‘Communication skills and the flash talk – improve the way you explain your research’ was the title for this year’s CSC workshop, delivered by Juan Casasbuenas from SciDev.Net.
The practical workshop provided guidance and advice on how Scholars can talk about their research in an engaging and accessible way. Focusing on communication skills for delivering effective three-minute flash talks, the workshop explored how to quickly and clearly explain your research to a non-expert audience. Scholars prepared their talks in advance, developing their drafts throughout the workshops to improve the clarity of their content. By practicing delivery to small groups, Scholars also adopted strategies for developing confidence and speaking with charisma.
Following the rehearsal sessions, groups voted on the top six flash talks to enter the final competition. The finalists delivered their talks to a panel of judges, who awarded first place to Lindon Falconer, 2013 Commonwealth Scholars from Jamaica (PhD Digital Speech Processing, Speech Intelligibility and Hearing Impairment, University of Sheffield and University of the West Indies, Mona Campus), for his talk on developing software for improving hearing aids.
The workshop provided Scholars with some brilliant guidance, enabling all of the participants to deliver effective flash talks on a wide range of subjects. Videos of the six finalists can be found on our YouTube channel, and photos are available on Flickr:
- Beatrice Sankah, 2014 Commonwealth Scholar from Ghana (MSc Physiotherapy, Glasgow Caledonian University)
- Ekemini Obok, 2012 Commonwealth Scholar from Nigeria (PhD Agriculture – Plant Sciences, University of Reading)
- Junaid Mir, 2013 Commonwealth Scholar from Pakistan (PhD HDR Video Compression, University of Surrey)
- Rawlance Ndejjo, 2014 Commonwealth Shared Scholar from Uganda (MSc Environmental Health, University of the West of England)
- Lindon Falconer, 2013 Commonwealth Split-Site Scholar from Jamaica (PhD Digital Speech Processing, Speech Intelligibility and Hearing Impairment, University of Sheffield and University of the West Indies, Mona Campus)
- Shirley Amenuvor, 2014 Commonwealth Shared Scholar from Ghana (MSc Family and Child Psychology, University of Chester)
SciDev.Net is a world leading online source of reliable and authoritative news, views and analysis on information about science and technology for global development. It is a highly regarded source of scientific information for development on a wide range of topics for those working on global development or science in a developing world context. They bring science and development together by providing original news and analysis through articles and multimedia content. These are produced by their network of freelancer journalists around the world, 90% of whom are based in the global South, alongside regular contributions from experts in the fields of science and technology. SciDev.Net have a series of practical guides online, including a guide on giving science flash talks.
