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January 27th communication event!

Want to improve your communication and leadership skills?  Toastmasters can help!  The local Salmon Creek Toastmasters club is holding an open house on Monday, January 27th at 7 PM at the Salmon Creek Burgerville. Stop by to see how Toastmasters can help you reach your professional and personal goals! 

Guests are welcome any Monday, not just this week.  For those outside the Vancouver area, check the Toastmasters International website to locate a club near you.

The 4th C

by Andrea for http://www.clker.com

Last post I mentioned the 3 C’s of communication: content, clarity, and charisma.  It turns out there’s a fourth C: coat.

At the morning competition for FameLab San Francisco, one contestant chose to wear his coat while he delivered his speech.  It was a nice coat – new, neutral color, and very stylish.  But when it came time for his evaluation, the judges focused on the coat more than his content. The take-home message?  What we look like – our clothing, accessories, and overall appearance – makes a difference.  In this case, one judge was so incensed about the coat that she could barely remember the message!

As scientists, we often concentrate on presenting our data…did we get the facts right, and remember to make a particular point?  This is all important, but our public face – what we look like – matters too. For a conference talk, that probably means a tailored shirt and slacks (or a business suit - any M.D.s out there?).  For young women, I highly recommend pants rather than a skirt.  Most of us want the audience to remember our message, not our legs, not matter how great they look! For a public talk in a bar (think Science on Tap), I usually opt for something more causal, like jeans and a blazer.  I want to look professional yet comfortable, and not out of place.  For a talk at a school I’ll break my “no skirt” rule, showing the girls that they can be scientists and still look good in a skirt and boots!

What’s your favorite talk attire? Whatever your look, let the audience focus on your message, not your clothes…and leave the coat at home.

Sailing the C’s of Science Communication

Image modified from www.clker.com

A good public talk about science should both inform and entertain (in my opinion, any scientific talk should do both!). At FameLab, with three minutes and no PowerPoint crutch, contestants seek the right balance of information and fun.  The judging criteria really hit this balance using the three C’s of science communication: Content, Clarity, and Charisma. These C’s form the backbone for any good talk, and we’ve looked at components of all of them before.  Here, I want to remind readers that they all fit together. 

FameLab: share your science in 3 minutes or less

Last week I competed in FameLab USA, a science communication contest sponsored by NASA and National Geographic.  Each contestant gets 3 minutes, and only 3 minutes, to talk about research that interests them.  No powerpoint, no graphs, just you, maybe a basic prop, and the audience.

Filler mosquitoes

I once had a colleague who liked the phrase “sort of”…a lot.  He once recorded a record 81 “sort of’s” in an hour-long talk. Not only did these unnecessary qualifications weaken his presentation, but the regular use of a filler word (or phrase, in this case) hindered communication of his message.

We’ve all used them…the ahs, ums, and you knows that creep into our speech when we’re searching for the right words. An occasional filler word is like a solo mosquito - possibly annoying, but not much of a concern.  Too many filler words, however, are like a swarm – the audience is too distracted swatting them away to pay close attention.

Lately I’ve noticed a new filler word cropping up in my own speech; actually. Yes, this is a legitimate word, but I (and several friends) seem to use it as a crutch.  Why say something is “actually over there” when simply “over there” would suffice? Even real words, when used as fillers, can detract from our point.

She did what??

From http://planninga-from-nanninga.blogspot.com

Grab your audience’s attention with an unexpected twist!  I recently attended a workshop on writing successful grant proposals (highly recommended!), and the presenter, Dr.Peg AtKisson, used a clever trick to get us all in our seats after the lunch break. Peg, a rock-music vocalist, briskly launched into a musical story about cats parachuting into Borneo.  We were captivated…and quiet!