Who says technical presentations cant be engaging?
I am a big fan of Garr Reynolds, who i think is an extremely creative human being and i love the tips at his famous website www.presentationzen.com
His latest post on “Technical Presentations” is quite useful to many of us. He uses the TED talk by Dr. Bonnie Bassler to throw light on the techniques which are crucial for any technical presentation. In the video, Dr. Bassler gets the message across, using her special techniques in communication. Come, lets learn “ How bacteria communicate?” and how the knowledge of bacterial communication can help in the development of new therapeutic antibiotic medicines.
Here is a summary of the techniques which Dr. Bassler uses in her presentation, according to Garr Reynolds
1 There is a great clarity in her narrative and she speaks in a conversational manner. For example, For example, she often says "The question is then _______" or "So the question is this: _______."
2 she also answers the two questions we often have as listeners but that too often go unanswered: "So what? and "Why does it matter (to me/us)?"
3 She references the screen often but only to illustrate her point. She uses her hands a great deal to explain processes, just as you would in ordinary, natural conversation.
4 Dr. Bassler's visuals are quite simple and for the most part they were a good companion to her talk, yet the attention was on her and her descriptions. At times when she was not speaking about something on screen behind her, TED put up her video which gets all the attention back on her. You can do something similar in a classroom or at smaller conferences by placing black slides in between sections or using the B key on your notebook to make the screen black (don't worry: the room will not go dark because you still have the lights on, right?).
Voila !!!! Now lets try and put them into practice.
