Art of Speaking Science

No, no, not to your upcoming social event–I’m talking about a LinkedIn invitation to join your professional network.

When I was first introduced to LinkedIn I thought it was a scam! It wasn’t until a very trusted friend invited me to join, I checked it out and realized the potential professional benefit.

If you haven’t heard about it yet, it is a very popular networking site for people to maintain their professional contacts while also making new connections, finding jobs, people and business opportunities and to asking and answering questions related to your work. According to Wikipedia as of October 2007, it had more than 15 million registered users, spanning 150 industries and more than 400 economic regions.

How have I used it?

For me it has solved an on-going problem I had with maintaining my professional network. Although I am good at initially collecting contact information, I’m not very good at regular follow-up. At times, when I did need to reconnect with someone I would spend much wasted time trying to find current contact information. With this system everyone maintains their own information and when contacts in your network make changes, you automatically have the updates! For me, that functionality alone was a big enough benefit for me to join the network.

But it much more than that! Recently, through LinkedIn, I was able to not only find out that one of my old bosses moved to a new company. Then just two days later, serendipitously he contacted me about a potential business opportunity in my local area.

I also have used it to expand my business in the South San Fransisco biotechnology cluster. Just before my last trip to deliver a seminar at Standford University, I used LinkedIn to offer a few free seats to industry professionals. This way, they got a some free training and I had the potential of follow-on business at their company. It worked! I was recently contacted to deliver a few workshops over the next few months for a pharmaceutical company in that area as a result of those previous seminars.

Just last week, I contacted someone in my local area because I was intrigued with his professional skill set. Since we were close, he invited me for coffee and during our short meeting we decided to barter for our respective services.

Finally, one of my main goals for using LinkedIn is to benefit YOU! Yes, you! The folks that come to my seminars and read this blog. I would like to be able to help you expand your professional networks. I want to be able to help science professionals make connections–especially in today’s very competitive job market– to help you obtain your “dream job”.

So I invite you to send me an invitation to join your network. As I spread the word at my seminars and workshops, I expect that my network will grow quite extensively. If you haven’t joined yet, please at least check it out. If you are already a member, please send me an invitation to join your network. Be sure to mention you “met” me via my blog!

Oh, if you just want to check out my profile on linked in…here it is.

View Lisa B. Marshall’s profile

Use lisabmarshall {AT} gmail {DOT} com to send me an invitation to join your professional network!

If you’ve had some success at using this networking tool, leave a comment below.

As you many know, my training center is in center city Philadelphia, close to my favorite, and somewhat famous science museum,  The Franklin Institute.  I saw that they were  looking “for individuals with a science, technology, or education background to volunteer as Science Presenters in our many exhibits. Science Presenters answer questions, explain science concepts, and do demonstrations.”I thought to myself, “Wow–what a great opportunity for those in the sciences to practice talking about science in an interesting, clear, and concise manner”.

In fact, I strongly believe (and research supports this) that consistent, regular practice is the best way to become a captivating, concise, and compelling speaker.

Why?  The more you practice, the more you speak, which gives you more opportunities for successful speaking experiences.  With each repeated success in public speaking your skill and confidence will build.  As your confidence builds, so does your ability to share your natural enthusiasm for your passions.  It really is that simple.  The more you present and the more regularly you present, the better and more confident you will become.

So how do you get more practice (in addition to volunteering at your local science museum)?

If you haven’t heard of it by now, there’s an non-profit organization, Toastmaster’s International, that is specifically dedicated to helping leaders build their communication skills. With clubs around the world, it’s a good place to get  regular practice and good feedback.

Make short videos highlighting your current published work.  It’s easy to do with the webcam and simple microphones found on your computer.  Then submit to SciVee, Viddler, Revver, or even YouTube.  The advantage of submitting to SciVee is that your work (and your communication skills) will get broad exposure into the scientific community.  If you use viddler.com, you can forward the video to a few friends and they can insert text and  audio/video comments directly into your presentation (I use this frequently with my clients! ) No matter how you decide to do it, this makes for great practice and will certainly help you to improve.

Finally, it is important to look for and enthusiastically say “yes” to any and every opportunity to speak.  Practice in the lab, practice at journal club, practice in student organizations, practice at your church, practice at parties, practice in your community.  When someone backs out at the last minute, be the first one to volunteer to fill-in. Don’t be like most  people who try to avoid speaking situations because it makes them uncomfortable.  It is very important to think of those opportunities as a chance to improve.

I’ll be looking for you the next time I visit my favorite science museum!

