When The Scientist Presents

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The perfect presentation start: Make your work relevant to the audience Jun 25, 2016

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I love watching Ted Talks. I often analyse them with the scientists who attend the scientific presentation class. One thing TED presenters do extremely well is to bring in the audience into their world at the beginning of their talk. Joe Landolina, in an excellent presentation on his wound-healing invention, starts with the following words: “I want you guys … Continue reading "The perfect presentation start: Make your work relevant to the audience"

PowerPoint drawbacks: up front and impersonal Nov 22, 2014

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You are supposed to be up close and personal. You are also supposed to be upfront… but up front, facing the audience, things are not so close and personal. It’s them versus you: them sitting and listening, and you standing and talking next to your faithful computer FIDO and its wireless leash. But the one on the leash … Continue reading "PowerPoint drawbacks: up front and impersonal"

Fear is not your enemy, it is your judge! Nov 22, 2014

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Anxiety is the sum of all fears. Here are four more fears to add to the six introduced in a prior blog entry (http://scientific-presentations.com/2014/06/17/anxiety-the-sum-of-all-your-fears/) Is your fear, the fear of unknown faces? Did you attempt to network with one or two people from the audience prior to your talk to make the unfamiliar somewhat more familiar and … Continue reading "Fear is not your enemy, it is your judge!"

Avoid the presentation kill zones Oct 21, 2014

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Wikimedia – public domain During a Fresh Air National Public Radio program, astronaut Christ Hadfield said that during their flight rehearsals at NASA, Astronauts go sequentially over the various problems that may result in rapid (and usually final) death if they do not deal with them right away (tip: search for the word “kill” in the interview transcripts). The … Continue reading "Avoid the presentation kill zones"

Presentation qualities: time control Jul 10, 2014

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At times, it may seem that time waits for a woman to get dressed, but when it comes to conference talks, the chair will give you a dressing-down if you exceed your time. The chair of your session HAS to keep to time. Tea breaks don’t wait; the start of a session in another conference room … Continue reading "Presentation qualities: time control"

Anxiety: the sum of all your fears Jun 17, 2014

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Fearful speaking in front of others? First find out the reason why you are nervous. Then get rid of that reason. Here is a catalog of the possible reasons, and remember, more than one reason may apply: anxiety is the sum of all your fears. Fear of not being prepared. you had too little time … Continue reading "Anxiety: the sum of all your fears"

Presentation preliminaries: 7 professional moves Apr 02, 2014

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Source: Telefonzentralen Fotoarchiv A1 Telekom Austria The recommendation to “connect to your audience” evokes the image of the telephone operator of old, plugging a jack into a panel to connect a caller. “To connect” to your audience implies that the default status at the start of a presentation is that of disconnection. You are not … Continue reading "Presentation preliminaries: 7 professional moves"

Scientific Presentations and Chinese Proverbs – part 2 Mar 25, 2014

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Source: Flick; Author: Rob Well. “A road is traced by the people who walk on it.” Acknowledge others, the people who inspired you, gave you ideas. There is always a way to acknowledge someone in a presentation. Your road may still be a path, but someone before you cleared some of the branches blocking your … Continue reading "Scientific Presentations and Chinese Proverbs – part 2"

Scientific Presentations and Chinese Proverbs – part 1 Mar 25, 2014

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Source: Flickr; Author: Steve Webel. “By tongue work, eloquence is gained; By hand work, clumsiness is lost.” People who silently rehearse their presentation looking at the computer screen never become eloquent. People who sit while rehearsing lack naturalness when standing. “Without ugliness, beauty does not stand out; Without salt, sugar would be less sweet.” Without … Continue reading "Scientific Presentations and Chinese Proverbs – part 1"

the fallacy of the 10-minute attention span Mar 24, 2014

Show notes

I hate rules based on one-off samples. They are very seductive because they are so simple and memorable, but they are very misleading because they lack context and support. Case in point: John Medina has written a very interesting book which he promotes very well on his website Brain Rules. His marketing has convinced thousands … Continue reading "the fallacy of the 10-minute attention span"

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