Technically Speaking: A Guide to Communicating Complex Information - Softcover

D'Arcy, Jan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1574770519 ISBN 13: 9781574770513

Publisher: Battelle Pr, 1998

Synopsis

Offers scientific and technical professionals insight into the process of conveying technical and other types of information to professional and lay audiences. Describes a 10-step approach to the process of researching, organizing, and presenting complex information, with chapters on analyzing an audience, creating low-and high-tech visuals, using humor, video conferencing, and communicating to international audiences. Includes chapter overviews, key concepts, checklists, worksheets, and exercises. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

About this title

About the Author

Jan D'Arcy has been a presentation skills coach to thousands of high tech personnel, scientists, engineers, world leaders, business CEO's, life science executives, judges, and educators over the past thirty years. Her clients include NASA, Microsoft, Pacific Northwest Labs, IEEE, Society of Women Engineers, IBM, Amgen, T-Mobile, Honeywell, Starbucks, Boeing, AT&T, Abbot Labs, Wizards of the Coast, EPA, John Deere, Prologis, URS Greiner and the US Government. Jan was a consultant to the Management Program at the University of Washington for five years and has been a guest instructor for the school's MBA and Executive MBA programs. She has also taught at Pacific Lutheran University and University of Hawaii, as well as at Bellevue and Cascadia Community Colleges. She has built a reputation for achieving exceptional results. Formerly fearful clients report their "confidence has gone through the roof," whether making high-stakes presentations for million-dollar proposals, speaking at Radio City Music Hall, or acing a critical one-on-one job interview.

As an actress, Jan has worked with world-renowned directors and filmmakers including David Lynch, Gore Verbinski, and Frank Marshall. She flew 14,000 feet by helicopter to the top of a mountain shooting the film Alive, starred in Better Off Dead, and was brutally murdered in Countdown. She had a recurring role in the Emmy-nominated TV series Twin Peaks. She has appeared in over 1000 radio and TV commercials, and her radio program, Communications Corner, was syndicated across the U.S. Jan uses practical, dynamic techniques from her extensive theatre, film, radio and television background to help her clients acquire stage presence and self-confidence. She brings experience and techniques from these two careers to her readers in Technically Speaking.

For information about individual or group coaching, email her at jan@jdarcy.com.

* An Executive Speech Coach to prominent individuals
* A Strategic Communications Coach for internal/external communications
* An Advisor to government agencies
* A best-selling Author
* And a Specialist in Managing Fears associated with public speaking.

From the Back Cover

Technically Speaking: A Guide for Communicating Complex Information
by Jan D'Arcy

Compelling presentations are difficult to create, and technical presentations are even more challenging. Technically Speaking provides valuable insight into the process of conveying information, whether technical or not. Written with clarity, this guide covers practically every aspect of the art of communicating effectively.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Communicating Complex Technical Information

Never overestimate your audience's knowledge base; at the same time, never underestimate their intelligence. A computer programmer told me that she had not been working in her field for eighteen months. When she went out for job interviews, she not only didn't know the workings of current software programs, but didn't even understand the acronyms referring to them. She was depressed because she couldn't demonstrate how intelligent she was to the interviewers. They had already predetermined that she was not qualified because she didn't belong to the current "information club." She became competitive only after researching the market and taking time to update her skills. Assume your audience is smart, but not up to date in your discipline.

Model communicators make information simple and easy to understand without watering down their ideas. Albert Einstein said, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

There is nothing frivolous about depicting complex scholarly subjects in understandable concrete images. Choose images that are familiar to your audience. A scientist from Dupont said, "Spider silk is the toughest material known. It is also very elastic. On an equal weight basis, it is stronger than steel. It has been suggested that a single strand of spider silk, thick as a pencil, could stop a 747 in flight. Illustrate the application of a theory or demonstrate your conclusion with words that engage the senses of touch, sight, smell, or taste.

Failure to Communicate

If the response you receive from your audience indicates that your material is hard to follow, ask yourself why it is obscure. Do you avoid analyzing and interpreting because you fear making inappropriate value judgments? Is using tech-speak your way of conforming and insulating yourself from others, especially outsiders? Are you overly conscious of criticism and therefore qualify every statement? Of course, one final possibility (and one that I hope isn't true) is that you haven't done your homework and have nothing insightful to say about your topic.

Your audience will appreciate your efforts to decode and interpret complex information. A judge who was presiding over a difficult trial said that the defense lawyer presented layers and layers of documentation that included federal antitrust litigation, laws from two state jurisdictions, environmental issues, and contract and employee rights litigations. She noticed that the juror's eyes glazed over in confusion and boredom as they attempted to follow the bewildering onslaught of facts, statistics, and details over a six-week period.

The defense attorney gave a long and tedious closing argument, reciting multiple facts from the case and complex legal theories. After making a simple presentation in his closing argument, the plaintiff's attorney advanced towards the jury. "What we have here," he stated, "is a classic case of a fox getting caught in the henhouse. Now all you have to do is decide how much the fox has to pay," and he sat down. The jury members relaxed with a sigh of relief. They understood this language. The plaintiff was awarded the largest amount of damages in a state court in the history of Washington.

Some people can make the trivial complex. What is simple is always a matter of subjective assessment. What is understood becomes simple. Programming your VCR isn't simple if you're not sure how to do it. However, piloting a helicopter might be simple if you've been thoroughly trained.

An audience that doesn't understand the data you are presenting will remember little. Nor will they be persuaded to buy your product, fund your research, accept your bid, or be influenced by your ideas. Use distinctive language that does not obscure meaning. Understanding is a prerequisite to acceptance. Take responsibility for the audience's ability to understand your topic.

Edition details

• Publisher: Battelle Pr
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1574770519
• ISBN 13: 9781574770513
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 270