Hey all, Justin here and I will be reflecting on my thoughts on the presentation part of the internship.
During the few weeks prior, I have come to realise the importance of communication and being adaptable. After submitting our proposals, a big relief has set in ways knowing that we have knocked down successfully a big part of the internship. During the writing process, it was a good opportunity in translating our experiences into a formal and tangible report. With the past week having made a start on our presentation for our projects in the lab, we now have to try convey our experiences and passion to an audience that isn't all too familiar with our project, using 5 slides and under 10 minutes. Same idea, completely different format.
Faced with these challenges, I have come to appreciate the skill of being able to communicate and adapt to different audiences with different forms. To me, it seems like a skill that can be easily overlooked during psychology course work study which focuses on memorising, applying, and writing. But as scientists, it is quite important that we are able to communicate the work and importance of what we do to an everyday audience because the implications of research extends beyond any one scientist or group of scientists. We can inspire and be inspired by others and for that to happen, what we do should be freely accessible and shared.
We have all received a taste of just how powerful good communication and presentation skills can be during the presentation workshop with Lenny. During the two hours, he shared with us his presentation tips and things to keep in mind, sprinkled with anecdotes and light-hearted breaks, and the occasional bite-sized enduring messages. During those two hours, he had us all pretty much by the edge of our seats engaged and listening. Having attended some of his previous course lectures and hearing his talk, I was incredibly impressed how well he was able to adapt to different settings, and still have complete command over his presentation style. I know I am still long ways away from such expertise, but that is still some serious stuff to aspire towards.
I'll be interested in how we are all going so far and thoughts we may have with our presentations. In the meantime, all the best with our preparation and in the words of Lenny - do what you do on purpose 😉
Justin
During the few weeks prior, I have come to realise the importance of communication and being adaptable. After submitting our proposals, a big relief has set in ways knowing that we have knocked down successfully a big part of the internship. During the writing process, it was a good opportunity in translating our experiences into a formal and tangible report. With the past week having made a start on our presentation for our projects in the lab, we now have to try convey our experiences and passion to an audience that isn't all too familiar with our project, using 5 slides and under 10 minutes. Same idea, completely different format.
Faced with these challenges, I have come to appreciate the skill of being able to communicate and adapt to different audiences with different forms. To me, it seems like a skill that can be easily overlooked during psychology course work study which focuses on memorising, applying, and writing. But as scientists, it is quite important that we are able to communicate the work and importance of what we do to an everyday audience because the implications of research extends beyond any one scientist or group of scientists. We can inspire and be inspired by others and for that to happen, what we do should be freely accessible and shared.
We have all received a taste of just how powerful good communication and presentation skills can be during the presentation workshop with Lenny. During the two hours, he shared with us his presentation tips and things to keep in mind, sprinkled with anecdotes and light-hearted breaks, and the occasional bite-sized enduring messages. During those two hours, he had us all pretty much by the edge of our seats engaged and listening. Having attended some of his previous course lectures and hearing his talk, I was incredibly impressed how well he was able to adapt to different settings, and still have complete command over his presentation style. I know I am still long ways away from such expertise, but that is still some serious stuff to aspire towards.
I'll be interested in how we are all going so far and thoughts we may have with our presentations. In the meantime, all the best with our preparation and in the words of Lenny - do what you do on purpose 😉
Justin
Hi Justin,
ReplyDeleteI agree that Lenny is super impressive in his presenting skills. I remember I had to go to the bathroom in that workshop and I was so disappointed I had to miss a part of his presentation! (not a way I usually feel about presentations at uni).
I also found our most recent practice workshop really useful but also incredibly intimidating. Something about having to stand up in front of people and talking just seems to be so nerve racking. Practice seems to make it a lot easier (or at least I hope so). Therefore my tactic before our miniconference is to practice as much as possible.
Goodluck with your presentation,
Luana :)