Effective Oral Presentations
General context
Top-notch scientists who strive to publish, patent and ultimately translate their scientific findings from the laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside/plant, must be very talented in a wide variety of life science disciplines. Though, more than being a superb scientist, they also need to be skilled to put their findings in the picture at events such as lab meetings, seminars, workshops, etc. The simple reason therefore is that in fact any scientific breakthrough or technical achievement is only as good as the scientists’ ability to clearly and concisely explain and/or present its content to others in language they can understand (and relate to).
In modern life sciences, it is thus a prerequisite for embarking scientists to impress their colleagues, their boss, granting bodies and eventually the entire research community via spoken and/or written communications dealing with their research findings in such a way that the take home messages hit the scientific minds! Sounds easy, but in fact it is challenging to bring a scientific story in such a way that some years later the essence is still remembered for the good, instead of the bad reasons.
VIB is aware of the myriad of skills required to do so successfully and offers doctoral researchers and postdoctoral researchers the ability to participate in a four days training program that will give them concrete insights and guided practice to develop expert communication and presentation skills.
Ultimately, the ambition of the current training session is to give doctoral researchers and postdoctoral researchers the privilege to develop a persuasive edge that will enable them to upgrade their communication and presentation skills to those of a capable, credible and captivating lecturer, which means that he/she is appreciated by its audience as someone who can be followed, understood, trusted and believed, and for whom it is worth to keep awake.
Participants will be trained on aspects such as:
- how to design, construct and use slides,
- how to handle and respond to simple and challenging questions,
- how to choose ‘the right graph’ to present the data,
- how to draw attention to specific data points, and
- how to develop techniques for delivering scientific information to groups of any size.
Further, the training program pays attention to so-called soft skills such as,
- how to deal with performance anxiety,
- how to develop a comfortable natural style,
- how to make eye contact with the audience, and
- how to build a stronger communication impact through the ideal interplay between words, voice and body language.
So, for everyone who hesitates whether or not to participate, we finally can say that, if you do, you will be grateful on occasions such as when you are standing behind a lectern looking at the faces of hundreds of renowned scientists as you are about to present your latest scientific paper.
The combination of highly interactive theoretical lectures and practical sessions prepares you to get your message across.
- This training is free for VIB participants.
- The course is not open for non-VIB participants.
- Note that upon no show without valid justification a fee of € 100 will be charged and you will be blacklisted for the VIB training program for 1 year. Click here for more information.
Trainers
Principiae
An engineer from the Louvain School of Engineering and a PhD in applied physics from Stanford University, Jean-luc Doumont is the lead instructor for most of the training projects at Principiae: he enjoys nothing more than standing in front of a group of grad students or professionals, challenging everything they thought they knew, provoking or facilitating a discussion, structuring their thoughts, sharpening their skills, and, importantly, arousing enthusiasm.
An articulate, entertaining, and thought-provoking presenter, Jean-luc is a popular instructor and invited speaker worldwide. Over the years, he has given hundreds of talks and workshops, in English, French, Dutch, and Spanish, at an array of companies, top-ranked universities, research laboratories, and conferences.
Program
This course consists of 2 full days of theory & 2x half a day of practice:
- Fundamentals: 11 Feb 2020 - AM
- Speaking - concepts 1: 11 Feb 2020 - PM
- Speaking - concepts 2: 20 Feb 2020 - AM
- Speaking - concepts 3 (graphs): 20 Feb 2020 - PM
- Practice 1: 17 - 19 Feb 2020
- Practice 2: 2 - 4 Mar 2020
The location and dates for the practical sessions are to be chosen by the participants in consultation with the lecturer.
1. Gent practical sessions:
- 19 Feb PM and 4 Mar PM - VIB-UGent FSVM Research building - Meeting Room BUD
2. Leuven practical sessions:
- 17 Feb PM – KUL Campus Gasthuisberg - Alma leercentrum onderwijstoren ON ALO – Room 05.300 - Vesalius BO.05.300
- 18 Feb AM or PM – KUL Campus Gasthuisberg - Alma leercentrum onderwijstoren ON ALO – Room 05.300 - Vesalius BO.05.300
- 19 Feb PM – KUL Campus Gasthuisberg – O&N1 402-19 – O&N1 Room 04.518 – GS1
- 2 Mar PM – KUL Campus Gasthuisberg O&N4 – Room 09.236
- 3 Mar AM – KUL Campus Gasthuisberg - Alma leercentrum onderwijstoren ON ALO – Room 05.300 - Vesalius BO.05.300
- 4 Mar PM – KUL Campus Gasthuisberg O&N1 - Room 04.518
- 5 Mar PM - KUL Campus Gasthuisberg O&N4 – Room 07.339
Practical info
11 February 2020 - 20 February 2020
Leuven - Park Inn by Radisson
Martelarenlaan 36
3010 Leuven
Belgium
11 February 2020 - 20 February 2020
Leuven - Park Inn by Radisson
The hotel is located 300m from Leuven Central Station. The hotel connects to Leuven Central Station by a pedestrian bridge.
11 February 2020 - 20 February 2020
Leuven - Park Inn by Radisson
Park Inn hotel has no own parking. It is possible to park underground in P1-Parking Station Leuven, Martelarenlaan 4, 3010 Leuven or in parking De Bond, Martelarenlaan 18, 3010 Leuven.
11 February 2020 - 20 February 2020
Leuven - Park Inn by Radisson
+32 16 61 66 02
sales.leuven@parkinn.com