Career Development
David Otey, MA, MBA (he/him/his)
Principal Speaking Coach
Speaking of Solutions, LLC
Golden, Colorado
Astute researchers know that presenting their science to others is as much a part of the process as coming up with the findings in the first place. Therefore, they pay attention to the particular challenges of crafting their papers and formal presentations. But what of the less formal opportunities to convey knowledge?
It turns out that effective conversations call for many of the same communication tools as effective presentations—but with the added challenge that conversations, more so than presentations, are also opportunities for relationship-building.
In this program by science communicator and speaking coach David P. Otey, attendees will learn why making a connection with the listener is a prerequisite to conveying information. They will also learn how to make such a connection and how to convey their information convincingly once they have done so. The focus will be on how to approach a conversation with the listener’s, not the speaker’s, needs in mind.
The central theme of putting “connection before content and empathy before evidence” may seem counterintuitive to people who are trained to seek and present evidence. But this “evidence-first” tendency is exactly what gets in the way of effective communication, according (ironically!) to scientific evidence. The science behind putting connection first will be explained.