Apply here

Workshop Description

You’ve all seen TED talks and their equivalents. Some of you might be able to give one now if asked, while others will find the challenge horrifying. Not everyone has equal abilities in speaking for public consumption. The ability to engage and hold people’s attention to convey information they understand and remember will lead to greater success for a variety of career paths. This is an especially critical talent if the information you communicate is technical and laced with field-specific jargon.

Through this short course, you will develop the skills to prepare and deliver a 5 to 8-minute “TED-style” talk with no visual aids. These skills have the potential to help you in many other areas including talks to peers in your lab group, presentations at meetings, pitches to funding agencies and venture capitalists, and explanations to your family and friends about your science career.

Applicants should be proficient in English as a spoken language* and will be selected based on their commitment to attend all four sessions and complete assignments.

_{*The Yale Center for Language Study offers many ESL programs. Please see: cls.yale.edu/english-language-program}

Workshop Outline

Session 1: Positive Attitudes and barriers to effective communication

Session 2: Developing your elevator pitch

Session 3: Knowing your audience

Session 4: Incorporating objective and novice feedback

Session 5: Delivering your “TED-style” talk