Science Communication Archives

Course Overview

Giving a research talk (say, at a conference, to your department or in your research group meeting) is a really important part of a scientist’s career. But, putting together and delivering a talk can be a nerve-wracking struggle. Maybe you have little to no experience giving research talks. Or maybe you’ve been doing it for a while, but feel like there is room for improvement. Either way, this course is for you!

Share Your Research is a FREE 5-week course that will guide you through the steps of creating and delivering a good research talk.

By the end of this course, you will have:

A detailed outline plan for your research talk.
Techniques and strategies for delivering an engaging and effective talk.
Approaches for finding and refining your preferred speaking style.
Strategies for practicing and receiving feedback on your talk.

A course for anyone who needs to give research talks

We designed this course for anyone who will be giving research-based scientific talks in the future. This list includes (but is not limited) to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, as well as early-career or well-established researchers who are interested in learning more about giving a good scientific talk. While most of our instructors have a background in the life sciences, the lessons included in the course are broadly applicable to other disciplines.

Includes 4 modules and a plan for your research talk

Module 1, FRAMING YOUR TALK: This module introduces you to a framework to help you define the foundations of an effective talk: who is the audience, what are your goals and what is your core message. This module will also offer advice to help you discover your speaking style.
Module 2, START BUILDING YOUR TALK: This module presents strategies to help you outline and structure your talk and engage your audience. This module will also get you started with defining the content of the body of your talk.
Module 3, ROUNDING OUT YOUR TALK: In this module, you will continue working on the structure and content of your talk, focusing on the introduction and ending. The module also discusses more strategies for audience engagement and talk titles.
Module 4, GIVING YOUR TALK: This module provides tips and best practices to deliver an effective talk: from strategies for practicing and receiving feedback, to lessening the nerves and dealing with the Q&A.
MY RESEARCH TALK PLAN: As you work through the course, you will be prompted to apply what you’re learning to your own presentation by completing a series of assessments. The responses to these exercises will be captured in a downloadable document called “My Talk Plan”, which is essentially an outline for your research talk. It is organized in a way so that relevant sections may be easily applied to the creation and delivery of future talks.

Built with your schedule in mind

We know you have lots of things to do, so we designed this 5-week course to take 1.5 to 3 hours per week. There are an average of 7 videos per module; each video is 2 to 6 minutes in length.

Requirements

There are no requirements needed to take this class.

How to do Good Science

Share Your Research is the third and final course in the “How to Do Good Science” series from iBiology Courses. Make sure to check out the two other courses in the series to complete your research training!

Planning Your Scientific Journey teaches you how to ask scientific questions and build a research plan.
Let’s Experiment: A Guide for Scientists Working at the Bench teaches you about experimental design in biological research.
Share Your Research guides you through the steps of creating and delivering a good research talk.

Course Format & Certification

This is an on-demand, self-paced course. This means that, as soon as you enroll, all course content is available to you and may be consumed at your own pace. At the end of the course, you can apply to receive a a digital badge and Certificate of Completion to share and keep for your records. Passing requires that you complete all of the required activities for the course, which equals 50% of the total activities.

Take the Course on Canvas

Course Overview

Public engagement is the practice of establishing intentional and meaningful interactions between scholars and different publics for the purpose of mutual learning or other social benefits. Although public engagement utilizes many of the same principles, skills, and formats as outreach or communication, one key difference is that public engagement prioritizes building partnerships with the audience to create societal impact.

Strategies for Effective Public Engagement is a FREE, 3-week course that will guide you through fundamental principles, skills, and strategies to succeed in your public engagement projects. Whether you are new to public engagement or simply want to improve upon what you have already accomplished, this course is for you!

A Course for Anyone Interested in Public Engagement

This course is designed for anyone who is interested in, planning, or executing a public engagement project. We discuss why you should get involved with public engagement and how it can enhance your personal and professional development. We also cover how to plan and execute a public engagement project and ultimately, how to assess and iterate on your work to continue to improve and grow.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Understand the benefits of public engagement
Reflect on your personal and professional motivations for public engagement
Define public engagement and describe how to do it well and ethically
Apply communication skills, like listening and receiving, to public engagement
Define your goals and desired impacts
Apply strategies to plan, execute, and assess public engagement projects

Course Structure

The course includes 3 modules with activities, reflection questions, readings, and additional resources to help you ideate, plan, and execute public engagement activities.

Module 0 – Getting Started: Outlines the structure of the course, how to engage with other participants, and how to successfully complete this course.
Module 1 – Public Engagement: Skills, Strategies, and Considerations: Focuses on why and how you should get involved in public engagement and key skills needed to be successful.
Module 2 – Starting, Executing, and Assessing a Public Engagement Project: Reviews the steps to plan, execute, and assess a public engagement project.

Built with Your Schedule in Mind

We built this course for busy scholars, researchers, or practitioners like you! The modules are meant to be completed in about three weeks, allowing you to do course activities while attending to other responsibilities. Each module consists of 1-6 brief videos and takes about 1 to 3 hours of work to complete.

Requirements

There are no requirements needed to take this course.

Format & Certification

Strategies for Effective Public Engagement is a self-paced online course. Once you pass the course, you can apply to receive a digital badge and Certificate of Completion to share and keep for your records. Passing requires you to complete all the required activities for the course, which equals 60% of the total activities.

Take the Course on Canvas