cut that slide you love…)
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐀 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
(A short thread on why it’s so hard to cut that slide you love…)
I was all set to give my usual ALS teaching session.
Slides loaded. Clicker ready. Standard stuff.
And then the tech failed.
No projector. No slides. Nothing.
Slides loaded. Clicker ready. Standard stuff.
And then the tech failed.
No projector. No slides. Nothing.
July 14, 2025 at 3:04 AM
I was all set to give my usual ALS teaching session.
Slides loaded. Clicker ready. Standard stuff.
And then the tech failed.
No projector. No slides. Nothing.
Slides loaded. Clicker ready. Standard stuff.
And then the tech failed.
No projector. No slides. Nothing.
Most presentations start with a click.
🖱 Open laptop
🖥 Launch PowerPoint
⌨️ Tap out bullet points
But the best talks I’ve seen?
They start with something low tech:
🖊 A pen and a blank page.
🖱 Open laptop
🖥 Launch PowerPoint
⌨️ Tap out bullet points
But the best talks I’ve seen?
They start with something low tech:
🖊 A pen and a blank page.
July 2, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Most presentations start with a click.
🖱 Open laptop
🖥 Launch PowerPoint
⌨️ Tap out bullet points
But the best talks I’ve seen?
They start with something low tech:
🖊 A pen and a blank page.
🖱 Open laptop
🖥 Launch PowerPoint
⌨️ Tap out bullet points
But the best talks I’ve seen?
They start with something low tech:
🖊 A pen and a blank page.
“𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.”
– Sir Mark Walport
A 🧵on the step too many people skip:
Making sure your audience actually gets it.
– Sir Mark Walport
A 🧵on the step too many people skip:
Making sure your audience actually gets it.
June 18, 2025 at 10:16 PM
“𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.”
– Sir Mark Walport
A 🧵on the step too many people skip:
Making sure your audience actually gets it.
– Sir Mark Walport
A 🧵on the step too many people skip:
Making sure your audience actually gets it.
Here’s the structure I now build every talk around:
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 → 𝐒𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 → 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭
✨ What’s the idea?
✨ Why does it matter to them?
✨ What should they feel, think, or do next?
That’s it. That’s the talk.
Everything else is noise.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 → 𝐒𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 → 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭
✨ What’s the idea?
✨ Why does it matter to them?
✨ What should they feel, think, or do next?
That’s it. That’s the talk.
Everything else is noise.
June 11, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Here’s the structure I now build every talk around:
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 → 𝐒𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 → 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭
✨ What’s the idea?
✨ Why does it matter to them?
✨ What should they feel, think, or do next?
That’s it. That’s the talk.
Everything else is noise.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 → 𝐒𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 → 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭
✨ What’s the idea?
✨ Why does it matter to them?
✨ What should they feel, think, or do next?
That’s it. That’s the talk.
Everything else is noise.
Busy slides don’t make you look clever.
They make your message harder to follow.
Here’s how to say more — with less:
🔗 speakhuman.kit.com/posts/say-le...
#PublicSpeaking #PresentationTips
They make your message harder to follow.
Here’s how to say more — with less:
🔗 speakhuman.kit.com/posts/say-le...
#PublicSpeaking #PresentationTips
June 4, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Busy slides don’t make you look clever.
They make your message harder to follow.
Here’s how to say more — with less:
🔗 speakhuman.kit.com/posts/say-le...
#PublicSpeaking #PresentationTips
They make your message harder to follow.
Here’s how to say more — with less:
🔗 speakhuman.kit.com/posts/say-le...
#PublicSpeaking #PresentationTips
Everything I’ve learned about teaching, I’ve learned through
@DFTBubbles
Proud (and a bit stunned) to now be an Associate Professor at
@unimelb
It's been a long road, but I got there in the end.
@DFTBubbles
Proud (and a bit stunned) to now be an Associate Professor at
@unimelb
It's been a long road, but I got there in the end.
