Tuesday, October 18, 2011

On Presenting

Conferences are always a revelation in awkward presentations. I'm a bit of an anomaly among engineers, in that I have very little anxiety about public speaking. On the other hand, my PI is a visible bundle of nerves, the he is at least audible. Even with microphones, I've sat through several talks where I was straining to hear the speaker.

In theory, we are trained in presentation skills by our advisors. But what when the advisor has limited skills? There are plenty of people who are absolute experts in giving a compelling presentation: we just tend to call it acting. Perhaps we should start requiring basic acting classes for scientists. Maybe then I could hear them...

1 comment:

  1. Teaching, especially large, undergrad courses, is a great public speaking practice. After a couple of years in front of a sea of undergrads several times a week does wonders. It's great you have no fear, it will definitely give you an upper hand when looking for teaching jobs.

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