SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION

Type: oral.Subtypes: presenting papers at professional meetings/conferences, conference and

seminar discussions, conference coffee-break conversations, telephoning, health care professional-patient conversations, scientific English examinations.

The Presentation

Preparation: study the context and the audience (see the interpersonal communication section) and adapt the purpose of the talk to the conditions under which the event is taking place.

Structure: Greetings: thank the chairperson, greet the listeners, then begin; Opening remarks: The title of my presentation is…/I’d like to talk today

about…; The scope of the talk and the order in which the main points will be

made: I have divided my talk into four sections; My first point concerns…; The second part will concern…/ In the third part I will deal with the question of ; Finally, I shall raise briefly the issue of…;

Opening the first section: Let me start by posing the question…/ I’d like to begin by suggesting that.../ I’d like to start by drawing your attention to …;

Moving to a new point: Let me now turn to…/ I’d like to turn now to the question of…/ If we now look at …;

Using elaborating expressions to show that you are going to develop a point in more detail: I’d like to look at this in a bit more detail…/ Let me elaborate on this point…/ Let’s look at this problem in a bit more detail…;

Postponing: I’ll be returning to this point later…/ I’ll be coming back to this issue later…/ As will be shown later…;

Referring back: Getting back to the question of …/ Coming back now to the issue which I raised earlier…/ As I said earlier…;

Highlighting: The interesting thing about …is…/ The significant thing about…is…/ The thing to remember is …;

Using indicators to signal that a point or a section has been completed and that a new point will be made: Okay…/ Right then…/ Good…/ Now…/ Well then…;

Summarizing: internal preview and final summary: The main points that have been made are…/ In conclusion I should just like to say…/ Summing up then…/ To sum up then…;

Thanking to the audience.Checklist: to insure the interest and the attention of the audience:

Choose a challenging topic and relate it to the listeners; Rehearse the talk; Make arrangements for the provision of visual aids and look at the lecture

room; Establish credibility, show interest for your subject as well as

competence; Be clear, concise, and confident; Presenting does not mean reading; the latter involves the dangers of

losing eye-contact with the audience, assuming a rigid stance on the platform and it results in a monotone delivery;

The contents have to be varied and interesting, and to stimulate a real interaction with the listeners;

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Control your body language; Pay attention to the amount of information included in the message, the

speed of your talk, the pronunciation, and the grammar of the presentation; avoid the interference from your native language.

Guidelines for Scientific Presentations

A good presenter:

- is well prepared and organized

- makes the presentation short, but complete

- delivers with adequate volume, diction, and eye contact

- is respectful of the audience

- elicits and encourages participation and constructive comment

- doesn't memorize the presentation

- attempts to clarify research objectives and methods

- provides enough detail, but not too much

- anticipates questions from the audience

- selects and distills information to make the best use of the time

- uses visual aids that are large enough and explicit

- makes effective use of the pointer

- paces the presentation to interrupt projection time with discussion

- spends adequate time to prepare good tables and figures

- is not repetitive

- does not waste time reading text to the group

- tries to direct the discussion to avoid monopolization

- doesn't chew gum while talking

- doesn't dance around or block the screen

- is comfortable and relaxed

- knows the equipment before he uses it

- doesn't fill his presentation with useless information

- allows enough time for everyone to comment or question

- doesn't allow lab politics to influence discussion

- comes to seminar with a good attitude, i.e., recognizes that the seminar is our

opportunity to improve our own science as well as that of our colleagues.

Roy Bowers

Center for Biological Research La Paz, MEXICO

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