Department of Information and Communication Technologies. DTIC Seminar

Aurelio Ruiz – Communication skills in science: Preparing for Research in 4

minutes

Communication

Elevator Pitches for Scientists: What, When, Where and How, Uyen Chun, August 2013,.The Postdoc Way

Communication

CompetitionAudienceOral / Written communicationStructure of a pitch

Competition

Competition

Know yourself

Know your project

Know the competitors

Audience

• Specialists: require detail• Non-specialists: require interpretation

Audience

How can you help non-specialitst?

• Questions which guide• Establish comparison points:

• Direct: “1 Terabyte is equivalent to” ; relative “10% increase in”• Analogies (compare with something known to the audience)• Images

• Reduce Jargon (words, ways of talking)

Audience

How to deal with heterogenous audiences?

• Focus on the non-specialist (adjust)• Select information: what should the audience remember after your talk• After a specialised part, be sure the general audience can “get back” to

your talk

English Communication for Scientists, Nature http://www.nature.com/scitable/ebooks/english-communication-for-scientists-14053993/118519448#bookContentViewAreaDivID

Oral Communication

Difference with written communication? Stronger “dominance” over the audience

• You set the rythm (and modify it)• Can have some level of interaction / media / free use of (body) language

Select information: which is your main message? People can ask you later for more details

Structure

The problem, why it matters, potential solutions, the benefits of

fixing it ---- Your specific work ---- why it matters / is relevant

Structure

Start with an attention – getter Focus the audience’s attention on one issue

Close with a take-home message (ideally linked to your attention getter)

Story

PersonalWell-known story

(gossip) Curious fact

https://blog.bufferapp.com/science-of-storytelling-why-telling-a-story-is-the-most-powerful-way-to-activate-our-brains Your Brain on Fiction http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Image

Examples

Science pitch (stem cells) https://www.cirm.ca.gov/our-progress/stem-cell-videos?&&field_voc_video_event_tid[0]=746

3 minute thesis http://threeminutethesis.org/

TED in 3 minutes https://www.ted.com/playlists/81/ted_in_3_minutes

Talk nerdy to mehttp://www.ted.com/talks/melissa_marshall_talk_nerdy_to_me?language=en

Examples

Megan Rossi, Univ. Queensland, Medicine “A gut feeling about kidney disease”https://vimeo.com/107775313

3 Minute Thesis - Davide Zilli. Electronics and Computer Science with his talk 'Monitoring endangered wildlife with Smartphones‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBJA2IFOo3s&list=PLTJL6C5BfhAWJrAZ5E3mQBzZACfWNSSRh&index=1

Fosheng Hsu, Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, 3MT. Cornell University Winner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYSQKAtMWT0

3MT Finals 2014 Sarah Marley - "Say what? Coastal dolphins and noisy environments" https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=39&v=XznGGhyi59g

David Rollinson, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon "Snake Robots in the Wild!”https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL1HxVG_mcukvbk5JnTFP2gu4uXRmLA7G9&t=41&v=c6qdgRyzNeE

Thank you

 

Department of Information and Communication TechnologiesUniversitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona

http://www.upf.edu/dtic/ @dtic_upf