Presenting Science With Impact

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.

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.

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.

'Giving a talk' is one of the most important ways in which we communicate our research. The 'talk' covers everything from a ten-minute briefing on progress to a handful of colleagues, to a keynote address to a major international conference with more than a thousand delegates. Whatever the occasion, the aim is the same - to get the message across clearly and effectively. At the same time, presentational skills are becoming more important in all walks of life - and presenting science has particular issues. Our aim is to equip the reader with the basic skills needed to make a good presentation, and our approach is pragmatic, not dogmatic. We emphasise four points: - The goal is to communicate the science to the audience. - The speaker is responsible for everything that appears, and does not appear, on each slide. - The structure and appearance of the presentation are part of the communication process. - There is no standard way of doing things. Giving a good talk on science is a skill that can be learnt like any other: in this book we take the reader through the process of presenting science to a wide variety of audiences.

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

The Rosetta Stone of Science is a useful and practical guide to presenting scientific research in the English language. It is written specifically for scientists who would like to improve the effectiveness with which they use the English language and improve their communicative skills in order to become published and develop more confidence in presenting their work at international conferences. Part 1 of the book covers the style preferred by today's leading journals, discusses how to prepare models for writing research papers, and provides advice for writing abstracts, proposals, and editing. Examples of cover letters are also given. Part 2 discusses the various arts and techniques used by successful presenters at scientific conferences. The content of the book is presented in a light, simple and informative manner making The Rosetta Stone of Science an entertaining and instructive read. This book will prove invaluable to all scientists, research fellows, post-docs, and graduate students whose first language is not English.

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