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Hong Zheng, M.D., assistant professor of cellular and integrative physiology, said the public speaking workshop helped her improve on skills she needed in order to present her workshop. |
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Irine Khutsishvili, Ph.D., a postdoc research associate in the College of Pharmacy, said the public speaking course helped her prepare better presentations in English, which is not her native language. |
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Jialin Zheng, M.D., left, associate professor in the department of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience, encouraged UNMC postdoc Changhai Tian, Ph.D., to take the public speaking course. Dr. Tian said the course gave him confidence in how to organize a presentation and how to introduce his research. |
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Lie Gao, M.D., Ph.D., an instructor in cellular and integrative physiology, called the public speaking course “very useful.” |
For individuals with no public speaking experience or who are interested in sharpening their skills, the UNMC Office of Postdoctoral Education is sponsoring a public speaking workshop in February.
The seminar provides an opportunity for participants to learn how to prepare a presentation and to organize and present information more effectively. The course will be held from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on four consecutive Wednesdays starting on Feb. 6. It will be taught by Peg Petersen, an instructor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha who has a master’s degree in communications and who specializes in intercultural communications.
The idea of the workshop was initiated by Iqbal Ahmad, Ph.D., associate dean for postdoctoral education, and put together with help from Lois Colburn, director of continuing education at UNMC, and support from Rubens Pamies, M.D., vice chancellor of academic affairs.
According to Dr. Ahmad, postdocs, young investigators, students and fellows are highly educated and often have a good command of the written language. They may not, however, have had extensive experience presenting their research findings and talking about their research publicly.
With the help of this seminar, Dr. Ahmad hopes they will be able to learn tips on how to present information and practice speaking skills that are so critical to be successful investigator and faculty member. These skills may be especially helpful to international students who have to present in their non-native language.
“Our goal is to make UNMC one of the best places for postdoctoral experience and provide our postdocs every possible resource and tool towards an independent career in a timely fashion,” Dr. Ahmad said. “The workshop on scientific presentation and public speaking is one such tool. We are in the process of developing a workshop on scientific writing. Together, these workshops will provide our postdocs and junior faculty with skill sets necessary for effective grantsmanship, research presentation in meetings, teaching and job interview.”
Public speaking is a skill that can be learned, said Petersen, who teaches a similar course at UNO.
“I emphasize that to all of my students,” she said. “If you take training and practice, you can be better at it.”
The workshop is particularly helpful for international students, who are often not aware of what an American audience expects.
“When they are from a different culture they may not know what a good presentation looks like and how to answer questions,” Petersen said. “I teach them how to organize and present their material so it is easy to understand. I also teach them how to incorporate body language and strong visual aids to support their spoken language.
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To combat nervousness, Petersen teaches relaxation, visualization and good preparation. She has seen improvement in all of her students over the course of the four weeks.
Hong Zheng, M.D., assistant professor of cellular and integrative physiology, and four other UNMC postdocs who took the pilot seminar last year would agree. For Dr. Zheng, the course came just as she was being promoted to assistant professor.
“It was very helpful for me,” she said. “It helped me improve my public speaking and I have needed to do public speaking for my job. It showed us how to organize a five-minute presentation, how to start and how to end.”
This was the first public speaking training for Lie Gao, M.D., Ph.D., an instructor in cellular and integrative physiology.
“Here, high school students have this training. In China, we never had a chance to receive this training,” Dr. Gao said. “It is very useful for us. Every year we have to present our data.”
Irine Khutsishvili, Ph.D., a postdoc research associate in the College of Pharmacy, said she had experience in public speaking, but it was in her own language. This course helped her prepare better presentations.
“I think the researchers for whom English is a second language can study a lot of important skills, which are different for other cultures,” she said. “I will recommend it to other post docs because it is a good experience.”
The course gave Changhai Tian, Ph.D., a postdoctoral student in the department of pharmacology, confidence in how to organize a presentation and how to introduce his research. With a year of study completed, he feels these skills will be beneficial for his career.
“It helped me understand and answer questions,” he said.
Jialin Zheng, M.D., associate professor in the department of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience, encouraged Dr. Tian to take this course.
“One important job for a scientist is to express his or her idea correctly and effectively so that he or she can get more feedback regarding his or her work,” Dr. Zheng said. “Questions and comments are always important to help each scientist to shape/improve their idea.”
In addition, becoming comfortable presenting ideas is important to the research process.
“Current science setting revolves around team and group effort,” Dr. Zheng said. “Without expressing your ideas freely to others, the progress would be slower no matter how smart you are.”
To learn about the workshop including registration information, contact Jeanne Ferbrache, director of Institutional Research and coordinator for the Office of Postdoctoral Education, at 559-3937 or jferbrache@unmc.edu.
The deadline for registration is Jan. 30.