I recently learned that my parents have been carrying around an A4 printout of this poster in an attempt to help explain to curious acquaintances what it is I actually do as a research mathematician. This is quite a nice thing to do, but the reader may immediately recognise this as a gross mismatch of intended and actual audience.

The challenge this presents is clear — to create an audience-appropriate, pamphlet-sized, self-contained explanation of my work. This of course shares a lot with the more familiar elevator pitch, with a couple of key differences. The main additional challenge is that, unlike over a pint at the pub, the narrator is unable to adapt to their audience. One must anticipate and address as many questions as possible in a fixed amount of space, and cannot lean on the specific expertise of the reader. On the other hand, a print-out can immediately call upon a carefully constructed and tailor-made diagram, whereas at least one of these criteria must usually be abandoned in impromptu settings. I encourage you to attempt your own version of this exercise, it’s rather entertaining and informative.

Here is my present attempt. I’m sure it will remain in a state of perpetual beta testing, so don’t hesitate to provide feedback if you so desire.