| Ah... come in, Russ. |
| Thank you. |
| Now you wanted to consult me about your class presentation on nanotechnology - |
| you're due to give it in next week, aren't you? |
| That's right. And I'm really struggling. |
| I chose the topic because I didn't know much about it and wanted to learn more, |
| but now I've read so much about it, in a way there's too much to say - |
| I could talk for much longer than the twenty minutes I've been allocated. |
| Should I assume the other students don't know much, and give them a kind of general introduction, |
| or should I try and make them share my fascination with a particular aspect? |
| You could do either, |
| but you'll need to have it clear in your own mind. |
| Then I think I'll give an overview. |
| OK. |
| Now, one way of approaching this is to work through developments in chronological order. |
| On the other hand, you could talk about the numerous ways that nanotechnology is being applied. |
| You mean things like thin films on camera displays to make them water-repellent, |
| and additives to make motorcycle helmets stronger and lighter. |
| Exactly. |
| Or another way would be to focus on its impact in one particular area, |
| say medicine, or space exploration. |
| That would make it easier to focus. |
| Perhaps I should do that. |
| I think that would be a good idea. |
| Right. |
| How important is it to include slides in the presentation? |
| They aren't essential, by any means. |
| And there's a danger of tailoring what you say to fit whatever slides you can find. |
| While it can be good to include slides, |
| you could end up spending too long looking for suitable ones. |
| You might find it better to leave them out. |
| I see. |
| Another thing I was wondering about was how to start. |
| I know presentations often begin with |
| 'First I'm going to talk about this, and then I'll talk about that', |
| but I thought about asking the audience what they know about nanotechnology. |
| That would be fine if you had an hour or two for the presentation, |
| but you might find that you can't do anything with the answers you get, |
| and it simply eats into the short time that's available. |
| So, maybe I should mention a particular way that nanotechnology is used, to focus people's attention. |
| That sounds sensible. |
| What do you think I should do next? |
| I really have to plan the presentation today and tomorrow. |
| Well, initially I think you should ignore all the notes you've made, |
| take a small piece of paper, and write a single short sentence that ties together the whole presentation: |
| it can be something as simple as 'Nanotechnology is already improving our lives'. |
| Then start planning the content around that. |
| You can always modify that sentence later, if you need to. |
| OK. |
| OK, now let's think about actually giving the presentation. |
| You've only given one before, if I remember correctly, |
| about an experiment you'd been involved in. |
| That's right. |
| It was pretty rubbish! |
| Let's say it was better in some respects than in others. |
| With regard to the structure. |
| I felt that you ended rather abruptly, without rounding it off. |
| Be careful not to do that in next week's presentation. |
| OK. |
| And you made very little eye contact with the audience, |
| because you were looking down at your notes most of the time. |
| You need to be looking at the audience and only occasionally glancing at your notes. |
| Your body language was a little odd. |
| Every time you showed a slide, you turned your back on the audience so you could look at it - |
| you should have been looking at your laptop. |
| And you kept scratching your head, |
| so I found myself wondering when you were next going to do that, |
| instead of listening to what you were saying! |
| Oh dear. |
| What did you think of the language? |
| I knew that not everyone was familiar with the subject, |
| so I tried to make it as simple as I could. |
| Yes, that came across. |
| You used a few words that are specific to the field, |
| but you always explained what they meant, |
| so the audience wouldn't have had any difficulty understanding. |
| I must say the handouts you prepared were well thought out. |
| They were a good summary of your presentation, |
| which people would have been able to refer to later on. |
| So well done on that. |
| Thank you. |
| Well, I hope that helps you with next week's presentation. |
| Yes, it will. Thanks a lot. |
| I'll look forward to seeing a big improvement, then. |