Gets science across

Sharing possibilities, Technoport coaches speakers in how to get their message across.

This year, three successful Technoport Talks have been held in Trondheim, Norway. During Technoport’s 2012 conference, inspiring individuals from business, leading scientists, politicians and NGO leaders will each hold Technoport Talks, sharing possibilities towards a greener future. In preparation for the talks, a professional coach will offer the speakers guidance to public speaking, and the “yes and nos” of research disseminations.

- I always start by going through the entire presentation, including slides and use of microphone. Then I provide feedback regarding contents, use of voice and distinction, body language and so on. I try to be as concrete as I can, hoping this will help the presenter, says Nora Evensen.

Evensen works as a theatre director, and she can see many parallels between the theatre stage, and research dissemination.

- Of course I don’t want the speakers to behave like an actor, but in the same way an actor has to, the presenter must engage the audience, and design their presentation in a way that the audience will respond well to. It comes down to presenting your research in an interesting and orderly way.
After receiving guidance, and input from coach Evensen, many of the speakers choose to change, or modify their presentation.

- Some choose to remove slides, after we have discussed how necessary they are for the key message. The common errors are too many slides, packed with too much information. That’s a problem, because the complicated graphs and the dense text are taking the focus of the audience away from you. I suspect that this often is done intentionally, but my experience is that the result will be better if you have the courage to be the center of attention.

Read more about the “yes and no’s” of public speaking here.