ONLINE – Tell your story – Deliver your message and transform your audience

Target group

The online workshop targets postdoctoral researchers and doctoral candidates who want to captivate audiences with their presentations e.g. at conferences.

Content

Audiences can sit for hours watching a play unfold. Why? Simply put, we humans love stories. Every time we speak in front of an audience, in essence, we are telling a story. However, es-pecially in academia, creating a captivating presentation feels like a challenge. So, how do we make our stories heard? This workshop focuses on techniques that help participants find and hone their message, create a compelling narrative, and effectively convey the story of their research and of themselves as individuals.

Covered Topics:

• Creating the story
  • The basics of story structure
  • Creation of an effective narrative (story boarding)
  • Dramatic arc of a storyline
  • Honing a message
• Visually supporting the story
  • How to use visuals in storytelling
  • Do’s and Don’ts of slides and visuals
  • Timing images with a speech
• Non-verbal communication
  • Body language
  • Facial expressions
  • Gestures
• Voice and Speech (Verbal Delivery)
  
  • Fillers
  • Use of pauses and silence
• Stage Fright
  • Triggers
  • Transforming the inner critic
  • Techniques to overcome stage fright
• Presenting
  • The storyteller and presence
  • Practice and assessment

Objectives

After the workshop, participants will…

• Use a strategy to clearly and concisely outline their presentation and their main message
• Activate their audience’s imagination with stories, analogies, and metaphors to make complex concepts relatable and tangible
• Develop strategies for presenting material in a format that engages the listener
• Project confidence and competence with their delivery of a well crafted message
• Enhance their message with visual aids that support their main points

Methods

This two-day workshop (plus 1 or 2 follow up-sessions) is designed to reach the target aims through meaningful practice, individual and group activities, theater exercises, and presenting and evaluating presentations.

Prerequisites

Laptops/PC with camera, microphone & speaker or headset. Participants will be required to prepare an elevator pitch in advance.