Art of Speaking Science

Recently, I received an email from one of my online public speaking workshop participants.

She wrote, “I am interviewing for a position and I am deeply pregnant. Should I somehow mention this just before my job talk? From one point of view, it sounds unprofessional. On the other hand, some people might focus more on the fact that I am pregnant than on my talk. Any advice?”

Here was my reply…
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Hmm… that’s a tough one. I think that if you are obviously pregnant there really is no need to draw additional attention. However, like anything that is a little out of the ordinary, some audience members will be distracted by it.

The “safe” suggestion is to not say anything at all. However, on the other hand, depending on your personality, you may be able to get away with a short quip to lighten the situation. Honestly, I think it depends a lot on your personality. It takes skill to deliver a quip and still appear very professional.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any ready-made quips about pregnancy. I am NOT a humorist, but here are three quips that came to my mind. You are free to use one of them or make up your own. The important thing is that you are comfortable delivering the line.

1) “Thanks for inviting “both” of us here today (and pat your belly and smile when you say the word “both”)

Or (if you are really BIG and close to delivery)

2) Don’t worry, I don’t plan to delivery here in this room–but you better go easy on me– just in case.  (This one might backfire if it is perceived as you being weak, instead of funny.)

Or

3) Haven’t you ever heard…two heads (pat your belly and smile) are better than one?

For me personally, I would be willing to say the third one. I think you would get a small chuckle or at least a smile from your audience and then you could move one.

Let me know what you decide to do.
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What do you think? Should a pregnant woman say something? If so, what? I am very curious to hear what my readers think about this. Tell us in the comments, and don’t forget you can easily video record your comments just by clicking the “add video comment” below.

Today is a MOMENTOUS day in science. I am thrilled because I FINALLY have the answer!

Let me back track a bit, before I tell you the “big news”. You see, about a year or so ago, I started telling my then 3 year old identical twin daughters, “I loved you from here to Pluto and back.” Of course, they asked the natural question, “Mommy, what’s Pluto?”

My first response was, “Well, Pluto is a planet very far away.” Then because I’m a geek, I said, “Well, actually, Pluto not technically a planet anymore.” (These were words I would later regret.)

What do you think they asked?

Of course, “Mommy, If Pluto’s not a planet then what is Pluto?”

For over a year, I didn’t have an answer. And at every opportunity, I would ask a scientist, well, what exactly is Pluto? (I am not sure why it never occurred to me to try to google the answer.) The response was often, well I’m not quite sure. Then one day, someone responded, “Pluto is huge chunk of rock.”

I shared THAT answer with my daughters, but apparently that wasn’t good enough because my daughters CONTINUED to ask the question, almost daily. Yes, daily! They say, “Mommy, if Pluto’s not a planet anymore , what is it?” You have to keep in mind they are identical twins– so the question cames to my ears in loud STEREO –EVERY DAY, for over a year!

So you can imagine my relief today when it was announced that “Plutoid” is the name chosen for solar system objects like Pluto. Guess what GREAT NEWS I will be sharing with my daughters tomorrow?

So, it may not be BIG news for you, but in our household, this is GREAT NEWS!

Recently I delivered a seminar on Scientific Poster Presentation. I made a handout to provide details on what you should include (and exclude) for each section of the poster.

I thought you might find this useful so I decided to post.

If you disagree or have something to add or modify it would be great if contributed via the comments. I will update based on feedback. Oh, here ya go..

Sections to be included in your scientific poster presentation

Title: Used to convey the single overall main message
• Headline title with noun and verb – quantified if possible
• 1-2 lines max using sentence case
• NOT for keyword search – it can be straightforward (or catchy?)
• Max 25 words

Abstract: Do not include an abstract on a poster – unless it is a (dumb) requirement.

Introduction: Get viewer interest about issue or question
• State the purpose/aim/goal (long-term and short-term may be different) using bullets
• Place work in context (where does it fit in overall field)
• Give background minimum
• Might end/start with some bullet statements of your hypotheses
(Hypotheses may be coupled with results in results section)
• Max 125 words

Methods/Materials: (Skip if standard, include if science) Describes experiment
• Use figures, photos, drawings to illustrate experimental design if possible;
• Use flow charts (the type with text, numbers and drawings within boxes) to summarize steps or timing
• Perhaps mention statistical analyses used and how they address hypothesis
• Max 150 words

Results: Summarizes what you found
• Result graphs support only your conclusion bullet points (3-5)
• Each graphs/chart/table provides quantitative and qualitative/descriptive results
• Each graph/chart should contain headline title and/or takeaway conveying understandable main point (may be the only thing read, needs to be clear)
• Negative/positive controls should be labeled and consistent in color (dk grey/ blk suggested)
• Graphs indicate exactly (via arrows, circles, highlights) where to look to see evidence of result
• Do not use legends, instead direct label data elements, remove unneeded grid lines
• Cut down to key words only, remove punctuation
• Bullets OK
• If method/process important can be in smaller under takeaway or bottom of chart
• Max approx 250 words - this should be your largest section

Conclusions: (Conclusions and future directions)
• Should be summary of results in bullet form
• Can include a one or two bullets for future directions (don’t make future directions separate)
• Max 150 words

Literature cited:
• Follow standard format exactly
• Maximum approximately 5 citations

Acknowledgments:
• Mention who has provided funding
• Include disclosures for any type of conflicts
• Possibly include SIGNIFICANT contributors - name and contribution (not title)
• Max 40 words

Further information:
• Your e-mail address and web site address
• Perhaps a URLs - to download PDFs of poster or related papers or your CV
(edit URL – don’t leave blue or underlined)
• Maximum 30 words