I should really go to more seminars.
I do not know if this is really a surprise, but I do not go to many seminars at my day job. It is not that I am uninterested in the topics (generally). Rather, it is simply that the average quality of the talks is so low that I end up not paying attention to the talk. Instead, I spend my time doing something useful over trying to force myself to listen to a poorly implemented talk.
The other day, though, I realized why I should go to more talks, if only for a few minutes. Just as a good speaker can show you what to do to improve your skills, a poor speaker can show you what not to do. For example, at the last seminar I attended (and left part way through) the speaker spent her time reading from – and talking to – the screen. There was no looking at the audience, no eye contact – nothing.
What made this worse was that the speaker was very soft spoken, so it was hard to hear her at the best of times. Further, she had a thick accent that made her harder to understand. Any one of the three aspects – talking to the screen, being soft spoken, a thick accent – could have been bearable, and possibly even two could have been coped with, but all three? Nope. As soon as it became clear that things were not getting better I left.
The point I want to leave you with, though, is to try to learn from others mistakes. If you find yourself zoning out, mentally step back and ask yourself “why.” Chances are good that, even if you do not learn what the speaker wants you to learn, you will still come out with something to benefit your self.
Even if it is simply another thing not to do.
The Speaking Scientist 