Art of Speaking Science

Turns out Charles Darwin took this question very seriously! Who knew?

He was interested in understanding if hair color had effects on mate selection. Here’s an article from UK’s Telegraph describing what was uncovered as a result of the Darwin Correspondence Project which is attempting to compile 15,000 of the letters that Darwin wrote and received during his lifetime.

Oh, and Darwin initially thought perhaps dark hair in the general population was increasing because brunettes were more likely to get married while blondes tended to stay single and childless. Eventually he gave up on the notion and came to the conclusion that the experimental basis was not good enough.

I was preparing for a networking seminar, so I decided to use my own professional network to prepare for the seminar (tricky, huh?). Anyway, while speaking with Julian Lum, Ph.D. he mentioned two great resources aimed at post-docs and early career scientists. These two books can be downloaded for free (for non-commercial use) from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Here’s the link to both of the books and other great resources.

I highly recommend reading these long BEFORE you start looking for a job in academia and long before you are ready to start you own lab. You’ll need to be doing things NOW in preparation for when you do have your own lab. Read the books to learn more!

Here are links to each of the books:

MAKING THE RIGHT MOVES: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT FOR POSTDOCS AND NEW FACULTY, SECOND EDITION
Based on courses held in 2002 and 2005 by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and HHMI, this book is a collection of practical advice and experiences from seasoned biomedical investigators.

TRAINING SCIENTISTS TO MAKE THE RIGHT MOVES
These publications can help universities and professional societies develop programs in scientific management.

If you have found these helpful or you know of other helpful resources let us know in the comments!

To be very clear, I am NOT an expert on grant proposals. However, I get asked the question so often, I thought I provide some links (from the experts) on how to do this right. I hope this helps!

If YOU have a great resource, let us know in the comments! Thanks!

• Inside the NIH Grant Review Process This is a NIH Video cast of the NIH Grant Scientific Peer Review Process (39 minutes)
• What You Need to Know About Electronic R01 Submissions, Alan Kotok (ScienceCareers.org)
  Getting Ready for Electronic R01 Submissions, Alan Kotok (ScienceCareers.org) NIH now requires that applicants submit proposals for its R01 research grants in electronic, rather than paper, form. These 2 articles, parts 1 and 2 of a 2-part series, provide some background, explain the process NIH has devised for submitting electronic R01 applications and the key steps researchers and grant administrators should have taken before the February deadline, and report on how NIH prepared for this process.
• An Evidence-Based Guide to Writing Grant Proposals for Clinical Research. Inouye and Fiellin (Ann Intern Med 2005; 142: 274-282) [PDF document is free] — Describes types and sources of grant funds, provides key recommendations regarding the grant-writing process, and highlights grant

Here’s a great link for all of the “pre-professionals” reading this blog. There are a number of free workshops available for viewing including topics such as:

• Applying to Medical School: Preparing for the MCAT
• Career Counseling Workshop: Planning for Career Satisfaction and Success
• CV and Resume Writing: Preparing Effective Job Search Correspondence
• Getting the Most Out of a Job Fair
• Applying for an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
• Science Policy: Shaping the Role of Science in Society

There are many more workshops and they often include not only the slides, but also audio and video recordings. Check it out. Some good stuff! If you view one, leave a comment on the quality 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.

I am not a funny person. But I have worked very hard to add humor into my presentations. In this entry you’ll learn 3 tips for incorporating humor into presentations.

I still smile when remembering the first time someone came came up to me after a seminar program and said “I really loved your program; I especially enjoyed your quirky humor!”

I felt like I had finally “made it” (and I was beaming for a week after that seminar!). It was the compliment that I had been waiting for. I had spent years working on this particular presentation skill (and still do) and it was the first time someone mentioned that the humor helped them to enjoy the program.

In a effort to help you understand how you can add humor to your presentations, I will try to occasionally add humor here too. For my first “humor” post, I decided to include this tongue-in-cheek look at “How to Write a Scientific Paper” written by E. Robert Schulman.

I am demonstrating three very important rules regarding presentation humor:
1) You don’t have to be a naturally “funny” person to include humor in presentations. Just look on the internet for something funny that somebody else already created and use that! Just remember, to give them credit.

2) Always make sure the humor is related to your topic and your audience.

3) Use humor like you would a spice in cooking. A good spice will liven up the meal, but not be overwhelming. The same with your use of humor. One or two small humorous elements in a short presentation will be enough to make it more interesting and enjoyable.

Oh, I should mention, Schulman’s article was originally printed in the magazine “Annuals of Improbably Research” which focuses on research that makes you laugh and think. Another resource to bookmark in your science humor folder?

Here’s a presentation from particle physicist Janet Conrad at Columbia University titled “How to Write and Give a Good Scientific Talk”…

While I disagree with her on a few minor points, I think she does a good job at covering the basics and she also has some interesting, creative examples…really! Who knew that particle physics could be so FUN!
(more…)

Links that you might find useful, educational, perhaps entertaining

Quirky, entertaining and informative, Science Update is a daily, 60-second feature audio podcast covering the latest discoveries in science, technology and medicine. Produced as a “radio” series since 1988 Science Update has reported on thousands of scientific and medical breakthroughs—and won dozens of national awards in the process.

(more…)