Communication, oral presentation and

reflection on experiences

Lars Peter Jensen

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Agenda

• Communication• Oral presentation• Experience exchange

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Communication - a definition

- from ancient Latin: communis - ”common”

- sharing, making commonly known

Merriam-Webster: ( www.m-w.com )

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

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Ways of communicationOne-on-one Few-on-few One-on-many

Participants

Characteristic Two-way ’Multi-way’ One-way

Oral Discussion Group discussion Presentation

Written Letters, e-mail Working papersNotes for a

course

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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.

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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.

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Body language of a listener

Has eye contact

Has an open posture

Is leaning slightly forward

Nods at intervals

Is conscious of own and receiver’s body language

A listening person:

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Positive discussionContributions 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

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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

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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

The short presentation plan

1. Tell them what you are going to tell them!

2. Tell them!3. Tell them what you have told them!

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.

The longer presentation plan

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

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Oral presentations - body language

Elements in body language• eyes• facial mimic• gesture• posture• position• dressing

• 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??

Oral presentations - body language

How do you think of these?

How do you think of these?

How do you think of these?

How you see yourself are important

Picture: http://www.degyldne.dk/midtstartside.htm

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

Picture: http://mozziestar.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/mistakes-funding.jpg

Nervousness . . . . . . .

Everyone is nervous, insecure and/or exited - the only thing that helps is practice.

• Prepare

• Rehearse

o in front of friends

o in front of mirror

• Write introduction + conclusion

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.

Reflection and learning

1. WHAT is reflection?2. WHY use reflection?3. HOW to reflect?4. Introduction to cross-group

work

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.

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.

WHAT is reflection?

Oxford English Dictionary• The action, on the part of surfaces, of throwing

back light or heat (beams, etc.) falling upon themBut 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

WHY use reflection?

Engineers of today need methodologicalcompetencies, 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.

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

Introduction to cross-group work

1. Start out with a round of presentation, giving name, project topic and supervisor

2. Do a series of rounds describing how your project group organises the following: Project management, team work, co-operation with your supervisor.

3. 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?

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

5. 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

6. Write down the ’Good advice’ on a PC for a presentation.

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…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.