April 6, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Everything I’ve learned about teaching, I’ve learned through
@DFTBubbles
Proud (and a bit stunned) to now be an Associate Professor at
@unimelb
It's been a long road, but I got there in the end.
@DFTBubbles
Proud (and a bit stunned) to now be an Associate Professor at
@unimelb
It's been a long road, but I got there in the end.
For some reason, a lot of papers love to use LEFT-branching.
Can you see how the reader has to process extraneous information before reaching the point?
Their brain then bounced back to the beginning of the sentence to figure out meaning.
All this means more sparks spent.
Can you see how the reader has to process extraneous information before reaching the point?
Their brain then bounced back to the beginning of the sentence to figure out meaning.
All this means more sparks spent.
November 29, 2024 at 8:15 AM
For some reason, a lot of papers love to use LEFT-branching.
Can you see how the reader has to process extraneous information before reaching the point?
Their brain then bounced back to the beginning of the sentence to figure out meaning.
All this means more sparks spent.
Can you see how the reader has to process extraneous information before reaching the point?
Their brain then bounced back to the beginning of the sentence to figure out meaning.
All this means more sparks spent.
In English, most of our sentences are RIGHT-branching.
By presenting the main idea upfront, you are helping your readers grasp the core idea immediately and reducing the cognitive effort required to retain information.
A win for the reader.
By presenting the main idea upfront, you are helping your readers grasp the core idea immediately and reducing the cognitive effort required to retain information.
A win for the reader.
November 29, 2024 at 8:15 AM
In English, most of our sentences are RIGHT-branching.
By presenting the main idea upfront, you are helping your readers grasp the core idea immediately and reducing the cognitive effort required to retain information.
A win for the reader.
By presenting the main idea upfront, you are helping your readers grasp the core idea immediately and reducing the cognitive effort required to retain information.
A win for the reader.
If your reader only has so many sparks of brainpower to give, help them to spend them wisely.
November 29, 2024 at 8:15 AM
If your reader only has so many sparks of brainpower to give, help them to spend them wisely.
Why use the 4-syllable DEMONSTATED rather than the single syllable SHOWED?
November 29, 2024 at 7:40 AM
Why use the 4-syllable DEMONSTATED rather than the single syllable SHOWED?
Why do things happen PRIOR TO something rather than BEFORE?
November 29, 2024 at 7:40 AM
Why do things happen PRIOR TO something rather than BEFORE?
Why do we have REQUIREMENTS when actually they are just things we NEED?
November 29, 2024 at 7:40 AM
Why do we have REQUIREMENTS when actually they are just things we NEED?
Why do we insist on UTILIZING things when most of us just USE them?
November 29, 2024 at 7:40 AM
Why do we insist on UTILIZING things when most of us just USE them?
Making your meaning clear means not using long words when short ones work just as well.
Imagine each syllable you read takes away one spark* of energy
*Sparks are the SI unit of brain power
Imagine each syllable you read takes away one spark* of energy
*Sparks are the SI unit of brain power
November 29, 2024 at 7:40 AM
Making your meaning clear means not using long words when short ones work just as well.
Imagine each syllable you read takes away one spark* of energy
*Sparks are the SI unit of brain power
Imagine each syllable you read takes away one spark* of energy
*Sparks are the SI unit of brain power
Our brain flip-flops trying to figure out just which PE the article is talking about and why the heck the orthopods are requesting GCS for all their patients.
November 29, 2024 at 12:51 AM
Our brain flip-flops trying to figure out just which PE the article is talking about and why the heck the orthopods are requesting GCS for all their patients.
Imagine you are on the ward looking after a post-op TOF (TracheOesphageal Fistula) patient with a TOF (Tetralogy of Fallot) that you want to do a TOF (Trial of Fluids) on.
How confusing would that be?
How confusing would that be?
November 29, 2024 at 12:51 AM
Imagine you are on the ward looking after a post-op TOF (TracheOesphageal Fistula) patient with a TOF (Tetralogy of Fallot) that you want to do a TOF (Trial of Fluids) on.
How confusing would that be?
How confusing would that be?