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Public Speaking For ScientistsKey Success Factors to Communicate
Research Data Effectively
www.principalinvestigators.org Phone: 1-800-303-0129 Email: [email protected]
Brought to you by Principal Investigators Association
Expert comments provided by Rick Parmely, founder of Polished and Professional LLC.
To subscribe to this free monthly eNewsletter visit http://bit.ly/SciencePro
Expert comments inside this article provided by Rick Parmely.
Rick Parmely is the founder of Polished and Professional LLC, a training company that specializes in improving the communication skills of presenters everywhere, from the individual investigator to large groups of trainers. He can be reached at [email protected]
Polished and Professional provides communications coaching and mentoring on-line as well as on-site to groups as diverse as Merck & Company, Restek Corporation and associations like the Association of Laboratory Managers (ALMA) and the Pittsburgh Conference. PnP provides one-on-one coaching to individuals or to larger groups at a convenient time and location, in an atmosphere conducive to learning. They also polish written communications and professional oral presentations, readying them for “prime time,” whether they are targeted for investors, or for local, national, or international audiences and meetings.
Communicating Data-Rich Results – Key Success Factors article can be found in Science Pro Insider, Vol. 1 – Issue 2, published by Principal Investigators Association.
Reader question:
I struggle with converting my research results and data into interesting discussions at national meetings.
Are there any tips that can help me to enliven my presentations and still keep a focus on the meat of my research – the data?
Expert Comments: By Rick Parmely
Many presenters we hear at national meetings do struggle to provide more than a recitation of facts and data. To a large degree, audiences have even come to expect that a serious research project will contain facts, figures, plots, and tables, and little else.
While presenting your data is essential, audience engagement does not have to suffer when revealing results of great research.
What can be done?
Introducing Science Pro Insider
Inside November’s Issue: • Communicating Data-Rich Results – Key Success
Factors• How to Leverage Connections for Private Funding• R01 or R21? Choose The Appropriate Grant Type• Dealing with the ‘Negative’ Staffer in your Lab
The only Free Monthly eNewsletter focused on providing best practices on obtaining grant funding, lab management, career advice and much more!SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
Visit http://bit.ly/SciencePro
It is necessary at the outset to appreciate a basic principle of all public speaking:
Why?
In order to appeal to the mind of a listener…. you must first find a way to appeal to the
heart.
If the heart is not engaged, the mind starts to wander.
Once the mind of your listener starts to wander, very little of what you say will be heard or remembered.
So when you begin to build the outline for your next presentation, ask yourself:
• What aspects of my research will touch the audience?
• What key concepts absolutely must be communicated?
• How can I tell the story of where we began this project, who was involved, what has been accomplished by others, and how important the completion of this project is to the science or to people’s lives?
• What data must be presented to tell that story?
• What can the listener take away from my discussion?
Answering these questions will enable you to develop the “skeleton,” the outline, from which you can then build a powerful talk.
Now, start putting“meat on the bones”
of your skeleton outline!Develop a story from history, a recent news item, an observation in nature or another event that illustrates the essence of your talk.
Hold your presentation to a few main points and then limit your data to only the essential graphs, charts and tables that support those few key points.
Further involve the audience with well-planned questions that cause them to think and stay engaged.
Finally, don’t forget a powerful conclusion!Often, we as speakers end with one slide containing one word:
Questions?
Ideally, questions will be entertained and answered throughout your talk. However, if the meeting format does not allow for that, but you are still seeking to elicit audience questions and feedback at the end of your talk, does that eliminate the need for an effective conclusion?
NO!In this case, the wise presenter still concludes powerfully, either just before the Q and A section or immediately afterward. Why? The last words spoken will stay in the mind of the listener the longest. So make those words your best words!
Introducing Science Pro Insider
Inside November’s Issue: • Communicating Data-Rich Results – Key Success
Factors• How to Leverage Connections for Private Funding• R01 or R21? Choose The Appropriate Grant Type• Dealing with the ‘Negative’ Staffer in your Lab
The only Free Monthly eNewsletter focused on providing best practices on obtaining grant funding, lab management, career advice and much more!SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
Visit http://bit.ly/SciencePro
Now Try It!
Develop an outline with a few key points, wrapping the entire presentation in a reasonable story or illustration.
Apply simplicity to your data; avoid delivering data that is not critical to your argument or data that lacks clarity.
Finally, conclude powerfully, tying the many parts together into a neat, cohesive package.
With these few tips, your talk will actively engage your audience and your presentation will indeed be a great success!
Rick ParmelyPolished and Professional, LLC
Phone: 814-470-0598
Services: On-site communications training, recording and analysis of communications and presentations.
Call or Email Rick to set up individualized training or invite him to speak at your department and
university.
Principal Investigators Association offers a free eNewsletter, Science Pro Insider, free bi-weekly e-Alerts, grant application manuals, executive reports and a year-long series of online seminars — all devoted to helping you improve performance and spend more time doing what you love: the research.
Our goal as an organization is to be the world’s leading source of real-world, results-oriented information for our members in all fields of science. Our unique approach — delivering targeted guidance, case studies, success strategies and best practices — has earned us a reputation for depth, usefulness and high-value information as well as a loyal group of members who rely on that information to help them with their administrative and funding duties.
We invite you to review all of our products and services at www.principalinvestigators.org.
© 2013 Principal Investigators Association. The entire contents of this publication are protected by Copyright, worldwide. All rights reserved. Principal Investigators Association — as well as this report — is completely independent and not controlled by any government agency, organization or society, consultancy, contractor, or vendor. It is not endorsed by, nor does it have any official connection with, the National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation. Opinions expressed by private authors are their own, and not official government opinions.
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