Advanced Technical Presentation 1: Core Techniques

Overview

Presenting technical information to an audience is one of the hardest tasks any scientist can face. Presenting effectively is not a natural talent for most people. Indeed, many technical presentations utterly fail in their primary objective – to convey a complex idea or argument clearly and convincingly.

This class explains — and also demonstrates — the fundamental techniques that combine to produce an effective and enjoyable technical presentation. Topics covered include: planning, designing, structuring, preparing, and delivering a presentation, the psychology, mechanics, and physiology of presenting; stance, deportment, comportment, and body-language; how to most effectively use presentation software (PowerPoint, Keynote, Impress, Prezi, etc.); how best to present technical information (code, diagrams, statistics, examples, etc.); common mistakes in designing and delivering a technical presentation; how to manage and encourage audience questions; dealing with anxiety on stage; how to make a presentation informative, enjoyable, memorable, easy to understand, convincing, and professional.

This class is taught by Damian Conway, a well-known speaker and lecturer (see his official biography or his Wikipedia page). Damian already lectured at SIB several times, and consistently received amazing feedback about his courses.

Format

This class will consist of 6.5 hours of recorded lectures, which will be made available to registered participants via SWITCHtube https:/tube.switch.ch.

Registered participants will receive a link to the recorded videos in due time.

The recorded lectures will be available for a period of one week starting on Monday 18 October and ending on Sunday 24 October and may be viewed and reviewed as many times as desired during that period. Dr Conway will also be available during this week to answer questions via email.

At 9:00 am (CET, Lausanne Time) on Monday 25 October, the Monday of the following week, an optional 60-to-90 minute live tutorial session will be offered to all participants, via a Zoom meeting. During this session participants may ask questions and discuss the material presented in the lectures, directly with Dr Conway.

Lecture notes

Each participant will be provided with a PDF of approximately 25 pages containing the lecture notes of the class.

Audience

Anyone who would like to learn how to present in front of an audience.

Prerequisites

Knowledge / competencies

There is no prerequisite for this course.

Technical

You do not need to bring anything for this course.

Application

The registration fee for academics is 100 CHF, or 400 CHF otherwise. This includes printed course material.

Deadline for registration and free-of-charge cancellation is set to 4 October 2021; participants who cancel after this date will not be reimbursed. Please note that participation in SIB courses is subject to this and other general conditions, available at general conditions.

You will be informed by email of your registration confirmation.

Additional information

Coordination: Patricia Palagi and Frédéric Schütz

You are welcome to register to the SIB courses mailing list to be informed of all future courses and workshops, as well as all important deadlines using the form here.

Please note that participation in SIB courses is subject to our general conditions.

SIB abides by the ELIXIR Code of Conduct. Participants of SIB courses are also required to abide by the same code.

For more information, please contact training@sib.swiss.