Scientific and technical presentations

Last week, in New Jersey, Denver, and New York City I ran into the exact same problem in three different industries–a consulting firm, a pharmaceutical company, and a hedge fund.  The problem was this:  People were having trouble beginning their presentations so that they inspired curiosity and interest in their listeners.

Of course I saw the obligatory title slide.  What I heard was something like the following.  “Thank you for having me.  I’d like to share with you a little bit of the data we’ve put together as a result of our work on the XYZ project.”  Then they would click to the second slide and begin talking about the data.

This is one of the most common problems in scientific and technical presentations.  Presenters do not take the time to arouse interest and curiosity in the topic.  Instead, they jump to the facts and figures and fail to put their content into context!

Churchill said that in order to deliver a good speech, we need a strong opening and a dynamic ending and we need to put those two things as close together as possible.

Openings should introduce the topic, but should convince the audience to listen too.  Listeners need to know why they should invest their precious time, and devote their attention to you, rather than to the thousand other enticements available–e-mail, the funny guy in the next seat, or their thoughts of lunch.

To open well,  quickly define the situation the audience is in, including the problem or opportunity, ask the question that needs to be answered (it’s probably one of the Six Brothers: Who, What, Why, When, Where or How?) and the get busy with your answer.

If you can do this, you can seize and focus that primordial interest we humans display when confronted with puzzles and problems.

And that fuel of curiosity and wonder will keep us engaged even when your talk gets technical and complex.

It’s a paradox–the key to communicating complex scientific and technical material is the ability to arouse passion–the passion of curiosity and wonder.