1. Communication, oral presentation and reflection on experiences
Lars Peter Jensen

2. Agenda
Communication
Oral presentation
Experience exchange

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

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

5. Active Listening Builds on the ability to:
’Mirror’, (repeat with your own words) what the other person says
Communicate on the other person’s premises
Show understanding and respect for the other persons opinion
Interpret – not judge or condemn.

6. Passive Listening Builds on the ability to: Be silent
Express acknowledgement
Invite others to go into details using encouraging words: ”Yes”,”No”,”I see”,”Hmmm” and
openers: ”Tell more”, ”How would you” etc.

7. Body language of a listener
A listening person:
Has eye contact
Has an open posture
Is leaning slightly forward
Nods at intervals
Is conscious of own and receiver’s body language

8. Positive discussion 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

9. Positive discussion 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

10. Negative discussion 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

11. The short presentation plan
Tell them what you are going to tell them!
Tell them!
Tell them what you have told them!

12. Plan - rehearse - evaluate – review – rehearse etc.
The longer presentation plan
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

13. © SLP-gruppen, Aalborg Universitet
Find the balance
Use eventually several media at once, e.g.
Slides
blackboard
Consider the flow of the presentation
Congestion
thin periods
Use multiple codes
Photos
Graphs
Tables
Words
Stories
Inspireret af Eisenberg, 1982
© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg Universitet

14. Oral presentations - body language
Elements in body language
eyes
facial mimic
gesture
posture
position
dressing

15. Oral presentations - 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??

16. How do you think of these?

17. How do you think of these?

18. How do you think of these?

19. How you see yourself are important
Picture:

20. Picture: http://tinlala.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/target.jpg

21. Picture: http://mozziestar. files. wordpress

22. Nervousness
Everyone is nervous, insecure and/or exited - the only thing that helps is practice.
Prepare
Rehearse
in front of friends
in front of mirror
Write introduction + conclusion
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.

23. Strategies Using manuscript Using clue card with keywords
Design of slides (put more words)
Choosing certain audience to have eye contact
Remember: You are the one knowing the subject in most details, often much better than censor and lecturer.

24. Reflection and learning
WHAT is reflection?
WHY use reflection?
HOW to reflect?
Introduction to cross-group work

25. WHAT is reflection? Examples of reflection:
A student is reflecting when:
She notices that important information is missing in a text, thinks about possible reasons for leaving out the info and looks up the info in other places.
She realises that the given math exercise is different from the standard exercises in the book, identifies the difference and knows what to do differently.
He looks back at an overruled time plan, identifies the time-consuming activities and makes allowances for these kinds of activities in the next time schedule.

26. WHAT is reflection NOT? Examples of lack of reflection:
A student is NOT reflecting when:
He inserts numbers in a given formula and calculates a result without understanding the context
She re-formulates an explanation and passes it on without having understood it herself
He describes the time schedule for the P0-project without noticing and commenting on the mismatch between planned and realised time consumption.

27. WHAT is reflection? Oxford English Dictionary
The action, on the part of surfaces, of throwing back light or heat (beams, etc.) falling upon them
But also
The action of turning (back) or fixing the thoughts on some subject; meditation, deep or serious consideration.
From the examples:
Notice
Think about
Look back at
Identify
Plan based on experience

28. WHY use reflection? Engineers of today need methodological
competencies, such as:
Flexibility and capacity for change.
Such competencies are closely connected with ’lifelong learning’ which can be achieved through awareness about learning processes. Awareness about learning processes can be achieved through reflection upon learning processes.

29. HOW to reflect? Make conscious observations by asking questions:
WHAT went well until now? … and WHY did it go well?
WHAT went wrong until now? and WHY did it go wrong?
The reflection is embedded in the WHY? questions

30. Introduction to cross-group work
Start out with a round of presentation, giving name, project topic and supervisor
Do a series of rounds describing how your project group organises the following: Project management, team work, co-operation with your supervisor.
Do a series of rounds of analysing and assessing your project process, taking your point of departure in the questions:
WHAT went well until now? … and WHY did it go well?
WHAT went wrong until now? WHY did it go wrong?

31. Introduction to cross-group work (cont.)
4. From the answers to the above questions generalise in the following format:
What we will continue to do in the future
What we will do differently and better in the future
What we will not do again
Give ’Good advice’ to yourself and your fellow students (and possibly also to your supervisors) aimed at improving the project work process in the rest of this semester and in the future
Write down the ’Good advice’ on a PC for a presentation.

32. …and now the cross-group work!
At 3 p.m. the presentation starts – please select one member from each cross group to present your slides.