Scientist and Engineer Presentation Strategies

You can almost hear the audience grown out loud as the next presenter makes his way to the podium, his arms filled with charts and a pocket protector overflowing with pens and pencils. Presentations from scientists and engineers are the worst things to sit through. The content is filled with technical jargon and the presenter just drones on and on as if everyone really cared about the fact the drag coefficient on the 2008 model was being reduced by .016 percent.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way anymore. Our Scientist and Engineer Presentation Strategies seminar will help technical professionals design, develop, and deliver successful presentations for any occasion where non-specialists are likely to be in attendance, including internal briefings, conference lectures, poster sessions, public hearings, and public testimony. Our program features extensive practice through presentations, demonstrations, small group and individual exercises. During the class, participants create their individual presentations and deliver them before the rest of the class in ten videotaped exercises. Class size is strictly limited to ten participants.

Seminar Objectives:

Participants in the Scientist and Engineer Presentation Strategies seminar will learn to:

• Make your presentation come alive in such a way that your audience will be talking about it days or weeks later.
• Present your material in a relaxed, professional way, using very few notes.
• Determine what the audience needs and wants, and design ways to address these concerns.
• Avoid confusing techno-speak and make your presentation accessible to key decision makers who may be non-specialists in your field.
• Use and prepare the visual aids that are appropriate to the situation.
• Fit the length of your presentation to the time you have been allotted, while also being flexible to last minutes changes.
• Tailor your presentation to fit the venue and the event, because a professional conference is not the same as a press conference.
• Develop confidence in using all types of presentation tools.
• Overcome presentation anxiety.
• Respond with confidence and clarity to questions and objections from your audience.
• Employ supplemental material such as stories, jokes and illustrations to hold your audience’s attention.