Monotonous presentations
I'm not really nervous during presentations any more; I was required to take a class in which everybody had to give a 10 minute presentation every week as an undergrad, so I'm used to it. Now my number one problem in presentations is my monotone voice (anyone else has monotone voice?); actually I still kind of wonder if it's a problem or not, since I still got A's for classes with presentations because I explained things clearly and demonstrated deep understanding of the material.
OK, the instructors had to listen to my presentation because they had to grade it. However, I have no idea how many students are paying attention. This is especially important when I'm teaching (I have to work as a teaching assistant one term per year for 3 years). I have been told by other students that I should act more "passionately" during presentations because I have a monotone voice. But I AM very passionate; I just don't know how not to talk with a monotone voice. Moreover, while most people gesture during presentations, I can't gesture properly and I generally don't gesture, though nobody has complained about it. I just stand there, staring at my computer screen, and not moving (I don't know if I got points off for not making eye since I never got a score breakdown for presentations). As a graduate student, I have to give lots of presentations, such as in teaching, lab meetings, conferences, oral qualification exam, and thesis defense. I want to be a professor in the future, so I'll still make lots of presentations.
Do you think tone and gestures are important to presentations? Do you like it when your instructor or TA has a monotone voice and/or not gesture?
I also would like to be a professor someday!
I've TA'd a few classes in grad school, and from what I've gathered, students *really* do not tend to like when an instructor has a monotone voice.
Whether presenting or teaching, I try to have my voice change pitch when I'm talking about something important, and I try to gesture while speaking. Fortunately, I do STEM classes with a lot of focus on the M, so there's a lot of writing equations, circling, and generally pointing out specific variables. (Ooh, and when I refer to an entire process, I get to sweep my arm under the equations for it, which is always fun!)
Honestly, I just kind of bounce around and gesture broadly. It's over the top, but the audience seems to like it more than monotonous lecturing, and it helps the time pass more quickly for me.
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AQ: 34.0
Ask me about my antipsychotics
I found it useful to practice in front of a friend. Instead of my normal monotone, I tried using what I considered extreme variations of my voice. My friend told me it sounded normal. I did it in front of a crowd and they thought it was a great improvement. Your results my be different, so ask a trusted friend.
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When I lose an obsession, I feel lost until I find another.
Aspie score: 155 of 200
NT score: 49 of 200
Recently I gave a presentation about discrete choice models, which is my favourite topic in econometrics, I put my passion in the speech, I modulated my voice etc. and after 50 minutes when I was finally done I asked my trusted friend how was it and she said "obviously you have massive knowledge on this topic but consider speaking with less monotone voice". Eh...
But when I teach, people they seem to like how I do it.
In fact... I couldn't care less, I don't intend to change, won't do "theatre" out of my presentations/teaching.
Btw recently we recorded our presentations and when I saw myself on the video my thoughts were: "I really thought that I'm better at hiding my issues." If you have an opportunity, consider filmig your presentation.
Good theater is a large part of making sure a presentation a positive experience for the listener. My presentations are normally given to a group of my peers (50 to 200 people). In my electronics club, those of us who are mentors for the hobby, put together educational presentations. This ensures our knowledge stays on cutting edge of technology. The topics are typically boring so we do resort to "over the top" theater to keep each other awake. My peers are not a captive audience, so poor performance can lead to walkouts, naps, or being tuned out in favor of online research. Being a mentor that no one wants to listen to is no fun. In addition, poor performance on stage leads to bring the butt of jokes for a couple of weeks.
_________________
When I lose an obsession, I feel lost until I find another.
Aspie score: 155 of 200
NT score: 49 of 200
OK, the instructors had to listen to my presentation because they had to grade it. However, I have no idea how many students are paying attention. This is especially important when I'm teaching (I have to work as a teaching assistant one term per year for 3 years). I have been told by other students that I should act more "passionately" during presentations because I have a monotone voice. But I AM very passionate; I just don't know how not to talk with a monotone voice. Moreover, while most people gesture during presentations, I can't gesture properly and I generally don't gesture, though nobody has complained about it. I just stand there, staring at my computer screen, and not moving (I don't know if I got points off for not making eye since I never got a score breakdown for presentations). As a graduate student, I have to give lots of presentations, such as in teaching, lab meetings, conferences, oral qualification exam, and thesis defense. I want to be a professor in the future, so I'll still make lots of presentations.
Do you think tone and gestures are important to presentations? Do you like it when your instructor or TA has a monotone voice and/or not gesture?
I think people judge women on personality and tone in arenas where they would not judge men on these things, at least not so prominently, and I think people need to stop doing it. If you are delivering information in a clear, concise, and informing manner, then you meet your responsibilities and a conveyor of that information.