|
Chapter 1 of Oral Presentations for
Technical Communication is designed to provide
you with a general sense of the "what and why" of
the book; in other words, what the book means by
the phrase "technical communication" and why oral
presentations are so critical in technical
communication. In this chapter, you'll find the
following information:
|
•
|
Who are Technical Communicators?
|
|
•
|
The Responsibility of Technical
Communicators to the Public
|
|
•
|
Technical Writing versus Technical
Presentations
|
|
•
|
Being a Good Listener
|
|
•
|
Oral Presentations for Technical
Communication
|
|
•
|
Using Technologies to Give Technical
Presentations
|
These exercises build on the ideas addressed
in Chapter 1:
1. List several scientific or technical topics
that are familiar to you, interest you, or seem to
be important for the future. Under each topic, list
the key elements that are important for a clear
understanding this subject. Then list situations
when you might be required to present this
material.
2. Listen to a presentation on a scientific or
technical topic (you can often hear these sort of
talks on public
radio and public
TV, C-SPAN,
the
Discovery Channel, and other sites). Notice the
topics that are presented and the ways in which the
presenters help focus their topics for a non-expert
audience.
3. In this chapter, you learned about several
ways in which oral technical presentations differ
from technical writing. Can you think of any
others? How do these differences affect the ways in
which presenters prepare their material? When is
one more appropriate than another?
4. Interview a scientific or technical
professional to get a sense of what role
presentations play in their career. Share your
findings with others in class via email.
Presentations and Cyberspace. Search the
Web and identify sites for two or three upcoming
academic conferences in a scientific or technical
discipline that interests you. Review the
information at each site and develop descriptions
of the types of presentations scholars will be
giving at each conference.
Presentations and Teamwork. Join with two
or three other students whose scientific or
technical specialty is similar to yours. In your
team, create a list of as many topics as possible
that you as technical communicators may need to
explain to the general public. Identify the topics
that you believe will be the most challenging to
present, and discuss the reasons those topics may
be difficult.
Presentations and International
Communication. Identify three products or
industries that you feel will be important to your
future career, and then determine what three
nations are either the largest producers or
consumers of that product or are have key offices
or facilities related to that industry. With one or
two other students, discuss what types jobs you
might have in these industries and what sort of
oral presentations you might give.
Presentations and Your Profession.
Interview a professor in your field who teaches
undergraduates. Ask the professor to explain what
he or she does to ensure that the undergraduates
understand the technical information presented in
lectures. OR If you are using this book as part of
a class, interview your instructor and ask your
instructor to explain about the types of
presentations she or he gives at conferences, as a
consultant, or in other situations.
|
