Working with STEM students to deliver professional oral and visual presentations
- 1. Working with STEM Students to Deliver Professional Oral and Visual PresentationsWarren R. Hull and David F. (Boz) BowlesCxC Summer Faculty InstituteJune 2, 2011
- 2. OverviewStudent, Faculty & Alumni PerceptionsFeatures of Conventional Technical PresentationsResources Available Through Communication Studios
- 3. Often Heard Student PerspectivesPublic speaking is for sales people and politicians, isn’t it?I communicate well with my fellow engineers, isn’t that good enough?I’m a good engineer, isn’t that enough to get promoted in my new job?
- 4. Poor communication skill is the Achilles’ heel of many engineers, both young and experienced — and it can even be a career showstopper. In fact, poor communication skills have probably claimed more casualties than corporate downsizing. IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer Onlinehttp://www.todaysengineer.org/2002/Nov/leader.asp
- 5. Student Responses to Survey“Of the following ‘flavors’, with which ones do youneed more help? Fill all that apply.”
- 6. Student Responses, cont’d“How much did the communication assignments in thiscourse help you to improve your communication skills?” LittleMuchVery LittleVery MuchSomewhat
- 7. Student Responses, cont’d“How likely are you to use what you learned about communication in this course as you work on future communication projects?” LittleMuchVery LittleVery MuchSomewhat
- 8. Engineering C-I Faculty Responsesto 2009 Survey“The preparation time involved in teaching a C-I course is comparable to similar courses without the C-I designation.“
- 9. Faculty Responses, cont’d“Course content was not sacrificed in order to meet the communication requirements for C-I designation.”
- 10. Faculty Responses, cont’d“The student workload involved in taking a C-I course iscomparable to similar courses without the C-I designation.”
- 11. Faculty Responses, cont’d“Student communication skills improved noticeably by the end of my C-I course.“Note: Several faculty members did not feel qualified to judge communication skills improvement.
- 12. Faculty Responses, cont’d“Students learned the course content in more depth because of the communication requirements.”
- 13. 2010 LSU Engineering Alumni Survey on Globalization
- 14. 2010 LSU Engineering Alumni Survey on Globalization
- 15. Quote from Respondent to 2010 LSU Engineering Alumni Survey on Globalization:“As an engineer, I have found that the most important skills you need are visualization and, essentially, the ability to teach. You have to be able to visualize the problem at hand so that you can properly analyze the situation and come to an end result. You also need to have the ability to teach. With every project you encounter, you, the engineer, should know the system 100%. It is your job to inform or teach those you present your solution to so that they understand the problem(s) at hand and can evaluate the solution properly. It is also very useful if this can be done in a logical way, not just bouncing back and forth.”Emphasis added.
- 16. The standard PowerPoint presentation elevates format over content, betraying an attitude of commercialism that turns everything into a sales pitch. Edward Tufte, PowerPoint is Evil
- 18. How you deliver your speech may depend on the forum or the message contentMemorizing the Speech+ allows eye contact- difficult for long speeches- room for precision errors- no room for improvisingReading From a Text+ ensures precision- does not sound natural- no room for improvising- hinders eye contactSpeaking From slides+ insures organization+ allows eye contact+ allows improvising- some room for errorWinging It+ sounds natural- has much room for error
- 19. DSPHRECEIVERTSUTSHFLASHTANKFTTSSGTURBINEDEAR-ATORHOTWELLHPHTRDoes this clarify the description?Engineers and Scientists often use illustrations that are too complex for the textThe thermal storage system stores heat in a huge, steel-walled tank. Steam from the solar receiver passes through heat exchangers to heat the thermal oil, which is pumped into the tank. The tank then provides energy to run a steam generator to produce electricity.
- 20. Does this better illustrate the text?Solar ReceiverSteamHeat ExchangersElectricityTurbineThermal OilSteamThermal OilSteam GeneratorSteel-walled Storage Tank
- 21. Extracting and magnifying a portion of a complex diagram will help you explain the point you are trying to have the audience focus upon.Source: http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/oil-gas/petroleum/projects/environmental/reg_streamlining/15446.htm
- 22. Adding EquationsUse equations/formulae sparingly, i.e., only when it adds to the audience understandingConsider using editing functions to emphasize points in the equation:Variable that weconsider most critical to our project
- 23. AnimationAnimation should increase audience understanding of the topic.Otherwise, it is a distraction and should be removed from your presentation!
- 24. Animation is useful when trying to keep the audience attention to the point you’re trying to makeAnimation allows you to insert objects when you want
- 25. It keeps audience focused on that one point and not…
- 26. Reading aheadResources Available to Help Develop Oral and Visual Presentations
- 27. Engineering Communication Studio Conference RoomGroup project preparation
- 30. Teleconferencing capability -GoToMeeting®SummaryWhile it may be a little more work for everyone at first, strong communication skills are vital in STEM disciplines.Remember to make good choices based on the needs of your audience, your desired effect on that audience, and the expectations that audience places upon you.Get help from the Studios!