The work of a scientist isn’t finished until it has been communicated.  Of course, you’ll want to publish and present at conferences, but now you have a third alternative to help you reach the broader scientific community.  Visit SciVee –they are pioneering new modes of dissemination of scientific information.  Think of it as “you tube” for the scientific community.  According to their website  “Created for scientists, by scientists, SciVee moves science beyond the printed word and lecture theater taking advantage of the internet as a communication medium where scientists young and old have a place and a voice.”  You can submit links to published papers and you can also upload a short video of yourself talking about highlights from the research.  How cool is that?

Check it out.  Oh… and if you want help with making your video presentation, drop me a line <smile>. I know a little about scientific communication!

I was searching the internet archive today and stumbled across a manual for public speaking written in 1922! So I decided to give it a read. I’m so glad I did. Wow what a resource!

The introduction –oratory still the supreme art–applies today just as much today as it did then. It starts “the demand for good public speaking is as great as it ever was. Some years ago there was a prevailing belief that the spoken word had lost its power as a real force in shaping men’s opinions and influencing their actions. It was commonly thought that that the newspaper and the magazine were about to take the place of the preacher, the lecturer, and the stump speaker. But such is not been the case…Society still cherishes its gifted speakers…Chauncey Depew says There is no accomplishment which any man can have which so quickly make for him a career and secure recognition as the ability to speak acceptably.”

What I found most interesting was the level of detail–far more than I usually found today for basic areas such as voice, loudness, variety, pitch, enunciation, pronunciation, etc. For example, it details how to use the tongue, the lips and breath control. It has diagrams of how the lungs work and describes in detail the proper way to breath to have the best voice control–great stuff!

So why did I include it here? Because I think it includes many ideas are particularly helpful for the non-native English speaker. I particularly like this manual because it contains many helpful exercises that build fundamental skills. I plan to spend more time with this “oldie but goodie” and perhaps start incorporating some of the exercises into my workshops!

Hope you find it a useful resource too. Let me know what YOU think.

Want to see something cool?

Here’s a video from Harvard that is an animation of life within a cell.

(Show your kids too. My three year old twins were mesmerized. )

P.S. If you know of a text description for this video, I would love to see it. Please send it to me!

As part of my final preparation for a presentation at Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia, PA), I found this great little article titled “How to Read a Scientific Paper” written by John W. Little and Roy Parker at University of Arizona. (Especially for young scientists this is a “must read”).

What I found really interesting was the section “Difficulties in Reading a Paper”. I have said the very same thing about consequences of poorly organized talks.

Here’s what the author says: (I added the bold below for emphasis.)

“Bad writing has several consequences for the reader… logical connections are often left out. Instead of saying why an experiment was done, or what ideas were being tested, the experiment is simply described.”

This paragraph could easily have been written about poorly developed scientific talks. I have noticed the same trouble spots; transitions are often left out. Typically a series are experiments are described with little, if any, connection between each step shown.

However, effective transitions are not only important for flow, but more importantly they are what make the science presentation INTERESTING!

All scientists are interested in the discovery process. The understanding of the journey. Why one idea lead to another. Why one method was chosen over another. What stumbling blocks were encountered? What were the “aha” moments? The answers to these questions are the fascinating part of scientific inquiry, The logical connections–not just the experiment described–is what makes it interesting. You need to be sure you audience understand why the ideas were being tested.

Why do we need to gain attention with our first words?

1.Quite simply, if you deliver your main message and you audience is doing something else–they have missed the main organizing structure they need to understand your materials.

Do you remember a time when the speaker quickly blurted the title, but, you missed it–you were busy shuffling papers, moving your coat or perhaps putting sugar in your coffee. You missed it.

The result?

You spent the next few minutes, as the speaker rattled on, trying to figure out how the material all hinges together-you were trying to ferret out the main message by looking for clues in the content.

You don’t want that!

Keep in mind that your job is to make the talk as easy to understand and follow as possible.  For scientific speakers it’s easy to loose your audience at the start and it’s easy to loose them along the way.  Because science presentations progress in a logical progressive fashion it is even more important to be sure your audience is right there with you.  Once you loose them they are gone for the remainder of the presentation!

2.  Within minutes, (or even seconds, depending on who you ask) people have formed an opinion and made their minds up about you. “Look how short she is…wow, that’s an annoying voice….bbbbooooorrrriiiiiinnnngggggg! … these initial impressions are powerful, important, and researchers say surprising hard to change.

In his book Blink, Malcom Gladwell refers to “thin slicing” - ability of human beings to make sense of a situation based on a thin slice of experience. The book is full of examples of how people use this ability and just how powerful it really is. (If you haven’t read this book, it’s a “high recommend.”)

