Science presentations oct_2014

PRESENTING SCIENCETO YOUR PEERS

FHI 14 October 2014

Anne Hodgson anne.hodgson@t-online.de

Today

• Rhetorical situations

• Sequencing

• Example: Michael Pawlyn

• Skills

• Example – your choice

• Guiding the audience

• Visual design

• Practice w. charts

• Example: Hans Rosling

Next week

• Present your prepared chart

• Introduce your presentation

• Tell a story from your field of

research

• Handle Q&A

• Recordings, watch them, peer

and teacher feedback

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Workshop plan

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http://asbmbenzymatic.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/20110409_asbmb_237_045.jpg

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http://www.whitestoneshaping.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Snoozer_426x282_thumb.jpg

• Introducing yourself to a group

• Introducing someone else

• Presenting research to professors for assessment

• Interrupting a lecturer

• Asking a question in Q&A

• Teaching non-experts or younger students

• Pitching: Selling your concept to sponsors

6 Rhetorical situations

What causes you anxiety? Why?

Rhetorical orientation

Communication

7 Practice

Performance

Shifting to communication will help you overcome anxiety

Stories about research

Michael Pawlyn

Eden Project bubble dome, biomimicry specialist

TED Salon 2010:

Using nature’s genius in architecture

Watch the first minutes and answer:

• What examples does he begin with?

• What details does he highlight? Why?

• How does he follow up to lead into his presentation?

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Michael Pawlyn:

Using nature’s genius in architecture

9 Sequencing

http://youtu.be/3QZp6smeSQA

Stories about research

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Communicate conceptsDaniel Pink

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Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind, 2005

How do we sequence scientific

information?

12 sequencing

Introduction – Methods – Results – Discussion

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Sequencing information:

What does your audience expect?

Scientific presentation

Background and methods

come before the results

Scientific information

(“facts”) is inherently

uncertain

Describing the complex

technical issues is proof of

your competence.

Popular presentation

Facts and results are more

important than background or

methods

The discovery of new

information is what is

interesting

Reducing complexity is proof

of your competence.

13Tell a story to match their expectations

Report structure

Summary

Contents

IntroductionAims and objectives,

methods, definitions,

background, thesis

Main bodyLogical sections, figures,

diagrams, charts, results,

discussion

ConclusionsSummary, significance,

revisit thesis, outlook,

recommendations

Bibliography

Appendices

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http://madefromscratch.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/banana-layer-cake.jpg

StorytellingNancy Duarte

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http://youtu.be/GY3u6QuZXEs

Story cycles

Robert McKee

1. Build tension: the problem

2. Provide release: the solution

3. Celebrate the releasethe results

4. Repeat

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17 Skills

The communication funnel

What you plan to sayWhat you actually say

What they really hear

What they understand

What they remember

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We remember:

• words at the beginning and end

• repeated words and phrases

• contextually unusual words

We are influenced by:

• consistently scientific facts and methods

• authentic authority and charisma

• our shared common sense

Fill the funnel wisely

Telling a story about research

Watch a presenter on TED (ca. 18 minutes)

• What areas does he/she explore in the presentation?

• What makes them relevant?

• What is his/her perspective?

• What specific questions does he/she ask?

• What are his/her findings?

• Note down examples.

• How is all of this relevant?

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Your choice

Watch a presenter on TED (ca. 18 minutes)

• Ralf Dunbar, geoscientist: Discovering ancient climates in

oceans and ice

• Michel Laberge, plasma physicist: How synchronized

hammer strikes could generate nuclear fusion

• Angela Belcher, head of the Biomolecular Materials Group

at MIT: Using nature to grow batteries

• Jonathan Trent, nanotechnologist at NASA: Energy from

floating algae pods

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Storytelling: Summarize research

• What (often: three) areas does the speaker explore?

• Why are they relevant?

• What approach/ perspective does he/she take?

• What are his/her specific questions?

• What are his/her findings in general?

• Can you give an example?

• How is this relevant?

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22 Practice

Skills

Feedback

23 Practice

1. Clear structure, logical

sequence, leads audience,

memorable words and phrases

2. Purpose of talk clear, creates

rapport with audience, responds

to audience, checks

understanding

3. Speaks clearly, intelligibly,

loudly enough,

repeats/visualizes names,

pauses for emphasis

4. Body language, non-verbal

communication, practical use of

media, relaxed presence

Guiding your audience

Use signposting to guide your listeners:

1. Tell them what you’re going to say

2. Say it (and tell them that you are saying it)

3. Tell them what you have said

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Signpost in the introduction

25 Practice

Ok, let‘s get started

Morning, everyone

As you know,...

What I want to do today is...

We‘re going to look at...

Today I‘m going to tell you about...

After that we‘ll discuss/ look at...

So I‘ll begin by outlining....

