Based on lectures: Indian-FETP, EPIET Oral communication Alicia Barrasa

Based on lectures: Indian-FETP, EPIET

Oral communication

Alicia Barrasa

– Why to communicate

– What to communicate

– Preparing the content

– Preparing the slides

– Preparing the speech

– Delivering the presentation

Content

Why to communicate?

Who is your audience?

– knowledge and expertise

– education / cultural background

– their expectation of you

– their professional position

What exactly should you present?

– Original, new data, new findings…

What to communicate?

S = Single

O = Overriding

C = Communication

O = Objective

Objective, concise, precise message

What to communicate?

Good SOCO: A logical deduction of the presentation

The SOCO

Audience will receive a lot during the meeting, but can only remember one thing from you

Think of one take-home message

Write down your SOCO in two or three lines • easy to remember • clear • simple• practical

Ask details

• how much time do you have?

• is there time for discussion / questions?

• who are the other speakers? what will they present?

Preparing the content

Outline your presentation(e.g. for a 10mn presentation)

• Title (1 slide)

• Background (1 slide)

• Methods (2 slides, maximum 3)

• Results (3 slides)

• Limitations (1 slide)

• Conclusion (1 slide)

• Recommendations (1 slide)

• Acknowledgements (1 slide)

Preparing the content

– Focus on the SOCO

• Start by preparing the conclusions slide

• Prepare recommendations on the basis of conclusions

• Choose results supporting conclusions

• Explain methods to get the results

• Describe background

Preparing the content

Preparing the slides Visual aids

Digital versus analog US pedestrians

Pedestrian crossingX = cross !

Digital pedestrian Analog pedestrian

BelgiumFrance

Burma Spain Zimbabwe

Analog pedestrians from around the world

Russia

Germany

US

Spain

France

Ecuador

Italy

"Rolling stones" from around the world

– Bullet points

Written text (‘digital’), visual reinforcement

leave them alone

– Tables, graphs, maps

Images (‘analog’), visual data give them the floor

Does our message come across?

Preparing the slides Visual aids

– Use keywords

– less than 12 lines

– Less than 5 words per line

– Break line

properly

Bullet points

Avoid karaoke slides

– We conducted a retrospective cohort survey including all people attending the visit of the park

– A case was defined as a papular or papulo-vesicular pruritic rash, among participants, 12 hours or more after the exposition to seawater

Bullet points

Avoid karaoke slides

– Survey

• retrospective cohort

• all participants

– Case definition

• rash (papular or papulo-vesicular)

• > 12 hours after exposition

Bullet points

Sans serif font

Bold type

Lower case letters

Good contrast

Serif font

Normal type

UPPER CASE LETTERS

Poor contrast

Prefer Avoid

Bullet points

– Simple

– Self-explanatory

– Title: what, who, where, when

– Label the axes (graphs and maps)

– Define abbreviations and symbols

Tables, graphs and maps

Clinical symptoms among the cases of S. Typhimurium, Oslo, Norway, May 1998

Symptoms

n %

Diarrhoea 54 100

Fever 35 65

Headache 12 22

Joint pain 4 7

Muscle pain 4 7

Cases

Tables - examples

Distribution of the cases of S. Typhimurium-infection by age-group and sex

Tables - examples

Age group (yrs) Total

Male Female

0 - 9 7 5 12

10 - 19 5 5 10

20 - 29 5 5 10

30 - 39 1 4 5

40 - 49 2 3 5

50 - 59 0 3 3

60 - 69 2 1 3

70 - 2 4 6

Total 24 30 54

Sex

Fish consumption, attack rate (AR) and relative risk (RR)of gastrointestinal illness among customers at Uncle Mike's Fish & Chips, Cambridge, October 1, 2000

Ill Total AR/100

Ate fish 42 58 72

Did not eat fish 5 64 8

RR (95% CI)

9.3 (3.9-22)

Tables - examples

Gastrointestinal illness and fish consumtion among customers at « Uncle Mike’s Fish and Chips », Cambridge, October 1, 2000

Cases Controls

Total OR (IC 95%)

Ate fish

Did not eat fish

34

8

20

62

54

70

13 (5.3-33.0)

Ref

Total 42 82 124

Tables - examples

Tables - examples

Cases of X disease in a Country, 1995-2000

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Year

Cases per 100.000

Graphs - examples

Cases and deaths of X disease in a Country, 1995-2000

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000Year

Cases and Deaths per 100.000

Cases

Deaths

Graphs - examples

0,001

0,010

0,100

1,000

10,000

100,000

1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Year

Cases and death per 100.000

Cases

Deaths

N.B.: data from 1997 for mortality are missing

Cases and deaths of X disease in a Country, 1995-2000

Graphs - examples

Cases of salmonellosis (n=65) by date and time ofonset of illness. Hospital A, Dublin, August 2006

Graphs - examples

15 cases

14

13 1 case patient

12 1 case staff member

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

00- 06- 12- 18- 00- 06- 12- 18- 00- 06- 12- 18- 00- 06- 12- 18-

27 August 28 August 29 August 30 August

Date and time of onset

Age and sex distribution of STI patients, Germany Jan 2003-Jun 2005

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

<16 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 35+Age group in years

Percent Male

Female

Graphs - examples

MSM P&S Syphilis Cases by Hal-Year IntervalCalifornia, 2000-2002

20

00

I

20

00

II

20

01

I

20

01

II

20

02

I

0

50

100

150

200

250

300N

umbe

r of

cas

es

Graphs - examples

0102030405060708090

No.

