StuartABerger.com

There is nothing like the delight of experiencing a great talk – and conversely, the disappointment of sitting through a talk that just didn’t land. What is it that distinguishes a great talk from one that misses the mark? And can Scientific Communication be more effective?

The UofT Department of Immunology, like most others, has a graduate student seminar program where our students present their work to a mixed group of students, faculty and lab members. I have had the privilege of chairing these seminars for many years. After each session, students provide written, anonymous feedback to the presenters and faculty have an oral feedback session where we give our opinion as to what worked, what didn’t and suggestions for improvement. I have probably conducted over 1,000 of these feedback sessions. 

I also teach our students how to approach communication tasks as diverse as ‘Elevator Pitches’, posters, written communications and other presentations. 

From these experiences, I have gained some insight into the elements that make a great talk and will be posting more on these topics shortly. However it occurred to me that I might be able to assist those outside my academic unit with their communication challenges. Specifically, I am considering offering one-on-one feedback sessions on draft presentations with the goals of improving the structure, content and delivery.

For those of you in my network and beyond who might see this post, please get back to me (via email, LinkedIn messaging or by responding to this post) on whether you think it would be helpful to offer this service to a wider audience. For those of you who are interested in my assistance, I would like to offer the first 10 respondents an opportunity to have a feedback session with me (no charge of course). All I ask is that you provide me with your opinion on the service along with suggestions on how to improve.

Let’s work together to make Scientific Communication as delightful and inspiring as possible!.