And then I‘ll go on to highlight...

Finally we‘ll explore the question of

whether...

First I‘ll give you an overview of...

The talk will take about...

I‘ll be happy to answer your questions at the end OR anytime during my talk.

Signal during the presentationTo move on To turn to To go back

To expand on To elaborate on To digress for a

moment

To summarize To recap To conclude

26 Practice

What do you say if you want

to go into more depth?

to follow a tangent?

to move to a different part?

to review?

to end?

“Let me just expand on that”; “To elaborate on that,”

“To digress for a moment,…”

“To turn to…”; “Now let’s move on (to…)”;

“To go back to what I was saying earlier”

“Let me recap:…”; “So, to summarize”

“To conclude, …”

Visual design

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Visual

Story

Delivery

Presentation

Ecosystem

stories

structure

theme

graphic design

words to pictures

fonts, colors…

interact

adjust pace

handouts

switch to board

context

eye flow

Message

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We process

only 120-150

words per minute

Use information-

rich images

instead

Reduce cognitive load

Use the power of “small multiples”Edward Tufte

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Smallmult.png

Back up all assertions with visual evidenceMichael Alley

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Michael Alley

The Craft of Scientific Presentations

Springer 2003

Rethinking the Design of Powerpoint Slides

http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/slides.html

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Headline 44 pt

Caption at least 16 pt

Use sans serif font

Show one or contrast 2 images

Label legibly

Acknowledge sources in 10 pt

Source: The Oceanographic Society

Scientifically Speaking. 2005.

http://www.tos.org/pdfs/sci_speaking.pdf

KISS

Practice referring to visuals

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Have a look at...

As you can see from...

What you can tell when you compare the two is that...

You‘ll notice that...

You may notice that...

Take a closer look and you will see that...

And down here you‘ll see...

I‘d like to draw your attention to one or two interesting details here.

It seems quite clear from this that...

The x-axis shows…

If you compare the two you will see that…

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Conveying meaning

Hans Rosling: 200 countries, 200 years, 4 minutes

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo

How does Hans Rosling do it?

1. How many points of reference

on the axes?

2. What are his variables?

3. Does he introduce and

describe each variable?

4. How does he help us process

the information?

5. How does he reinforce the

graphic?

6. How does he link the past and

the future?

7. What does he explain verbally?

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How does Hans Rosling do it?

1. How many points of reference

on the axes?

2. What are his variables?

3. Does he introduce and

describe each variable?

4. How does he help us process

the information?

5. How does he reinforce the

graphic?

6. How does he link the past and

the future?

7. What does he explain verbally?

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Six points

country, life expectancy, income,

population, and time

yes

takes 'snapshots' of the data

body language 'mirrors' the graphic

summarizes findings, shows trends

lets the data 'speak' for itself,

explains the causes and effects

Task: Visualize a key assertion

Consider:

• Your audience and situation/ media?

• Scientific objective/problem, method of solution?

• Findings: Assertion, evidence/ chart?

• Example/ story?

To do:

• Design a slide

• Prepare an introduction

• Tell a story about the research

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Tell a story from a field of research

• What area does your paper explore?

• What makes this relevant?

• What is the chosen perspective and method?

• What specific questions do the authors ask?

• What are their findings?

• Note down examples and points for discussion.

• How is all of this relevant?

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LiteratureScientific Communication

• Abela, Andrew (2008). Advanced presentations by design: Creating communication that drives action. San

Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer; http://www.extremepresentation.com/

• Alley, Michael (2013/2) The Craft of Scientific Presentations. Springer.

• Duarte, Nancy (2010) resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences. Wiley.

• Duarte, Nancy (2008) slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations. O'Reilly Media.

• McKee, Robert & Fryer, Bronwyn (2003) Storytelling That Moves People. Harvard Business Review June. Reprint

R0306B http://hbr.org/2003/06/storytelling-that-moves-people/

• Reynolds, Garr (2011, 2nd edition) Presentation Zen. Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery. New

Riders; http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/

• Reynolds, Garr (2011) The Naked Presenter: Delivering Powerful Presentations With or Without Slides. New Riders.

• Tufte, Edward (2001, 2nd edition) The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Graphics Press.

Improve your academic English

• McCarthy, Michael/ O’Dell, Felicity (2008) Academic Vocabulary in Use. Cambridge University Press.

• Academic English Online http://aeo.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/index.html/

• Andy Gillett’s Using English for Academic Purposes (UEFAP): http://www.uefap.com/

• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/2/

• Monah University Writing in Science: http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/science/index.xml

• MacMillan Dictionary http://www.macmillandictionary.com/

• Open corpora: https://the.sketchengine.co.uk/open/

• Just the word http://www.just-the-word.com/

• Netspeak http://www.netspeak.org/

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