1. Master of Science – 8 Semester
Project Organised Learning (POL) – 5: Presentation, writing and communication
Master of Science – 8 Semester
(BIT-students)
Lecturer: Lars Peter Jensen
BIT students, Spring2006

2. Mm. 5: Presentation, writing and communication
Agenda:
Lecture 1: On communication
Group exercise 1: To team or not to team…
Lecture 2: On report writing and review
Group exercise 2: Reviewing abstracts
Lecture 3: On oral presentation
Evaluation of the POL course
BIT students, Spring2006

3. Communication - a definition
- from ancient Latin: communis - ”common”
- sharing, making commonly known
Merriam-Webster: ( )
a: to convey knowledge of or information about : make known <communicate a story>
b: to reveal by clear signs <his fear communicated itself to his friends> c: to transmit information, thought, or feeling so that it is satisfactorily received or understood
BIT students, Spring2006

4. Ways of communication One-on-one Few-on-few One-on-many Participants
Characteristic
Two-way
’Multi-way’
One-way
Oral
Discussion
Group discussion
Presentation
Written
Letters,
Working papers
Notes for a course
BIT students, Spring2006

5. Tools for communication analysis in the group
Three tools:
Quantitative - drawing communication diagrams
Qualitative/quantitative - logging type and number of contributions from group members
Relative – matching individual group member’s assessment of the process
BIT students, Spring2006

6. 1. Quantitative Communication diagram, to be filled by an observer
after finishing
BIT students, Spring2006

7. 2. Qualitative/quantitative
Three types of contributions:
Contributions furthering discussion
Contributions improving ’climate’
Contributions blocking discussion
BIT students, Spring2006

8. Contributions furthering discussion
Make proposals
Search for information via questions
Give information
Summing up the discussion
Elaborate and further develop ideas
Test own and others’ understanding of the topic under discussion
BIT students, Spring2006

9. Contributions improving ’climate’
Praise and encourage others
Support others in being listened to
Follow and support ideas of others
Openly express change of opinion
Show openness
Listen actively
BIT students, Spring2006

10. Contributions blocking discussion
Disagree without constructive alternatives
Attack proposals of others
Defend own proposals aggressively
Speaking all the time without listening
Talk about other subjects
BIT students, Spring2006

11. Qualitative/quantitative
Stud. 1
Stud. 2
Stud. 3
Stud. 4
Stud. 5
Stud. 6
Futhering discussion
Improving ’climate’
Blocking discussion
To be filled by an observer
BIT students, Spring2006

12. 3. Relative - matching After the discussion:
Assessing the process individually
Matching the individual group members’ assessment
Discussing major mismatches
BIT students, Spring2006

13. A team communication exercise
To TEAM or not to TEAM – that is the question!
Project Managers solve many problems. Before you can solve a problem you have to understand it!
Bill Gates only scored three right in this simple test – See how many you get right.
..and then see how many your group gets right.
BIT students, Spring2006

14. Do you want to know the correct answers?
BIT students, Spring2006

15. What can we learn about communication from this exercise?
BIT students, Spring2006

16. Time for a break…
BIT students, Spring2006

17. Lecture 2: On writing and review
Illustrations
Group writing
Review
BIT students, Spring2006

18. Illustrations
A picture can tell more than a thousand words – but only if it is a good illustration of the subject
Some examples
BIT students, Spring2006

19. BIT students, Spring2006

20. Illustrating ”eye view” of a control room
Mimic
diagram
Monitors
for overview
Working
monitor
place
BIT students, Spring2006

21. Illustrating emission of NOX
Low sources
Medium height sources
High sources
Background from abroad
Total NOX concentration
BIT students, Spring2006

22. How to write Before writing (the group):
Preparation: receiver, message, outline
Brainstorm: e.g.. Post-it
Writing (individually):
Go for it : write without criticism – one headline at a time (in arbitrary order)
Structure – structure the writing, creating overview and consistency
Edit – make the writing easy to read
After writing (the group or others)
Review
BIT students, Spring2006

23. Review – Why ? To find mistakes To identify if something is missing
To point out which parts of the document are really good (excellent)
BIT students, Spring2006

24. Review – How and When ? Written or oral at a group meeting
after everybody have read the writing and have prepared individual comments to it
BIT students, Spring2006

25. Review – How ? Split the comments into tree categories:
Misspelling, misprint and other corrections in the proofs. (might be noted directly in the document)
Logical errors, misunderstandings, poor formulations, technical mistakes etc. that makes the understanding difficult or impossible for the reader.
Good points, well structured, clear overview, interesting angle, well documented, clear illustrations etc.
BIT students, Spring2006

26. Group Exercise Read the 3 distributed abstracts carefully
Review them following the method on the previous slide
Then rank them according to quality and give them a mark between 0 and 100%
BIT students, Spring2006

27. Break for 15 minutes
BIT students, Spring2006

28. Lecture 3: On oral presentation
Planning an oral presentation
BIT students, Spring2006

29. The short presentation plan
Tell them what you are going to tell them!
Tell them!
Tell them what you have told them!
BIT students, Spring2006

30. The longer presentation plan- 1
Questions to ask:
What is my point? Message
Why do I want to tell? Motivation
Who is to know? Receiver, code, power
How to approach receiver? Contact
How should I tell it? Focus, media
Where/when to tell? Situation
What do I know? Competence
How do I behave? Attitude
BIT students, Spring2006

31. Plan - rehearse - evaluate – review – rehearse etc.
The longer presentation plan- 2
Things to think about:
Content - message, structure
Appearance - confident, open, lively (eye-contact, hands)
Articulation - clear, fluent, correct terminology (write)
AV-aids - blackboard, OHP, PowerPoint, posters, film
Time-management - organise, message
Group collaboration - organise, message
Plan - rehearse - evaluate – review – rehearse etc.
Content work backwards from the point it makes it clearer
Appearance (hands- body language) Eye contact - slides Lars Peter
Articulation
AV-aids not telling the story but supporting it
Excepting title and agenda OH you should count on 3-5 minutes talk for each overhead - you need to have something to say.
Time-management practice
Group collaboration support each other do not criticise
BIT students, Spring2006

32. Nervousness
Everyone is nervous, insecure and/or exited - the only thing that helps is practice.
Prepare
Rehearse
Write introduction + conclusion
Write clue-cards
It is also a positive thing, it makes you think faster!
Remember I are the one knowing the subject in most details, often much better than censor and lecturer.
BIT students, Spring2006

33. Oral presentations - body language
Elements in body language
eyes
facial mimic
gesture
posture
position
dressing
How do you interpret this sign?
BIT students, Spring2006

34. Body language
Be aware of your body language – often there is a contradiction between what you say and what your body tells
Some examples which may well be culturally biased??
BIT students, Spring2006

35. Signals defence and insecurity despite the smile
Confident, committed and confidence-inspiring
Superior and self-confident; don’t turn your back to the audience
BIT students, Spring2006

36. Defensive and keeping his distance
A little nervous; holding a pencil or a pointing device will look more natural
Aggressive, determined
BIT students, Spring2006

37. Cautious and a little insecure Open and honest
Insecure, holding his own hand
BIT students, Spring2006

38. So – beware of your body language and rehearse in front of your friends and in front of the mirror!!
BIT students, Spring2006

39. This was it for today – and the end of this course on Project Organised Learning
BIT students, Spring2006

40. Before we say Good Bye I would like to hear your honest opinion about the POL-course, both form and content. Please feel free to speak your mind!!
BIT students, Spring2006