The Communications Boot Camp is a three-part series intended to increase students’ confidence communicating to broader audiences and practice developing persuasive skills that will create effective messaging and relay the importance of one’s research. The Boot Camp takes a development approach and is based on practice and feedback. The expected outcomes include a polished elevator pitch for non-expert audiences, increased confidence in impromptu speaking as a novice scholar, and skills with responding to questions about your research. We anticipate participants to be from a broad range of disciplines. Please be sure to register only if you are able to attend all three sessions. 

Skills and contexts explored:

·         Communicate research to non-expert audience and across differences, translating research without jargon

·         Develop skills in conversation and civic discourse, establish and support an argument

·         Gain buy-in and support from others, i.e. persuasion

·         Build confidence and capacity as a storyteller of your research/scholarship

Session 1: Thursday October 14, 3:00-4:00pm (virtual) - Goal setting, analysis of contexts and audiences for communication, mind-mapping, communication across difference, dialogue, debate, and discussion.

Bri McWhorter of Activate to Captivate will facilitate sessions 2 and 3:

Session 2: Thursday October 21, 1:00-4:30pm (in-person)  Overcoming  nerves,  bringing  ideas  to  life —  Introductions —  Connecting  with  your  audience —  Content  creation  and  organization —  Idea  maps —  PowerPoint  techniques

Session 3: Friday October 22, 9am-1pm (in-person) Vocal variety —  Storytelling  tips —  Effective  rehearsal  techniques —  Distilling  your  content —  Unanswerable  questions

Participant commitment:

1) Fully participate in Sessions 1, 2 and 3

2) Complete pre-and post-surveys

3) Complete pre-and post-video submissions