Presenting Science To The Public

Abstract: A text for science professionals, prepared by a physician who has specialized in scientific communication, presents practical guidelines for conveying abstruse, difficult, or highly technical information to nontechnical audiences. The text sets out the basic principles of communication and illustrates these principles from the author's personal experiences. The material is organized into 2 principal parts: the first deals with presenting science through the mass media; the second considers presenting science directly to the public. General principles for communicating science to the public also are discussed. (wz).

Science and technology are embedded in virtually every aspect of modern life. As a result, people face an increasing need to integrate information from science with their personal values and other considerations as they make important life decisions about medical care, the safety of foods, what to do about climate change, and many other issues. Communicating science effectively, however, is a complex task and an acquired skill. Moreover, the approaches to communicating science that will be most effective for specific audiences and circumstances are not obvious. Fortunately, there is an expanding science base from diverse disciplines that can support science communicators in making these determinations. Communicating Science Effectively offers a research agenda for science communicators and researchers seeking to apply this research and fill gaps in knowledge about how to communicate effectively about science, focusing in particular on issues that are contentious in the public sphere. To inform this research agenda, this publication identifies important influences â€" psychological, economic, political, social, cultural, and media-related â€" on how science related to such issues is understood, perceived, and used.

Imagine you are a scientist faced with presenting your research clearly and concisely. Where would you go for help? This book provides the answer. It shows how to use story structure to craft clear, credible presentations. In it you will find exercises to help you give both short and long presentations. Elevator pitches, lightning talks, Three Minute Thesis (3MT®), and conference presentations are all covered as are suggestions for longer presentations. Separate chapters address good poster design, how to tailor your talk to an audience, and presentation skills. Throughout the book the focus is on creating surprising, memorable stories. Scientific presentations are true stories about new discoveries. They are surprising because every new discovery changes our understanding of the world, and memorable because they move audiences. With light-hearted illustrations by Jon Wagner this book will appeal to researchers and graduate students in all areas of science, and other disciplines too.

Public speaking is an essential component in the life of a scientist, whatever your level of career. In this book, the authors describe a tried-and-tested technique for preparing a presentation: the SELL Method. Following these three simple steps - Skeleton, Envelope, Life & Logistics - will help you make the most out of any talk. Whether it be a 3-minute pitch or an hour-long plenary session, you will find pages of advice, theory and practical exercises enabling you to SELL YOUR RESEARCH with impact. For scientists these days, the work is not done until it is communicated. And now that problem is solved. Solidly researched and immaculately written, Sell Your Research is a goldmine of useful advice. Whether you are brimming with confidence or just setting out, this gem of a guidebook will improve every presentation and nurture every budding science communicator. Dr. Stephen Webster, Director of Science Communication Unit, Imperial College London Public speaking is one of the most intimidating but crucial tasks in a scientist’s career. This book provides a welcoming, clear, step-by-step guide to improving your presentations at every level. Reading it and following its advice will make your science talks less frightening and more enjoyable. Dr. Laura Helmuth, Health, Science & Environment Editor, Washington Post

Check out the author's website at www.scientific-presentations.com This book looks at the presenting scientist from a novel angle: the presenter-host. When scientists give a talk, the audience (“guests”) expects the title of the talk to determine presentation content, they require understandable slides, and they demand visible and audible scientific authority. To each expectation corresponds a set of skills: personal (voice, host qualities, time control), technical (presentation tools and slide design), and scientific (Q&A, slide content). The author takes an original human factor view of the presentation delivery, in which the audience is easily distracted, rapidly forgetful, and increasingly impatient. Thus, insightful pointers are given on how to deliver the talk, how to craft the slides, and how to prevent the computer from rendering the presenting host-scientist into a “ghost”. In addition, the book goes in-depth over the treatment of questions by examining the motives and style of the questioners, and advising on how best to answer to each type of questioner. The book comes with a DVD for audio and video examples, and includes essential PowerPoint and Keynote techniques that a presenter cannot live without.Contents: "Content Selection: "Paper and Oral Presentation: The DifferenceContent Filtering Criteria"Audience Expectations: "General Audience ExpectationsScientific Audience Expectations"The Slides: "Five Slide Types, Five RolesSlide Design"The Presenter: "The Master of ToolsScientist and Perfect HostThe Grabbing VoiceThe Answerable Scientist Readership: Students, graduates, postgraduates, and professionals seeking help in improving their scientific presentation skills.

FOREWORD BY GUY KAWASAKI Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the Net — presentationzen.com — shares his experience in a provocative mix of illumination, inspiration, education, and guidance that will change the way you think about making presentations with PowerPoint or Keynote. Presentation Zen challenges the conventional wisdom of making "slide presentations" in today’s world and encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations. Garr shares lessons and perspectives that draw upon practical advice from the fields of communication and business. Combining solid principles of design with the tenets of Zen simplicity, this book will help you along the path to simpler, more effective presentations.

This timely and hugely practical work provides a score of examples from contemporary and historical scientific presentations to show clearly what makes an oral presentation effective. It considers presentations made to persuade an audience to adopt some course of action (such as funding a proposal) as well as presentations made to communicate information, and it considers these from four perspectives: speech, structure, visual aids, and delivery. It also discusses computer-based projections and slide shows as well as overhead projections. In particular, it looks at ways of organizing graphics and text in projected images and of using layout and design to present the information efficiently and effectively.

This ambitious text is the first of its kind to summarize the theory, research, and practice related to pedagogical content knowledge. The audience is provided with a functional understanding of the basic tenets of the construct as well as its applications to research on science teacher education and the development of science teacher education programs.