Effective Communication skills for academics

College of Europe

FOR USE IN:

•Presentations•Lectures•Workshops•Giving papers etc.

ANGELA O’NEILL

•Director of Communications and Languages College of Europe•University of Cambridge Chief ESOL examiner for Belgium•Angela.oneill@coleurope.eu

OUTLINE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

•Instructor OR Facilitator

•Teacher in control OR Learner in control

•Teaching is to be seen as many things….

!!!!!!!!!!!!

•Fail to prepare and prepare to fail•The importance of lesson/lecture planning

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

BEFORE YOUR START

•What is the aim of the lecture,•Have you got your objectives clear?

THE SIX Q’s

•Who•What•Why•When•Where•How

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

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!

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.

HOOKING THE AUDIENCE

•Try to :•Startle•Amuse•Excite•Worry•The opening statement is important.

OPENINGS

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

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

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

SIGNPOSTING

•Link ideas logically with connectors•To move on/to summarise/to conclude

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.

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?

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?

REMEMBER

•Plan•Prepare•Practice•Present

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.

VISUALS

•Not too complicated •Not dominating•Not huge chunks of text•Used to emphaise a point•Readable

TYPE OF USEFUL VISUALS

•Maps•Statistics and graphs•Plans•Photos•Key words

THE RIGHT IMPRESSION

•Poise•Relaxed•Clothes•Prepared•Eye contact•On time

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

YOU ARE UP AGAINST IT !

•Most people’s attention span is 20 minutes•Most people forget most of what you say

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!

THE VOICE

•Rhythm•Speed•Pitch•Pausing!•Have water on hand…•Learn to throw your voice

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

COLLEGE OF EUROPE

•Two locations•Student study possibilities•Extra curricular and student life•Alumni and ‘family’•Development office

Q and As

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

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

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

MORE TIPS

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

EFFECTIVE LANGUAGE USE

•Cultural aspects. Words and meanings.•Formal V Informal•Learn set phrases to help you

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!

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…

TRIPLING

•Government of the people,by the people,for the people•Lincoln•I came , I saw, I conquered•Caesar

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

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?

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…

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

SOFTENING MESSAGES

•Hard messages can be softened/made diplomatic with the use of qualifiers•Eg:A slight improvement•Eg: A minor problem

•Restating a point in a positive way•Eg: the figures could have been better•Eg: the talks were not a complete failure

REPETITION

•Repeating key points has impact•Eg: Sales are up.Sales are up because we spent more on advertising.

•Eg: It is a far far better thing that I do today, than I have ever done before.

DRAMATIC CONTRASTS

•Ten years ago we were a powerful country. To-day we are in danger of losing our influence everywhere in the world.

•If we don’t take care of the customer, someone else will.

MACHINE GUNNING

•As a company we are simply more creative, more competitive,more innovative,more responsive,more market driven that any other of our competitors.

SIMPLIFICATION

•Expansion?Not a good idea. Why? Obvious. Too risky.

•The simpler the language, the more impact.

THANK YOU

•Do you have any questions?