[TIPS] Want to make better presentations? Read classic Sci-Fi!

A couple of weeks ago I had to do some flying – two consecutive 6 hour flights to be exact. Normally I bring along some magazines or other non-fiction but, for the first time in years, this time I brought along a science fiction book by Robert A. Heinlein.

Please understand, I used to be a serious Sci-Fi geek and my walls and floors were lined with hundreds of softcover Sci-Fi books. All sorts of authors, but my tastes ran to “hard” science fiction – the kind of story where the plot hinged on some sort of physics or astronomy (there was very little in the way of biology-based Sci-Fi at the time). As a result I was a serious fan of the “Big Three” writers – Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein.

Over time my tastes changed and I moved away from science fiction to science fact. The softcover books were left behind and/or sold as I moved, and were replaced by hardcovers covering a wide range of topics. Genetics took place of pride in my library, and I started to look down on my Sci-Fi past.

But not everything was left behind. There were a few books that I kept, and three of them were Heinlein titles. The titles are not important, but when I last had to travel I picked up one of the books. In addition to vastly enjoying the story – and marvelling at his open mind and seeming prescience in many areas – I made a realization:

Heinlein (and the rest of the Sci-Fi authors I read) helped shape my ability to share my ideas through speaking.

This came as a surprise, but in retrospect it should not have been.

In science fiction – and especially in the “hard” version of it – the author has to quickly bring the reader up to speed on the necessary science. Since the author cannot assume that the audience is knowledgeable in the area in question the author has to be skilled in teaching the science to the reader quickly, clearly, and in an engaging manner.

Quick, clear, and engaging. Kind of what you need in a presentation, don’t you think?

This realization hit me several thousand feet above the Pacific, and took me a few minutes to absorb. But it appears that – quite unintentionally and very much by osmosis – I had picked up many communication techniques simply by reading experts in the field.

Check it out for yourself. Pick up a “hard” Sci-Fi title. Start reading. And when the characters or narrator start talking science, pay attention to the tricks that they are using to communicate the ideas. You will find that they simplify the science and focus on the core while staying engaging. Paying attention to how they do this is almost as entertaining as the story itself.

And afterwards, ask yourself how you might be able to use these same techniques to your advantage in the future.

[TIPS] Learning from others mistakes

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.

[Tips] It’s all about the audience

The one constant in all the talks you will give is, well, you. It will always be you giving the talk, but the audience will change. As such, the talk is not so much about you, but about the audience instead.

Each talk needs to be tailored to the audience. Their level of knowledge, their level of education, their interests, their expectations. If you talk above their level, you lose them. If you talk about something that does not interest them, you lose them. If they come in expecting one thing and you deliver another…. well, you might be able to salvage that, but you are making life hard on yourself.

Instead, mold your talk to the audience. You will get your message across more effectively (which is the point of it all), and everyone will be happier.

[Tips] The sound of silence

Most people are afraid of silence – “dead air” as the radio types call it – and use crutch word such as “um” and “ah” to fill the vacuum. You shouldn’t be afraid though – silence is actually a gift

Silence – a gap in the speaking – actually draws people’s attention. People whose attention has wandered will focus back on the speaker. People who have been listening, pay more attention. The implicit expectation is that what follows is important, that the speaker is collecting her thoughts to deliver with maximum impact.

So don’t be afraid of a little silence. Use it, and you shall be rewarded.

[Techniques] Using analogies

The other day I was reading an article about possible water shortages in the future. Now, I have to admit that I have always kind of blown these stories off. I grew up next to a river and 15 minutes from a lake. I went to university about 2 hours drive from a number of glaciers, and the spring flood in town was an annual ritual. My first post-doc was at the juncture of two large lakes, and for my second post-doc I lived on the rainy side of the island of Hawaii.

So the idea of a water shortage seemed to be a bit of, well, fear mongering or something. It certainly didn’t seem real, and although intellectually I could see it being a problem in some parts of the world it certainly wasn’t something that affected, well, me.

But this article quoted a scientist who finally got me to understand, and he did it through an analogy.

In Canada, where I live, we are blessed with abundant water. But the water supply (located in the north, away from the major population centers) was deposited thousands of years ago by retreating glaciers at the end of the last ice age; this is the water that we are using up and that is not being replenished. The analogy that the scientist made was to consider the water supply as our retirement account. The water initially deposited by the glaciers is the initial principal, and the interest on the account is the water re-deposited by rain. Given this set-up, the scientist made the point that we are currently spending our principal, and the interest is not enough to make up for the spending. The inevitable result – someday we will run out of principal…. water.

I found this to be a powerful analogy in a couple of ways. First, it was easily accessible to everyone – scientist or not – as it relates to a situation that we all have to consider in our financial planning. Secondly, by using this analogy the scientist was able to bypass the skepticism that I held relating to the water supply, and if I accepted the analogy I had to accept (or at least think about) the conclusion – that we do indeed need to better manage our water supplies or risk running our account – and our country – dry.

Those two conclusions show the power of analogies. They can help make a difficult concept easier to understand, and they can potentially help make a contentious point more palatable. Perhaps there are other uses – can you think of any?