Presenting
Presenting activities prepare you for any session where you explain your work out loud and answer for it: a design review, a demo, a conference talk. The last one puts your work in front of someone with relevant expertise and little knowledge of your project, who will see what the team has stopped noticing.
“The great enemy of communication, we find, is the illusion of it.” (William H. Whyte, “Is Anybody Listening?”, Fortune, 1950)
Learn from Jean-luc Doumont
Section titled “Learn from Jean-luc Doumont”Two or three techniques for structuring a talk or a document, applied to one of your own. Jean-luc Doumont teaches STEM professionals how to organize and present ideas; his book Trees, Maps, and Theorems and his free handouts and videos (also on YouTube) are the source. One to two hours, once.
Read his book or find handouts or videos relevant to your situation or concerns, then write a brief summary of what you learned and what you’ll apply to your presentation or document. Sharing your revised presentation or document is a plus.
A good output is a short write-up of the two or three techniques you’ll actually use, with one slide or paragraph you rewrote using them.
Learn from Patrick Winston
Section titled “Learn from Patrick Winston”One concrete change to your next presentation, taken from the late AI researcher Patrick Winston’s lecture How to Speak. Watch it (about an hour), then write a brief summary of what you learned and what you’ll apply.
“Your success in life will be determined largely by your ability to speak, your ability to write, and the quality of your ideas. In that order.” (Patrick Henry Winston)
A good output is a brief summary naming what you learned and the one thing you’ll change in your next presentation.
Learn from TED Presentation Advice
Section titled “Learn from TED Presentation Advice”Here are three resources about doing a TED Talk:
- How to Give a Killer Presentation (article)
- The Secret Structure of Great Talks (video)
- Doing a TED Talk: The Full Story (article)
Learn from them or find other resources (videos, etc.), then write a brief summary of what you learned and what you’ll apply to your presentation.
A good output is a short write-up of what you took from the resources and how it changes the structure of your next talk.
Conquer your Fear of Public Speaking
Section titled “Conquer your Fear of Public Speaking”Research tips to help you become more comfortable and confident in front of an audience. Practice a few of these techniques, then write a brief summary of what you learned and how you plan to incorporate them into your presentation.
Here are a couple of links to get you started:
- Before Public Speaking… (video)
- 5 Ways to Get Over Your Fear of Public Speaking (article)
A good output is a brief summary of the techniques you practiced and which ones you’ll use before your next presentation.
External Feedback Session
Section titled “External Feedback Session”Find someone who has relevant expertise to review your project. It can be a technical person or a knowledge domain expert. The person should have little knowledge of your project.
Present the relevant parts of your project to them and collect their feedback. Write a summary of what you learned that could or should be applied to your project. Include specifics. Share it with your team.
A good output is a written summary of the feedback with the specific changes you’ll make, shared with your team.