Week 2

Exercise 2.1: Use the ABT for Research to refine the outline of your talk. (1 hour)

For a three-minute talk, you will need about 400 words. Leveraging the ABT framework, write 500 words of your script. The goal of this exercise is to organize the key ideas for your talk. Starting with the outline you drafted last week (Exercise 1.4), use the ABT for Research worksheet to refine potential ideas about your research that you want to include in your talk.

If you are like me, you are going to put on your perfectionist hat. Don’t be like me! Throw that hat in the corner and give yourself freedom to just write what comes to mind.

Click here for the ABT for Research Worksheet.

Exercise 2.2: Identify jargon. (10 min)

Use the Jargon Identification Checklist to alert you to any of your terms that might be jargon.

Click here for the Jargon Identification Checklist.

Exercise 2.3: Modify jargon. (30 min)

Now that you have identified which of your terms are jargon, you need to find new ways to express them. Choose one method from the Jargon Identification and Modification Instrument. (AI has gotten a lot better since I first designed these tools a few years ago. Some of those blue questions marks (?) are probably green check marks by now.)

Click here for the Jargon Identification and Modification Instrument.

Exercise 2.4: Create an analogy. (1 hour)

Using the Analogy Worksheet, create an analogy for one of the concepts that you find challenging to explain. Be sure to do all five steps and test your choice on a friend.

Click here for the Analogy Worksheet.

Exercise 2.5: Read your script aloud and pay attention to your voice.

The goal of this exercise is to get acquainted with your voice.

You will pay careful attention to three characteristics of how you speak: speed, volume, and pauses. I strongly recommend that you record yourself to watch when you are finished with the exercise. It is easier to evaluate yourself as an observer than try to guess whether you were speaking too quickly, or too quietly.

Choose a passage that takes you around one minute to read. It could be a news article, a poem, song lyrics, or even an excerpt from something you have written. Record yourself reading the passage. Experiment with your voice: Get loud in one section, get quiet in another. Try read quickly, then slowly. Get used to deliberately pausing. Try to make your self pause for a full 2 seconds. Doesn't sound like much does it? ;-)

Bonus exercise: Read the passage a few times with a focus on a different vocal skill. For example, read it while exaggerating your pauses, or your volume, or your speed. How do these exercises feel? Are they changing the way you use your voice?

Exercise 2.6: Interview a recent GRC competitor.

The goal of this exercise is to get advice from people who have already been through the same GRC that you are competing in. To find past winners, explore the video archive of people who have competed in the past at your university.

Step 1: Review the videos in the archive. Look for people you know or people in your discipline. I recommend selecting someone who has competed in the past year or two, as they will be more likely to remember how they prepared and the challenges they encountered.

Step 2: Track down their contact information (via email or social media). Let them know that you would like to interview them about their experiences in the GRC. Barring some major research deadline or family problem, they will likely respond positively. If an in-person interview is not possible, ask whether they would agree to a video call or other means for a live interview.

Step 3: Schedule the discussion according to their availability, and be sure to share the time (and time zone) as well as the location details or the meeting link if the conversation will be by video conference. I recommend limiting the conversation to 30 minutes, unless you are already good friends and love to talk about GRCs.

Step 4: Prepare questions to discuss with him/her/them and offer to forward the questions to minimize the amount of their time you’ll need. Sending the questions in advance will help jog their memory of their preparation process, which means you will get more helpful information.

Questions you should ask include:

Why did you compete in the GRC?
How did you prepare to win?
Did your department support you? If so, how?
Is there anything you would have done differently in your preparation?
How has competing in the GRC benefited you beyond the competition?
Anything else you are curious about.

Pro Tip: If you conduct the interview on a live video platform (i.e., Zoom, Teams, etc.) be sure to ask your interviewee for their permission to record it and explain to them how you will use the recording. Since I am a terrible notetaker, the ability to view a video again allows me to refresh my memory of the key ideas in the conversation.

Exercise 2.7: Watch the following GRC talks with a focus on the narrative structure. Use the GRC Talk Observation Worksheet to capture your reactions.

Ainul Huda, Nutshell Games 2024, Talk Title: “Understanding Thermoreceptors Using Fruit Flies”.

Eliška Jandová, FameLab 2022, Talk Title: “Hope in a Drop of Blood”.

(This link is for all the talks in this competition; scroll to bottom of the page. Eliska’s talk starts at 56:35.)

As you are watching, pay attention to how the speaker organized their narrative.

How do they start? With a question? With a story?
When they situate their research into the big picture, how do they do it?
What do they mention about their methods? How much detail do they go into?
Do they use an analogy?
How much jargon did you notice?
How do they conclude their talk?

Download the GRC Talk Observation Worksheet.

Access the online version of the GRC Talk Observation Worksheet.

Your Progress

WELL DONE!!! This was the most demanding week in terms of the content and exercises.

As you reflect on it, your goal should be to have your script around 25% drafted. You won't be able to measure this quantitatively, but you will be able to feel it.

You have started working on your the vocal aspects of your physical presence, thinking about your volume, speed, and leveraging pauses.

No worry on the slide yet -- that will be next.