Engineers SPEAK: Public Speaking Training by Ann L. Bryan

2. Engineers SPEAK Public Speaking Training Ann L. BryanDepartment of Communication

3. Agenda • Delivery Skills • Verbal • Non-verbal • Presentation Tips • Poster Presentation Tips

4. People do not like public speaking

5. Delivery Skills: Verbal • Volume • Tone • Rate • Verbal Fillers

6. Activity • Find a partner • Take turns reading the sample “elevator pitch” out loud while your partner times you • Focus on your pace; make sure your partner can follow along • Remember to breathe between sentences and at natural pauses • Think about what you’re reading; is some information more important, exciting, surprising, etc.? [tone]

7. Activity Debrief • Could your partner understand you? • Pace, emphasis, pauses • Reading is NOT ideal

8. Delivery Skills: Non-Verbal • Posture • Eye contact • Gestures • Movement

9. Delivery Skills: Summary • Posture: • Stand up straight, with shoulders rolled back and chest high • Make sure to face the audience (not your poster!), and look at them • Breathing: • Take a deep breath before you begin, and at transitions • This will help with nerves, verbal fillers (“um”) and let your audience catch up • This also helps control pacing if you tend to speak too quickly (like me! )

10. Presentation Tips • Organization is key! • Audiences for oral presentations can’t go back and reread what they heard • Oral presentations can be hard to follow • Tools for organization: • Preview statement • Transitions • Repetition • Conclusion statement

11. Organization (cont’d) • Preview • “Today we will tell you about [A], then [B], then [C].” • Transitions • “First we’d like to explain the objectives for our project” • “Now that I have discussed the design process, [Jeremy] is going to talk about areas for future research” • Repetition • “Again, our object was [X], so we focused on this element a lot.” • “In order to achieve [previously stated objective], we also focused on this” • “So as you can see, our results showed [restate results]” • Conclusion • “In conclusion, today we have presented our senior design project, explaining A, B, and C”

12. Visual Aids • Visual aids can help you stay organized and help your audience • Design elements: • Simple and clear; very little text • Use standard fonts and colors; make sure it is readable • Use images when possible; just make sure they are clean and professional

13. Use visuals to identify the most important information

14. Use visuals to identify the most important information

15. Visual Aids cont’d • Be aware of how you will present slides • Do you have a wireless clicker? • Do you need to stand near a computer? • Practice using the slides! • Use verbal transitions between slides

16. Poster Presentation Tips • Your goal: get people interested and wanting more • Things to consider: • What’s the purpose of your poster? • Share your work, invite collaboration, get feedback? • What’s important? • Research question – Method – Results • Use accessible language

17. “Tell me about your poster” Introduction ≠ Summary • Suggestions: + Topic – problem – “so what” + Exploring (x) research question because (y) + “Hook” – topic – question + Pose a question or state a problem you solve • Avoid giving a solution without a problem

18. Visual Aids • What key information does your audience need to know? • Minimize text • White space is ok • Clean images • Think about your color choices • Include citations/references • Have mentors check posters before printing

19. Summary • Practice! • Pay attention to delivery • Conversational, enthusiastic • “Walk” audience through your poster – attention is on them, not your poster • Plan ahead • What do you need to say in 5 minutes to convey your work? • What else do you know if they stay to ask questions?