Great Presentations

Back when my interest in teaching was only just a spark on the kindling of my brain, I started to investigate the tricks of communication. Up to that point in my life I had completely underestimated the importance of communication. I thought, as any myopic engineer would, that sound ideas will speak of their own merit, that they do not need to be advertised. Oh, how wrong I was. All we have to do is read about the merits the second oldest language from 1958, or to watch the Mother of all Demos from 1968, to get visceral sense of outrage: The best ideas remain sadly unadopted!

As an educator, I think the secret is to tell stories. Tell stories about what problem you had, and how you solved it. Put emotion into your technical communication, other researchers share your problems. Tell a story so that they can identify! Make each listener the protagonist of your tale. Nancy Duarte: The secret structure of great talks