Documenting it for good
STRONG PRESENTATION: A workshop for NAC engineering students in progress. Photo: K. Ramesh Babu
IT IS all about making oneself clear. Putting across one's ideas through presentations in the best possible ways, harnessing technology along the way and then garnering maximum mileage out of it. An engineer cannot just do without effective communication skills.
And that was the essence of the one-day workshop conducted at the National Academy of Construction this Saturday. As the workshop faculty, Nikhila Naik, who is a consultant research engineer with NAC, says the current engineering curriculum puts emphasis on developing technical knowledge and skills; but does not adequately address the very important aspect of effective presentation of technical information -- be it as presentations or written documents.
Got to be exact
Written communication, Dr. Naik says, has to be precise, concise and maintain uniformity. While writing that crucial project report or requisition letter, make sure that the font size is uniform. Meaning - don't dump your colourful creative in unnecessary loads onto official communiqués.
Oral communication, too, has to follow certain etiquette.
"Be polite and maintain good eye contact. Do not hesitate to admit that you don not know the answer. Tell the person that you will find out and get back to him or her. And do that religiously."
As for technical presentations using slides, it is important to remember that the presentation is more important than the presenter. So, swallow your ego. Make sure that the slide design is uniform. Do not be a `cut and paste' artist.
Your content should be original to the extent possible. And do not hesitate to quote the source. Practise the presentation to make sure that you stick to the time given to you. The thumb rule is one slide per minute.
Do not forget to organise the presentation in a professional way, with a title page, table of content, short and crisp sentences, bulleted information and using colours that are soothing to the eye.
Those who have doubts on the subject or need more information can contact Dr. Naik by emailing at nikhila_naik@yahoo.com.
By Dennis Marcus Mathew
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