Duncan Yellowlees
Academic Research talks don't have to be shit!
✨ Researcher trainer
✨ Opinions about research culture
✨ Maker and fan of anything with dragons
Supporting phd's/ecrs/academics to do better more engaged and effective presentations
| He/Him
- Academics love to add detail Audiences hate too much detail This is a core challenge of presentations. Between overly complex and incorrectly simple lies a magic space I call Useful simplicity. All you need to get the idea but not overwhelming.
- Opening your talk? Skip the waffle. No one cares where you work or how many awards you've worked on. Grab attention with a hook like, a question, or a bold statement, then get straight to the good stuff. Remeber - useful AND Interesting
- The best presenters have found their own style. It's not about being the perfect. The goal is an engaged audience, & there's a load of ways to achieve this. One person's talk may rely on skills that you don't use much, and vice versa. We all have our own skill set. #Academia #PHDChat #Presentations
- A social media post that 300 people see for 3 seconds = 15mins of attention. A 20 min talk to 100 people at an event = 2000 mins of attention. Want to grow your academic profile or that of your group? Go to the right conferences, give knockout talks.
- If you don't know the answer to a question in Q&A you have 2 options... 1. say you don't know 2. try to make something up and bluff the 2nd is really dangerous cos someone in the audience WILL know, the first honest and humble... Guess which to go for?
- Excellent, funny and depressing thread!
- I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!
- What do I do with my hands? They can direct the audience’s attention to the right place, add emphasis to what you say, & provide variety to keep the audience engaged. They can also indicate: big things, small things, precise things, vague things, contrasting things, & connected things. #PHDChat
- Remember, that graph you've seen a hundred times? It's brand new to your audience. It's like showing someone a family photo and expecting them to know Aunt Mildred on sight. Guide them through it, don't leave them in the visual wilderness
- Tailor your talk to the audience – this is a must You can’t give the same talk to primary school kids that you would to folks in your research specialism. And it goes for every different audience in between. Ask yourself who are they? What do they know already? How do they feel about the content?
- I’m going to call it out… just stop putting lots of text one your slides. You know its bad, I know its bad, everyone knows its bad… so can we just not? #PHD #Research #Academic #Presenting #PHDChat
- Where should you stand when you present? Where the audience can see you! This is usually front & centre – not shrunk against the wall, or in the corner, or behind the lectern. A blank button ((B) on the keyboard) is perfect for disappearing the slides when you want to be centre stage.
- One of my biggest bits of advice for academic presentations: Have a clear goal. What do you want your audience to; - think - learn - feel - do Work it out, then build your talk to achive that
- When presenting data... MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM TO SEE THE IMPORTANT BIT
- zoom can be tough... Build in moments where you can ‘check in’. Ask them q’s Do polls Ask for a response to a thought Do little activites etc Anything that means they do something you can see/respond to, this way you know they are there.
- If you want to really really get better at presenting, training and courses will only take you so far. There comes a point where you need to DO it, get feedback and do it again. The feedback loop is what helps you improve.
- “It’s more of a comment than a question.” We’ve all been there – and you don’t have to put up with it. If you’re the speaker, you own the space. Tactfully suggest that you’re prioritising people with questions? Roll your eyes? Throw things at them? The choice is yours! #PHDChat #Presentations
- "How can I ensure that my key points are remembered by my audience?" - Link them to things the audience cares about - Quickly highlight them at the end - Give them examples and stories to help them understand
- Presentation mistakes come in 2 types. Ones that are obvious Ones that aren’t We worry overly about both. Most of the time people will forgive you anything. And remember - they don't know how it's supposd to go.
- There are only really two kinds of slide in a research talk. 1. Slides that take complex stuff & make it easier to take in (Graphs, infographics etc) 2. Signposting slides that remind your audience where we are in the flow of the talk. Neither kind is about putting up a wall of text! #PHDChat
- So many talks are just lists! Here's all the things we did, all the papers published, all the grants won. Much better to make a point! Have a key message, an agenda, something that the talk revolves around. Say something of note. #Academia #PHDChat #Research #Presentations
- Communication isn’t just the words you say. Saying “I’m fine!” with a smile, vs saying it with gritted teeth – big difference. The emotion behind the words can change or reinforce their meaning. Speakers who emote, just a little, give their words more emphasis and guide the audience on how to feel.
- People who learn scripts can get very caught up in saying the right word. To the point they stumble if they use a different one of the script. But is almost never words that matter... its the meaning you make, and there are lots of different routes to that meaning.
