17 July 2008
Posted in Getting published, Presentations quality, Speaking in public
I am happy that my book Survival Guide for Scientists, published about a month ago, is selling very well. Today I went through the final proofs of the second edition. Corrections were only minor (some inconsistencies in italic versus roman fonts will be corrected). Up to now the marketing has only been done in the Netherlands. Shortly, our US-publisher will take care of that part of the market.
From the reactions I conclude that my expectation that the book would also be useful for non-scientists, turns out to be more than correct: lawyers, consultants and managers buy the book. And parents buy it for their university-going children. Tell me your opinion about the book.
Read more (137 words, reading time 33 seconds)
23 June 2008
Posted in Ethics, Speaking in public, Tips for senior scientists
After many years of experience I come to the following conclusion: Giving a good talk for a lay audience is extremely difficult and not very rewarding. Reading this statement will upset a number of people. So I have to do some explaining.
Read more (398 words, 2 images, reading time 1:36 minutes)
5 June 2008
Posted in Presentations quality, Speaking in public
PowerPoint does not help
I have seen quite some historical developments with respect to visible aids used to clarify oral scientific presentations. I have seen talks illustrated with, slides being projected through a slide projector, transparencies made visible with an overhead projector, and - now - digital slides that come to the audience through a beamer. But with all these modern developments, which certainly seem to look like improvements, a lot of things have not changed for the better. Presenters going way over their time. Showing of bad slides (ugly, busy, unclear, …). Too Much Information (TMI). Much too high level for the audience. Why does this situation continue? My answer: a.o. lack of feedback. (Fig. Uncle Sam)
Read more (809 words, 3 images, reading time 3:14 minutes)
3 April 2008
Tags: presentation skills, repeating questions
Posted in Speaking in public
In the presentation guide, repeating questions in order to involve the whole audience is said to be a golden rule for which there is no exception. I have no doubt in the importance of repeating questions, but speakers must be careful not to distress themselves and the audience.
In our department, consisting of 6 groups, we have a weekly colloquium. Once or twice a year, each member gets a chance to present a 45-minute talk for the whole department. During the talk the speaker gets as much comments on her presentation skills as she gets scientific questions. As a result, the presentation-skills of the members of our department improve much faster than the other institute-members who do not practice as much.
Read more (393 words, reading time 1:34 minutes)
Latest reactions
By the end of the introduction, there should at least be a fairly accurate description of what _type_ of result ...
20 Aug 2008 18:08, Allard Mosk
Understood. However, by inaccurately using a French word, you have drawn the the (French speaking) reader’s attention away from your ...
12 Aug 2008 9:09, Timmo
Timmo, Philip, Thank you for your comments. Please note that I absolutely did not intend to start a discussion on the ...
11 Aug 2008 17:58, Ramy El-Dardiry
"Vulgus" is the word for "the people" in Latin. In fact, the version of the Bible that was used by ...
11 Aug 2008 14:40, Philip Chimento
I think you have a very interesting point. It is probably either the number of claims that go up ...
7 Aug 2008 21:53, Eugen Tarnow