Presentation training – Duncan Yellowlees
Review by Rowena Fletcher-Wood
Freelance science communicator
rowena.fletcherwood@gmail.com
ECG Bulletin July 2021
Freelance science communicator
rowena.fletcherwood@gmail.com
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
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
