Some Science Stuff That Went Way Over My Head

 
    

     This past Monday I attended a lecture put on by the Entomology department. It was given by Dr. Ping Shen and was entitled, "Central Processing of Olfactory Inputs in a Drosphila Model: How Do Insects Recognize Appetitive Odors?" If you're not already confused by the title, you're off to a better start than I was. I honestly couldn't tell you what the project was about because the information went over my head by about slide 5. He did not do much to explain in Layman's terms but to be fair, I was probably one of the only people in attendance who wasn't fully versed in "olfactory inputs." From Dr. Shen, I learned how different a research presentation is and I understood why most people only attend if they are high up within the field being talked about. It is a lot of field-relevant language coming at you very quickly. That is something to keep in mind when deciding which seminars to go to in the future.

Dr. Shen was a fairly competent public speaker besides a few mishaps. He clearly had not rehearsed with the presentation because many of his slides were formatted in a way that when projected, had the sides partially cut off. He used very little text but sometimes that seemed to hurt him. I was left confused about some of his visuals. Besides these, he was very effective. He didn't use a microphone but spoke loudly enough and slowly enough to be understood clearly. He kept his explanations brief-- he didn't linger on one slide for too long. He also incorporated videos into his slides, which I thought was very cool. He also organized the order of the presentation well. He began with relevant background information and then went into his own research. The thing I took away from his presentation that I will use in my own public speaking endeavors would be to not only practice beforehand, but to practice with the technology beforehand. I can’t say I would go to the seminar again, but the public speaking critique was helpful.