Storytelling and Research: presenting your work in 3 minutes

30 October 2015 COMPLET/FULL

Dre Adria Le Boeuf

In this 1-day workshop, we will use storytelling and presentation techniques in an interactive workshop to help each participant find an engaging way to communicate his or her research. At the end of the day, you will have prepared a 3-minute talk about your work that you will have practiced and refined. After an introduction into mixing storytelling and research, we will work to define the hook, the arc, and the take-home message of each participant's research story. These will then be developed into a brief text. The rest of the afternoon will focus on refinement, presentation skills, and practice for each participant's 3-minute talk. In this section, each participant will get both the trainer's and the group's feedback on their talk, and they'll be able to take home a video of their own talk.

Three-minute talks like these are tailored for international competitions such as 3MT (English), FameLab (English), FallingWalls (English) or MT180 (French). They are an excellent exercise in distilling one's work down to its essence and learning how to be a good presenter. Additionally, they also allow researchers to inject joy, comedy, and artistry into the explanation of their work, making the presentation experience much more fun! The work done in this workshop can be re-used in many other contexts: anytime where you must explain the value of your research to the general public or to anyone outside your field.

Learning outcomesAt the end of this workshop doctoral students will be able to orally present their thesis research in a concise and engaging manner. Participants will have acquired skills in:
- Distilling the importance of their work for the general public
- Structuring presentations and pitches
- Oral presentation skills
Lastly, through this fun and playful way of communicating research, participants will learn how to take joy presenting their work if they haven't already.

Pedagogical methods, logistical aspectsThe workshop will be interactive. Participants should bring their computers.

Participants' talks will be filmed and each person can take home his or her talk as the end of the day for future study.

Requirements Participants should be comfortable and able to express themselves in English (level B2/C1).

Intended AudienceThis workshop is designed for doctoral candidates from all disciplines, and who have progressed sufficiently in their doctoral thesis in order to have both a clear aim and some initial results of their research.

Preparatory Work

Approximately 1 hour of preparatory work is strongly advised but not required:

Please think a bit in advance and write down some notes about these questions: Why is your work important or interesting to someone outside your field? What metaphors might help you to explain your work? What is your most important finding?

Université de Lausanne

Date: Friday 30th October 2015

Schedule: 9:30 to 18:00

Location: University of Lausanne

Trainer: Adria Le Boeuf is a multi-disciplinary scientist and a specialist in creating new stories about scientific research. Adria is the founder of The Catalyst (www.thecatalyst.ch), a cross-disciplinary theater group for scientists working to improve communication skills and to create new science-driven media (most recently, bluebutterflyplay.ch). Adria has been highly involved in TEDxLausanne, as a curator, speaker coach and MC since 2012. In this capacity, she has coached many speakers including professors and business leaders from IMD, UNIL, UniNe, HEC, and the Weizmann Institute, one of whom went on to speak at TEDGlobal. Adria has taught workshops in combining science and storytelling at UNIL, the Lift conference and at CERN.

In her scientific life as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lausanne, Adria manages and executes a project on the chemical crowdsourcing of long-term decisions in ant colonies through trophallaxis. This project itself spans proteomics, bioinformatics, molecular biology, protein biochemistry, insect endocrinology, pharmacology, and complex automated behavioral analysis.

Participants are eligible for reimbursement of incurred travel expenses by train between the town of their university and the location of the workshop (half-fare card, 2nd class). For full-day workshops, lunch costs will be reimbursed upon presentation of original receipts (no photocopies or scans). A reimbursement form will be supplied to all registered participants for this workshop.

This workshop is intended primarily for those registered for a MT180/3MT competition. The usual criteria of membership of a CUSO doctoral programme does not apply in this case. Nevertheless, participation in the workshop remains restricted to those currently registered as a doctoral candidate with a CUSO member institution.

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