He’s trying to get people to consider just how important this is..he says on his website that he wants “to get people to take rapid cognition seriously. When it comes to something like dating, we all readily admit to the importance of what happens in the first instant when two people meet. But we won’t admit to the importance of what happens in the first two seconds when we talk about what happens when someone encounters a new idea, or when we interview someone for a job”…

So what can you do? How do you make a good impression? Say something interesting!  Use a case history, a story, an analogy, a quote, a generalization, a surprising statement.  Do what you need to do to distract your audience from negative judgments and instead have them engaged and thinking about the content. Have them thinking, why is he telling me this?

When you finally deliver your main message and the audience says, ”Oh..I get it-that’s interesting.” You’ve got them. Now you’ve got them primed and waiting for more and you’ve sealed the deal on that very important first impression.

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause — Samuel Clemens

Tip: Use pauses for attention, emphasis, and mental digestion. This is an important technique that can be useful in a variety of situations.

Allow me to explain…

Pause for attention
When you want to gain the attention of your audience, simply pause. Pause long enough and all eyes will be on you. Then once you have their attention, you should deliver an important point.

Pause for emphasis
If you combine the above pause with some words that indicate the next idea is important, you have created a “must listen” situation for your audience.

You might say, “This next idea is probably the most important idea that I am going to share with you today…. < P A U S E >….< then fill in your main point here>”.

The pause, especially combined with emphasis words will cause your audience to pay special attention and place more importance on those particular ideas. Of course, you can only use this one during a speech, so save this technique for the most important message.

Pause for mental digestion
When you want your audience to think over what you just said, or feel the impact of your words, a simple pause AFTER you have delivered your words will leave space for the mental digestion. It’s like the “rest” in music. Your are giving your audience a moment to think it through.

Mostly due to nerves, many folks rush through presentations and don’t pause enough. A well delivered pause will help your audience to understand and remember your idea and it also shows confidence–all very important parts of effective presentation.

In both academia and industry a large part of professional success depends on the important ability to network effectively. Networking isn’t just about handing out business cards, asking for referrals and attending meetings. Networking is the development and maintenance of mutually valuable relationships and today you can begin developing relationships by participating in social media (like this blog).

I know, I know, you want to meet other scientists, right…Well, many scientific journals and magazines are adding social media aspects that provide the opportunity to begin developing important relationships online.

Here’s a free blog area from the Nature that I found recently.

Here’s what you can do on it:* Create your own personal profile page and describe yourself and your research.
* Set up a group for your lab, department or institution.
* Join and have discussions with group members.
* Build your own online network of likeminded people.
* On the city pages, search listing of upcoming seminars and conferences.
* Browse local jobs listings.

Check it out. If you are already using it-let us know your experience.

Finally, it is always important to begin building your network BEFORE you need it! So even if you decide not to participate in this network, try to connect with just one person today. (Hey, you could like to me on my LinkedIn network if you haven’t already done that…)

After many years of working one-on-one with private coaching clients, I have noticed that some mistakes are very common. I would have say the number one top delivery mistake is not enough direct eye contact.

Many studies indicate that making eye contact is the most powerful mode of establishing a communicative link between humans. It has been shown to be vital to human social development, important to information recall, and important for persuasion. Your goal should be to have direct eye contact with someone in your audience at much as possible. I usually tell clients, 90% of the time you should be gazing directly into the eyes of an audience member. Yep, that much!

The specific problem that I see the most is that people tend to rely on their slides as their notes so they turn to face the screen and end up talking to the screen–not to audience members. The best thing to do is to practice so that you don’t need to rely on the slides. If necessary, you can print out your some brief notes that you can keep in front of you. In any case, if you feel the need to sneak a peek. Keep this advice in mind…”look, lock, and talk”. That is, “look” quickly at the notes/screen to remind yourself where you are heading, then “lock” in on someone’s eyes in the audience and “talk” to them directly.

I have noticed with overachievers (most of my clients) they often know the material very well, yet still feels the need to look at the slides just to be “sure they don’t leave anything important out.” However, in this case, the “looking” is just an unnecessary distracting habit and it significantly detracts from the presentation. It is always better to connect with your audience talking (eye to eye) in a comfortable conversational manner…even if you do accidentally leave something out.

Don’t worry, really. An interested person can read the missing detail in your paper or simply ask you during the Q&A. Again, making the connection with your audience is MOST important and eye contact is essential to achieving that.

Finally, since many of my clients are foreign nationals, sometimes this problem with eye contact simply stems from cultural differences in the social meaning of eye contact. In Native American, many Asian, and some Hispanic cultures, looking down and avoiding direct eye contact is a sign of respect. However, most scientific conferences are held in English and follow North American communication standards. In this style of communication, trust is developed through eye contact and it is eye contact that allows you to make a connection with your audience.