Blog
Every month we share a blog post about clear and convincing communication.
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Nerdland Festival: queuing for sewage
It is Sunday, June 5th and it is 4 pm at the Nerdland Festival. I (Toon Verlinden) walk past one of the tents where a …
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You are the expert, but why don’t they listen to you?
Would you let a toddler play with his food? You probably have an opinion about this. Suppose this question is the start of an educational video. …
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Valorization of your research: how should you get started?
You've been doing research for years. The results are so interesting that you want to do more with them than just publish a paper that …
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Is your presentation more like a waiting room or a lively conversation?
It is feedback I would wish upon anyone: attendees who come up to you following your presentation to share with you how time had flown …
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Do you know the trick with the black slide?
What does your audience look at when you are on stage? You. Except when there are slides. And precisely that is the problem with slides. …
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Your research is the book, your presentation is the film adaptation
Recently, I re-read the first part of The Lord of The Rings. Did you know that about a third of the book is not in …
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What do you do when they won’t turn on their webcam?
'Presenting online. It feels like speaking to a black hole.' Peter, a professor at the University of Antwerpen, finds it quite annoying when he cannot see …
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Come out with your research!
I would like to communicate more about my research, but where do I begin? This is one of the questions we get asked most often by …
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How do you prefer your coffee? Let’s discuss polls and poll fatigue
Ellen starts her online presentation with a question: 'How many women were diagnosed with breast cancer in Belgium in 2018?' We see 5 options, from …
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Podcasts, books, and videos we found particularly rewarding
Science is not only a very fascinating activity to do, but also to listen to, watch and read about. Also the past academic year, we …
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Three tips to avoid stumbling over technical terms
Technical terms in your presentation: is that allowed? Of course! But only if they are really necessary. Because all too often we use them, simply to …
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Three golden tips for solid science communication
The book Weg van Water (Dutch) recently hit the stores. I (Toon) wrote it together with water researcher Marjolein Vanoppen and boy are we proud …
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Good to know when you are nervous
A friend of mine plays the oboe. Each and every time we attend one of her performances it sounds flawless and truly impressive. Literally, not …
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A technique that is good for everything
Drink plenty of water. It helps to eliminate toxins, regulate your body temperature, and improve your concentration… Drinking water, it seems like the magic solution …
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Online presentations follow their own set of rules and you’d better get the hang of them
Online presentations are quickly gaining a bad reputation. Take a look at the following email, for example, that recently made its way into our mailbox: "The …
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How do you get your online audience to respond?
Tell me if this sounds familiar: You are presenting an online class or talk and you ask your audience a question. You wait, and wait …
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More warmth in your online presentations
I had been talking in front of the webcam for the past half hour. Three participants had asked a question in the chat box, but …
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A lazy researcher fills his slides with a lot of text
One of the reasons why researchers are often hesitant to apply our tips is because they think it will come across as lazy. A single …
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Presenting your PhD in 20 minutes: how do you get started?
“One of the best presentations seen in Corona times.” This sentence comes from the jury report, following the PhD defense of Elien Bellon (KU Leuven). …
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Zoom deserves a second chance
Video conferencing tool Zoom was placed under strict restrictions or even outright banned at most Flemish academic institutions in April 2020. The reasons for this had …
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Sociology has the most difficult jargon
From chemistry to literary history and from nursing to physics. They each have their specific jargon, but do you know which has the most difficult …
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‘I almost felt like a rock star’
The impact of Antonella Fioravanti’s killer presentation Can a great presentation change your life? Yes, it can! In 2018, Molecular Biologist Antonella Fioravanti presented her research …
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Presenting online? Bring the essence and only the essence
Recently we’ve transitioned to also hosting all our workshops online. That is going well and we continue to learn new things along the way. From …
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Online presentations: how do you get started?
Currently, all meetings, classes and conferences have been suspended. Fortunately, there are plenty of online tools that allow us to continue to communicate with each …
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Science is boring
‘Science is boring’, says biologist and science communicator Sally Le Page in her YouTube video. Because as a scientist, you spend most of your days …
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Here is how to create a new presentation (step by step) – Part 2
Recently I wanted to give our media workshop a full makeover. Not just revise several slides, but completely rebuild things from the bottom up. Let me share …