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IAP 2012 Activities by Sponsor

Dean for Graduate Education (ODGE)

Making the Most of Your Presentation
Dr. Jean-luc Doumont, Communication Consultant, Principae
Mon Jan 23, 02-04:00pm, 32-123

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

Strong oral presentation skills are a key to success for engineers, scientists, and other professionals, yet many speakers are at a loss to tackle the task. Systematic as they otherwise can be in their work, they go at it intuitively, sometimes haphazardly, with much good will but seldom good results. Based on Dr. Doumont's book "Trees, maps, and theorems" about “effective communication for rational minds” this lecture proposes a systematic way to prepare and deliver presentations. Among others, it covers structure, slides, and delivery, as well as stage fright.
Contact: Leann Dobranski, 5-122, x3-3371, leann@mit.edu
Cosponsor: Teaching and Learning Lab

Road Signs: Finding Your Way in the Visual World
Dr. Jean-luc Doumont, Communication Consultant, Principiae
Fri Jan 27, 12-02:00pm, 32-141

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up

In most countries, road signs are graphical: rather than words, they use shape, color, and a variety of icons to convey meaning. Still, are they truly visual? Are they, for example, interpreted faster than word signs? Are they more intuitive, more accessible, more universal?
Through observation of road signs in their natural ecosystem around the world, this session explores basic concepts of visual communication, applicable to a wide array of graphical representations.
Web: http://www.principiae.be
Contact: Leann Dobranski, Asst. Director, Teaching & Learning Lab, 5-122, x3-3371, leann@mit.edu
Cosponsor: Teaching and Learning Lab

Science Writing for Scientists
Seth Mnookin, Thomas Levenson
Tue Jan 10, Thu Jan 12, 01-04:00pm, 4-153

Enrollment limited: advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 09-Jan-2012
Limited to 30 participants.
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: Paragraph describing why the student wishes to participate

This class will lead its participants through the journey from facts into story as they learn how to communicate science in ways a broad public audience will engage and remember.
This class introduces participants to the key steps involved in presenting complicated ideas in an accurate and memorable fashion. In the first session we will cover what elements make excellent science writing for the public: structure, metaphor as a tool, translation of complexity, accuracy while simplifying, and the art of triage – telling your audience what it needs to know to grasp your material, but not everything that you know.
Students will discuss a series of research findings and background materials, and transform them into a short popular piece. Those pieces will be workshopped until the participants grasp the idea of story, as opposed to report, down to the bone.
The class will be led by the New York Times bestselling science writer Seth Mnookin, and by Peabody and National Academies award-winning writer and film maker Thomas Levenson, head of 21W.
Web: http://sciwrite.mit.edu/events/science-writing-for-scientists
Contact: Shannon Larkin, 14N-108, x2-5036, slarkin@mit.edu
Cosponsor: Writing and Humanistic Studies

Structuring Your Scientific Paper
Dr. Jean-luc Doumont, Communication Consultant, Principiae
Tue Jan 24, 02-04:00pm, 32-123

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

Papers are one of the few deliverables of the work of researchers. Well-designed, they efficiently allow each reader to learn only what he or she needs to. Poorly designed, by contrast, they confuse readers, fail to prompt decisions, or remain unread. Based on Dr Doumont's book Trees, Maps, and Theorems, about “effective communication for rational minds”, the lecture shows how to structure scientific papers, theses, and technical reports effectively at all levels to get the readers' attention, facilitate navigation, and, in this way, get the message across optimally.
Web: http://www.principiae.be
Contact: Leann Dobranski, 5-122, x3-3371, leann@mit.edu
Cosponsor: Teaching and Learning Lab


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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Last update: 7 Sept. 2011