Oral communication

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Oral communication

• Søren Lophaven
• Section for Statistics, IMM
• Snl_at_imm.dtu.dk

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Literature

• Mundtlig Formidling
• Anne Katrine Lund
• Frydenlund

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Oral communication

• In this context
• Not just telling the audience about a specific
  subject.
• But explaining the subject in a way which makes
  it understandable and interesting.

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The pentagram
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The pentagram

• 1. Circumstances
• Where and why is the communication happening, and
  what does it aim at ?
• 2 and 3. Subject and audience
• What is the topic of the communication, and who
  are the listeners ?

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The pentagram

• 4. Language
• Does the type of audience or the subject of the
  communication require you to use a specific
  language ?
• 5. Speaker
• How to talk, how to make your self
  understandable. Control nervousness.

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Circumstances

• Different types of circumstances
• Introduction of subject in class room
• Presentation of a project
• Answering of questions
• Debate
• Discussion
• Presentation in exam situations

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Presentation of a project

• 1. Describe your work
• Introduce the subject
• Describe the analyses (methodology)
• Present your results
• 2. Evaluate your work
• Discuss the work
• Conclude the work

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Presentation of a project

• Should be reliable
• Do not talk about unneccesary details
• Use examples

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Answering of questions

• Use short answers
• Be well prepared

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Debate

• Communicate your opinion
• Does not aim at agreement
• Convince the audience (Requires a good and
  precise argumentation)
• Used very much by politicians

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Discussion

• Communicate your opinion, but also oblige (listen
  to) other people.
• Requires respect for others.
• Aims at agreement.

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Circumstances (summary)
Type of circumstances Keywords
Presentation of a project Introduce, describe, present, discuss, conclude
Answering of questions Well prepared, short
Debate Convince, communicate opinion
Discussion Oblige, communicate opinion
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The subject

• How to find an interesting subject
• Look in books
• Look in newspapers
• Take a walk
• Ask other people
• Go to the library

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How to get more ideas

• Look in books
• Brainstorming

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How to get more ideas

• Brainstorming

Environmental statistics
Biostatistics
Statistics
Spatial statistics
Simulation
Survival
Clinical trials
Longitudinal data
Design
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How to get more ideas
Mind-mapping (spiders web)
Survival
Spatial statistics
Design
Clinical trials
Longitudinal data
Environmental statistics
Biostatistics
Simulation
Statistics
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How to get more ideas

• Fast-writing
• Write fast on a piece of paper for eg. 15 min.
• If you do not know what to write, write the title
  of your subject.

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How to get more ideas

• Ask wh-questions (who,what, where, when, why)
  about the subject
• Talk with other people about the subject

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The subject

• Limit the subject
• Argumentation is important (to convince or sound
  reliable)
• Use examples to present the subject

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The audience

• Who are the listeners ?
• What do they know about the subject ?
• Are they interested in the subject ?
• What do they expect ?
• Do they know you ?

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Make an agenda

• Introduction
• Should make the audience interested in listening
• Overview
• Presentation of the agenda
• Main part
• The content should be made logical
• The end
• Conclusions

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The language

• Adjust the language according to the
  circumstances, audience and subject

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The language

• The eye
• Is able to view a text with the neccesary breaks
• Can focus on specific words
• Can go back in the text
• Is therefore capable of understanding complex
  texts, with respect to content and sentence
  construction

• The ear
• The speed of words is controlled by the speaker
• Cannot go back in the text
• Must be supported by the memory to understand the
  context

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The speaker

• Practice (six times)
• In the situation
• Take your time
• Be aware of body language
• Try not to say Øhh
• Have eye-contact with the audience
• Speak loud and clear

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The speaker

• Manuscript
• Full manuscript
• Manuscript in a scheme
• List of keywords

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The speaker (nervousness)

• Symptoms
• Speak too fast
• Touch face, hair, pen manuscript etc.
• Avoid eye-contact
• Make øhh-sounds