- Right, let me talk about slide templates. Most universities have an official slide template everyone is told to use. More often than not these are rubbish. Focusing on splashing the university logo around so much there is no space for actual content. #PHD #Research #Presenting #PHDChat
- Audience switching off during a talk? Could be cognitive overload. Audiences need to take in a lot: there's visual stimulus, audio stimulus, background stuff. And then you need them to think and process the information. Don't make the problem worse with cluttered slides or lots of jargon.
- If you want people to care about your data you have to show them the 'meaning'... This line is higher than this line....so what?? This spiky bit is cool... so what?? Data is an idicator of something, never forget to tell your audience what that something is!
- We all get nervous. Presenting nerves appear because we fear the unknown/the unfamiliar. Dry throat, hot face, queasy stomach all happen because of our fight or flight response to the unknown. This is why rehearsal matters - you are making the unknown known. #Academia #PHDChat #Presentations
- “Always make eye contact” – really? Directed, sustained, unbroken eye contact is a bit creepy. An audience just needs to know that you’re including them – a bit of eye contact here & there, even just scanning across the room, is enough. And it’s harder for some than others – so don’t judge.
- 5 ways to simplify complex topics so audiences understand them. 1. Simplify your language, both technical jargon and just words 2. Chunk the information- break it down 3. Use metaphors and examples to help them 'see' 4. Provide relevant context 5. Go slowly
- A pause in a presentation is great for your audience. It gives them time to process what you just said and builds anticipation for what you are about to say. You don't have to fill ALL the space with words.
- You can communicate complex/detailed information slowly OR Simple information fast. You can't do complex info fast Presenting is usually a FAST medium. Do less stuff, slower!
- Don’t know the answer to a question? Say “I don’t know” – it’s fine. Maybe you don’t know right now but could look it up – or you’ve forgotten cause of the stress of public speaking, It’s fine. You are allowed – nay entitled – to say you don’t know. “Let’s chat afterwards” is a great follow up.
- To be an effective modern research lead, it’s no longer enough to just be good at the research. You have to collaborate, fundraise, profile build, project manage, people manage, budget, report, strategize and generally be on top of things. The current system does not prepare new leads to do this.
- Doing Research Impact requires; explaining, discussing, persuading, encouraging, teamwork, collective problem solving, inspiring. All of which require the skills of speaking and presenting.
- Body Language analysis can get really nitpicky. "Do this, don't do that. Pay attention to every tiny thing" For a good presentation, it's really the overall impression that matters. What are you doing and how does it make the audience feel? Is that the feeling you want to create? #PHDChat
- Reposted by Duncan Yellowlees[Not loaded yet]
- If you don’t think strategically about how, when, where and to whom you are presenting your research, you’re unlikely to be able to achieve your impact goals. Speaking is an incredibly powerful pathway to impact, but few people use it strategically at team or project level.
- Reposted by Duncan YellowleesMy top five favourite words to pronounce like they’re Greek philosophers… 5. Monocles 4. Bicycles 3. Popsicles 2. Obstacles 1. Testicles
- If most of the presentations you see are kinda boring... if you want to be better you have to be different. We won't get exciting energised presentations by doing the same as everyone else.
- Reposted by Duncan Yellowlees[Not loaded yet]
- A lot of what looks like confidence on stage is actually just the willingness to step forward and take up space. To say, I’m in charge for the next 20 mins. I’ll direct what happens and you follow. It's less about feeling confident and more about leading a room.
- STOP PUTTING STUFF ON A SLIDE AND THEN NOT TALKING ABOUT IT!!! If its not important then why is it there? If it is important then why don’t you mention it! #PHD #Research #Academic #Presenting #PHDChat
- The goal at the start of a presentation is to make your audience curious enough to pay attention to the next bit.
- Presenting online isn’t much different - except, we have to fit it all into this little box. Keep your hands inside the box by tucking your elbows in (T.rex style!). That little box sucks also energy out, so put extra variety and emphasis into your voice, to avoid sounding too flat and boring.
- What's the biggest crime people commit when it comes to their presentation slides? We ask lots of people this - and the answers all add up to "too much stuff" People put too much stuff on their slides and it overwhelms the audience. Stop it. #Academia #PHDChat #Research #Presentations
- Public speaking, storytelling, persuasive pitching, facilitation, explanation – these are all skills required by the modern research process if it is to have any sort of impact beyond the walls of universities. It’s something the system fails to teach very well.
- Can I just present off my laptop screen? Yes, to about 3 or 4 people, and then only when you're all sat at the same table. Any more than that and you want to be up on a big projector screen or display screen. If people can't see what you're doing -what's the point. #PHDChat #Presentations