of

case

s

B C Y W Unknown

Serogroup

Cases of meningococcal disease in Dublin by serogroup

Cases of meningococcal disease in Dublin by serogroup

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

B C Y W Unknown

Serogroup

No.

of

case

s

Cases of meningococcal disease in Dublin by serogroup

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

B C Y W Unknown

Serogroup

No.

of

case

s

Safe your ink

AIDS Annual Rates per 100,000 Population for Cases Reported May 1990 through April 1991

Legend (rate per 100,000)

0-5.9

6-11.9

12-19.9

20+

Maine 4.6NH 4.6VT 3.6Mass 15.0Conn 14.9NJ 31.3Del 12.9MD 21.2DC 117.2

11.5

10.2

24.4

18.1

2.2 2.4

12.5

3.0

4.4

6.87.7

19.3

6.7

5.7

3.6

1.1

0.9 4.9

2.4

11.7

8.6

10.3

16.27.2 20.2

33.2

9.1

7.4

11.12.6

6.0 9.9

43.26.7

10.14.8

5.0

7.2

3.7

3.5

15.5

Maps - examples

AIDS Annual Rates per 100,000 Population for Cases Reported May 1990 through April 1991

Rate per 100,000 population

0.0-5.9

6.0-11.9

12.0-19.9

>20.0

Maps - examples

Brightness HueQuantitative Qualitative

Colors - examples

Preparing the speech

– Prepare a script

• Necessary to most speakers, especially beginners and non-native speakers

• Requires preparation

• Allows estimating timing precisely

• Facilitates coaching

• Decreases sources of uncertainty

• Reassures the speakers

– Prepare a script

• Use “lecture notes” in the presentation software

• Copy the content of your slide into the lecture notes

• Edit to make full sentences

• Add “off” comments:

– “Use pointer”

– “Pause”

• Use large fonts (e.g., size 16)

The script

Preparing the speech

– Practice on your own

– Walk through your text

• is the sequence logical?

• is all relevant information there?

• remove redundant information

• avoid very technical details and jargon

– Watch time, pace and clarity

– Practice with critical colleagues

Does our message come across?

Preparing the speech

– Day D

• Get prepared

rest, healthy distraction

no stimulating substance, no beta-blocker

arrive early, explore the facilities

• Your look

feel comfortable, be yourself

but dress formal

don´t distract the audience with your «look»

Delivering the presentation

– Time T

• Nerves: normal, good stimulant

• Going on stage

memorise the first sentence

install your material, look around

set micro to feel comfortable

Delivering the presentation

– Delivery on stage

• Stand upright

• Make eye contact

• Be visible

• Mind your pace of speech

• Mind your volume

(and don’t forget to thank the audience at the end)

Delivering the presentation

– Avoid

• Hands in pockets, tics

• Unnecessary movements

• If you tremble, minimize the use of the pointer

• Overcrowded slides

• Apologies

• Compensating nerves with humour

Delivering the presentation

– Interaction with the audience

• Presenters talking without reference to slides

audience gets lost and stops listening

• Presenter simply reading slides

audience stops listening

important explanation comes, audience not paying attention anymore

Delivering the presentation

– Bio feedback

• Reactions of the audience

fascinated (continue, you’re doing well)

writing (continue, you’re doing well)

yawning (continue, you’re doing well)

puzzled (ask if things are clear)

• Your own reactions

heart rate , breathing (take a pause, sip)

Delivering the presentation

– It may be a problem

• Excess of self confidence

Going over time

Provision of excessive amounts of details

Loosing the focus

Appearing arrogant

• Lack of self confidence

Preparation to stay on time

Removal of excessive details

Delivering the presentation

Presenter on time

• Relaxed the audience• Triggered a desire to

ask questions • Did not say everything

s/he knows• Will be asked on

something s/he knows

Presenter over time

• Exhausted the audience • Suppressed any desire

to ask questions • Said everything

s/he knows• Will be asked on

something s/he does not know

Delivering the presentation

– Finish on time

– Practise with you colleagues

– Frame points covered too brieflyin the talk

– Prepare short answers

– Prepare two or three more slides

Questions and answers

– Listen to the question

– Write it down

(may be more than one)

– Thank the person for asking the question

– Answer briefly and precisely

Questions and answers

– Avoid being defensive

• speakers who acknowledge weaknesses of work gain respect and are not challenged

• defensive speakers get challenged more

– Challenging question

• acknowledge: “This is a valid point”

• sympathize: “This is a point that needed to be raised”

• respond: “I am now going to clarify”

Questions and answers

– When you do not know the answer

– Do not panic, and still say “thank you”

– Ask for the person’s opinion

– Ask for a colleague’s opinion

– Ask for the audience’s opinion

– Suggest to discuss the point over coffee

Questions and answers

– Why to communicate

– What to communicate

– Preparing the content

– Preparing the slides

– Preparing the speech

– Delivering the presentation

Content

and my SOCO was…

When communicating the results of an investigation it is important to have clearly in mind that

the content of your presentation will depend on who is the audience,

only one message will reach your audience,

your presentation and speech must include only the elements to support your message,

your visual aids are aids,

it is possible to be prepared in advance both for your presentation and the questions

Thank you very much for your

attention

Did my message come across?