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Presentation training – Duncan Yellowlees

Review by Rowena Fletcher-Wood
Freelance science communicator
[email protected]
ECG Bulletin July 2021
Duncan Yellowlees is a presentation coach and “rockstar when it comes to helping out with presentations” (according to his reviewers). He specialises in academic storytelling and narrative training, working with universities and institutions to help speakers “not be rubbish”. His informal, humorous, and highly energised presentation and delivery skills workshop is reviewed here.

Mr Yellowlees is a fan of Dr Gallagher’s delivery style (reviewed in January 2021 Environmental Chemistry Group Bulletin, pp5), and I can see the influence: the workshop began with hold music and instructions establishing his preferred view format. Live captions, transcripts, and a private recording for those with an unstable connection were used to improve accessibility. Nevertheless, he might have improved it further by making the text on his slides larger and closing them when not in use.

Having heard Mr Yellowlees speak elsewhere, I expected the session to be highly engaging – it was. Using preconised voice modulation techniques, and interweaving narrative examples, he stood throughout the two-hour session, including the ten-minute tea break, which became an impromptu additional Q&A. Participants were invited to use two text media (Zoom chat and Slido). I was sceptical of Slido, since Mr Yellowlees implied that it was not straightforward by repeatedly mentioning possible connection challenges, but did not test it. Participants were not invited to unmute themselves to speak (although some did). The session would have benefitted from an introduction to tools and engagement expectations.

The introduction began with the story of an ice cream van distracting a player during a game of catch, an analogy for two-way engagement. It warned us of the challenge trying to play catch with a disinterested partner (the audience). I was unsure whether Mr Yellowlees’ nervous delivery of the punchline was accidental, or a clever tactic to build relatability. He moved on to other connection-building steps, such as using the names of participants and admitting to one’s own presentation faults. The first 25 minutes comprised of staple reflective presentation training questions, like what percentage of talks are inspiring? What makes a good (or bad) presenter?

The three main components of the training were presented in a novel “choose your own adventure” format. During voting, Mr Yellowlees maintained the energy in the room by commenting on the progression of dynamic results. We first voted for emotions, covering the flattening effect of being on stage or speaking on Zoom, the importance of voice variability (“the Goldilocks rule”), and contagiousness of speaker emotions. Mr Yellowless gave exercises for amplifying emotions (perhaps poorly suited to Zoom, but useful tools for later practice). The section could have benefitted from specific techniques, e.g. “faking” emotions.

We moved on to voice. In my favourite take away from the workshop, Mr Yellowlees invited us to “stretch, shrink and play” with words and have fun presenting. He described a PhD as “knowing more and more about less and less” and how this led to the evolution of a specialist language, rich with exclusive jargon. Discussion centred around the examples offered by participants (acronyms), but nevertheless I would have enjoyed mention of ‘unexpected jargon’, e.g. the word “species”, not used colloquially as it is in chemistry.

In body language, Mr Yellowlees came into his own. A specialist in desktop delivery, his unique contribution to presentation training included online-specific guidance and technological suggestions, including how to align your eyes with the camera to appear warm, techniques for posture and moving the upper and lower body, camera types, volume, and use of presenter view.

To close the workshop, Mr Yellowlees provided another story: being chased by a tiger. He demonstrated why nervousness leads to irrational expectations of the audience as ravenous canines. But most are empathetic. He provided a few straightforward tips for managing nerves (such as visualisation and diverting focus), with reference to theories and other experts. Although this training could have benefitted from recent research, Mr Yellowlees was a highly personable trainer presenting a well-paced and robust workshop. Nevertheless, as a storytelling specialist, I would have liked to have seen the end catch us and throw us back to the start and complete the journey.

Resources
https://www.duncanyellowlees.com
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  • Home
  • About
    • Committee >
      • Professional Qualifications
    • Annual reports
  • Environmental Briefs
  • Distinguished Guest Lectures
    • 2024 Killer Threads >
      • Thomas Stanton
      • Raquel Prado
    • 2023 Water, water, everywhere – is it still safe to drink? The pollution impact on water quality >
      • Rivers of life
      • Fiona Regan
    • 2022 Disposable Attitude: Electronics in the Environment >
      • Steve Cottle
      • Ian Williams
      • Fiona Dear
    • 2019 Radioactive Waste Disposal >
      • Juliet Long
    • 2018 Biopollution: Antimicrobial resistance in the environment >
      • Andrew Singer
      • Celia Manaia
    • 2017 Inside the Engine >
      • Frank Kelly
      • Claire Holman
      • Jacqui Hamilton
      • Simon Birkett
    • 2016 Geoengineering >
      • Alan Robock
      • Joanna Haigh
      • David Santillo
      • Mike Stephenson
    • 2015 Nanomaterials >
      • Eugenia Valsami-Jones
      • Debora F Rodrigues
      • David Spurgeon
    • 2014 Plastic debris in the ocean >
      • Richard Thompson
      • Norman Billingham
    • 2013 Rare earths and other scarce metals >
      • Thomas Graedel
      • David Merriman
      • Michael Pitts
      • Andrea Sella
      • Adrian Chapman
    • 2012 Energy, waste and resources >
      • RAFFAELLA VILLA
      • PAUL WILLIAMS
      • Kris Wadrop
    • 2011 The Nitrogen Cycle – in a fix?
    • 2010 Technology and the use of coal
    • 2009 The future of water >
      • J.A. (Tony) Allen
      • John W. Sawkins
    • 2008 The Science of Carbon Trading >
      • Jon Lovett
      • Matthew Owen
      • Terry barker
      • Nigel Mortimer
    • 2007 Environmental chemistry in the Polar Regions >
      • Eric Wolff
      • Tim JICKELLS
      • Anna Jones
    • 2006 The impact of climate change on air quality >
      • Michael Pilling
      • GUANG ZENG
    • 2005 DGL Metals in the environment: estimation, health impacts and toxicology
    • 2004 Environmental Chemistry from Space
  • Articles, reviews & updates
    • Articles
    • Reviews
    • Updates
  • Meetings
    • Upcoming meetings
    • Meeting reports
  • Resources
  • Index