Student Technical Sessions

The student technical sessions are an opportunity for each student to:

• practice a 1 minute pitch about their technical work,
• show off a few slides or demonstrate some interesting visuals,
• engage in networking with others both in- and out-side of their technical field.

The dress code is business casual. We understand that all students are traveling and formal attire (such as a suit) is not required.

Format

Each student will be assigned to one of 4 sessions, each of which lasts about 1 hour. The students presenters should come prepared with a few slides, visuals, or something to demonstrate about their technical work. Each presenter will have a station where they will be able to stand next to their laptop.

At the start of each session all presenters will give a 1 minute lightning pitch about the technical work they are presenting. At a minimum, this should include the student’s name, institution, and poster title. Students should use this opportunity to practice a elevator-pitch for a general scientific audience.

The rest of the session will be an open format. Non-presenters (students and staff) will visit the presenter stations. Students are encouraged to engage with other outside of their technical field.

Practicing Your Skills

Besides learning the HPC-related content we also want you to make the most out of this summer school by practicing your communication and interpersonal skills. The ability to network, present your work, or do a quick elevator pitch will be useful regardless of what sort of job you will have in the future. There will be times when you will be required to work efficiently with people coming from academic backgrounds different than yours. When you are just starting your career you may find talking to people you don’t know intimidating, especially if you think there is no common ground between you or when they are important in your field. That is normal and can be overcome with practice. That is why we want to encourage you to take advantage of every opportunity during the summer school to develop, improve, and put your skills to test. You will be surrounded by over 90 potential training partners so have fun talking to them!

Tips for Communicating About Your Work in 1 Minute

1. Know your audience - Quite often you will have a very limited time to get your message across so condense it. What is the most important thing that you want to communicate to this particular audience? Is it to highlight the importance of your work? Tell others about your latest project? Or simply introduce yourself and explain what you are working on? Some things you may want to do: introduce yourself, explain what you do and how, say what makes you unique, or mention who you work with.
2. Prepare - Once you know what you want to say, try writing it down. Make sure to cover the most essential information. Be informative but avoid going into details. If someone is interested in knowing more, they will ask you about it. Also think about the language you are using – explain things as simply as possible, but don’t be patronizing. If you are preparing for a chat with someone from you field it’s fine to use a moderate amount of domain specific jargon. If you are talking to someone from a different field try to either avoid it completely or be prepared to provide a simple explanation.
3. Practice - After you have written it down try to deliver it. A nicely written text may not sound natural during a conversation so ask your friends to act it out with you. Use your opportunities wisely and talk to as many different people as possible, while trying to adjust your language and message depending on the situation.
4. Ask for feedback & give feedback - If you are talking to someone in a more relaxed environment don’t be afraid to ask for his or her feedback. Everyone has to start somewhere so people are generally happy to provide feedback, give tips and even share their experiences. You can also learn a lot by observing other people give presentations and talks. Try to identify things that you think other people do well or maybe not so well and analyze your own style. Don’t be reluctant to help other people practice - you don’t need to be an expert to give them useful feedback. Whether you receive or give feedback always try to be understanding, respectful, and constructive.

More Tips!

Some people are more nervous than others when talking in front of a group, especially if you are speaking in a foreign language or presenting your work for the first time. While these feelings generally get better with practice, here are some more tips:

• Dedicate more time to preparing what you want to say - try writing it down and saying it out loud.
• Remember that your writing and speaking vocabulary is different - a writing vocabulary is usually bigger than a speaking one. When preparing your presentation try to use only words that come to you naturally when you are speaking.
• Try to speak a bit slower and more clearly than you would normally. You can try recording yourself and see how understandable you find it.
• Don’t worry too much about grammatical mistakes - people care much more about being able to understand what you telling them than how perfect your command of the language is.
• If you are talking to someone in an informal context and want to improve your language skills, ask them to correct you if you happen to make a mistake.
• Last but not least: Speak, speak, and speak. Practice makes perfect!