Effective Communication skills for academics

1. Effective Communication skills for academics College of Europe

2. FOR USE IN: Presentations Lectures Workshops Giving papers etc.

3. ANGELA O’NEILL Director of Communications and Languages College of Europe University of Cambridge Chief ESOL examiner for Belgium Angela.oneill@coleurope.eu

4. OUTLINE What makes a good Lecture/Presentation? Preparing Visuals Mind mapping as a tool Handling Qs Judging ‘performance’ Language use and awareness

5. SAME SKILLS NEEDED IN : Formal speeches Informal presentations for business One to one presentations (eg exams) Briefings ( eg press) Workshops and seminars Meetings Telephone Video conferencing

6. TEACHER TALK Most commonly used teaching method Can be adapted to the class Can be used to inspire Rapid method of presenting material Personal method

7. BUT : Difficult to know if any understanding has happened Retention is low Inexperienced teachers deliver too slowly It can be boring No active student involvement Concentration span of students

8. What makes a good teacher? • What kind of a teacher are you?

9. The Entertainer • The Intellectual • The Gas bag • The Bore • The Bully • The Time waster

10. The Organiser • The Facilitator • The Inspirer • The Boss! • The Student Centred prof • The Institution Centred prof • The Plodder • The expert

11. InstructorOR Facilitator • Teacher in control OR Learner in control

12. Teaching is to be seen as many things….

13. !!!!!!!!!!!! Fail to prepare and prepare to fail The importance of lesson/lecture planning

14. TEACHERS AS PERFORMERS Good teachers are performers Effectiveness is also often not what you say but HOW you say it Body language Delivery Voice techniques Humour and audience contact

15. BEFORE YOUR START What is the aim of the lecture, Have you got your objectives clear?

16. THE SIX Q’s Who What Why When Where How

17. THE OUTLINE PLAN Pre research as needed Mind map or make a list of points. Plan an introduction; key middle points ; an end. The introduction should excite The middle should inform and instruct The end should confirm and leave an impression

18. STARTING Say who you are Greet the ‘audience’? Qualify your suitability to speak Give the title of your lecture Say when you prefer to take questions Smile!

19. EXAMPLE: NOT ACADEMIC CONTEXT  Good morning everyone. My name is Tony Blair I am a specialist in Political Science and Law. I was PM for many years. Today I would like to talk about how politicians keep their private lives out of the press. As you know I have 20 minutes for this. I am happy to take questions at the end.

20. HOOKING THE AUDIENCE Try to : Startle Amuse Excite Worry The opening statement is important.

21. OPENINGS How many people here today have read Harry Potter? Have you ever wondered why Europeans lack unity?

22. THE MIDDLE Here you should focus on 3 or 4 main key ideas. Each theme is a mini presentation on its own You need to maintain the interest of the audience

23. MAINTAINING INTEREST Logical steps in the argument. Start from student pre existing knowledge? Relevant examples Personalise? Keep to the facts ‘We/Us’ style includes audience Short/sharp sentences Eye contact

24. SIGNPOSTING Link ideas logically with connectors To move on/to summarise/to conclude

25. CONCLUSION Let the audience know you have reached a conclusion Make sure the message is driven home Keep looking at the audience for clues of attitude.

26. EVALUATION Did I make the aim of the lecture clear? Did I appear to know what I was talking about? Was the talk structured and easy to follow? Was the subject matter made interesting?

27. EVALUATION … Was it put across in an interesting manner? Was my voice clear? Were the visual aids helpful? Did I appear confident? Was the audience involved? How can I improve?

28. REMEMBER Plan Prepare Practice Present

29. USING BOARDS / VISUAL AIDS Why? -To gain attention -To add variety -To aid conceptualisation -To aid memory -To show you care! 87% of information enters our brain through our eyes 9% through our ears.

30. VISUALS Not too complicated Not dominating Not huge chunks of text Used to emphaise a point Readable

31. TYPE OF USEFUL VISUALS Maps Statistics and graphs Plans Photos Key words

32. THE RIGHT IMPRESSION Poise Relaxed Clothes Prepared Eye contact On time

33. WHAT CAN GIVE A BAD IMPRESSION? Poor use of microphones or lecturns Body language Talking too fast Not being in touch with the audience Poor handling of Q and A Poor delivery and small voice Nerves

34. YOU ARE UP AGAINST IT ! Most people’s attention span is 20 minutes Most people forget most of what you say

35. TENSION and NERVES Be prepared Breath Smile and look at people Know the opening by heart Do not read from a script Reherse Believe in yourself!

36. THE VOICE Rhythm Speed Pitch Pausing! Have water on hand… Learn to throw your voice

37. MIND MAPPING As a technique for preparing lectures and presentations As a technique for note taking in meetings and negotiations As a tool for one page notes for talks etc. Exercise:Creating a mind map for a presentation about the College of Europe

38. COLLEGE OF EUROPE Two locations Student study possibilities Extra curricular and student life Alumni and ‘family’ Development office

39. Q and As Control the questions A good presentor predicts the questions which will be asked Questions can: Ask for clarification; challenge;expand;test….

40. Listen to the question carefully and ask for clarification if need be. Maintain eye contact Thank the person asking the question

41. TIPS Answers should be short and concise Try to link the answers to the presentation Check the question is answered and then move on You are in charge! You control the questions Try to deal with the question in a cool manner

42. MORE TIPS Avoid personalising situations Identify common ground Use quiet and gentle language and tone Keep to main issues Accept criticism and move on!

43. EFFECTIVE LANGUAGE USE Cultural aspects. Words and meanings. Formal V Informal Learn set phrases to help you

44. EMPHASIS We really need to rethink all this! This whole project is underfunded. I am fully aware of what you said! It is pretty obvious that we made a terrible mistake!

45. RETORICAL QUESTIONS We have won this for the second time. So how did we do it? We offered them a great deal, so what went wrong? Stress and rythm are also important here…

46. TRIPLING Government of the people,by the people,for the people Lincoln I came , I saw, I conquered Caesar

47. CHUNKING Pausing in the wrong place in a presentation is distracting and can alter meaning( eg:Half of the people voted yes) Stressing too many words is confusing Think and speak in phrases, not words

48. STRESS The British will never agree to that. The British will never agree to that The British will never agree to that The British will never agree to that See how the meaning changes?

49. PACING Vary your speed of delivery and your audience will stay interested Slow down to make your most important points Practice: This has never happened before…

50. INTONATION Give power to your words with making full use of the rise and fall of your voice A dramatic rise in your voice created anticipation and suspense A sharp fall gives weight and finality Dropping your voice shows conclusion Keeping the voice up shows you have not finished