The Q&A session after technical presentations can be stressful. How can they be less stressful? Here are three key strategies to handle questions from the audience. Anticipating Questions One of the fundamental aspects of preparing for a technical presentation is anticipating potential questions from the audience. Preparation should extend beyond the content of your presentation and encompass the Q&A session…
I developed my online course “Teach the Geek to Speak” to help technical professionals improve their public speaking skills. I created it and thought that people would flock to buy it. That didn’t happen. If I had to do it all over again, here are three things I would have done differently. Building and marketing an online course requires careful…
Let’s discuss the importance of incorporating storytelling in technical presentations. Many might think that storytelling has no place in technical presentations, but let me tell you that it can make all the difference, especially when presenting to a non-technical audience. The story you choose to tell must be relevant to the data that you are presenting, and this is what…
Picture this. You’re an engineer who is presenting your research to senior level executives. You painstakingly develop your slides, making sure to explain your work in exacting detail. In fact, the title of your presentation, in your opinion, is the perfect summary of your current research. “CSF1R Agonists Elicit Distinct ERK Activation and Heterogeneity Profiles in Homeostatic and Diseased Microglia…
If you work in a technical role, chances are you like precision. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. But what if you’re in a situation where you’re not sure what to say at all? Speaking off the cuff is such a situation. Your boss asks you in the hallway how a project is going. You’re asked a…
Want a low pressure way to improve your public speaking skills? Appear as a guest on podcasts. There are over 400,000 active podcasts, so you can definitely find some that would love to have you as a guest. As a podcast guest, your speaking skills will improve because you’ll get practice answering questions extemporaneously. You can also build relationships with…
