Communications Tip: E-mail Etiquette

Since e-mail is likely the most common means of communication with your professors, prospective employers, and other colleagues, knowing how to effectively use the medium will increase your chances of successful communication.

Basic rules of e-mail:
1. Be professional: Include a salutation and closing signature.

2. Keep it simple: We’re all busy and don’t have time to read your 3 paragraph request for a meeting. Make it easy for your reader to answer your questions or address your concerns by keeping e-mails brief and you purpose for writing clear.

3. Respond in a timely manner: Especially when working under deadline and in groups, it’s important to provide information/respond to team member’s questions as promptly as possible.

4. Be polite: If you’ve sent a question or concern to someone, do send acknowledgment of their e-mail.

5. Feel free to use bullet points or bold (for deadlines or meeting times) to make finding the important bits easy for your reader.

6. Consider timing: True, e-mail is asynchronous, but unless your professor has told you in advance that weekend e-mailing is acceptable, expect a response during work hours, Monday – Friday.

7. A follow-up to point #6: Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on others' parts. Do _not_ expect an immediate response to your e-mails; in fact, give respondents at least a 24 hour window.

8. Follow-up: People are busy. If you’ve sent an e-mail to a prospective employer or team member and have not received a response, it is perfectly acceptable to send a follow-up message. [Use discretion: if you sent an e-mail at midnight and it is now 8a.m., refer to point #7.]

9. Guidelines for bad news e-mails:
-- ALWAYS REMAIN PROFESSIONAL (Incidentally, avoid using all caps in e-mail. It looks like you're yelling.)
-- Stick to the issues, avoid emotional phrasing/claims
-- Resist personal attacks
-- WAIT: Always write calm. It’s better to take longer to respond than to send something immediately that could potentially burn bridges.

10. Generating positive outcomes from bad news e-mails:
-- Consider the human element: Know your audience and consider their
needs/motivations when crafting your response.
-- Where appropriate and when it can be accomplished tastefully, use humor to lighten the situation.
-- Always try to end on a positive note.

--Monica Bulger

Mindful Presenting, Part VI: Defense Q&A

On January 8th, the Bren Communications Center hosted a 4 hour workshop on developing and delivering compelling presentations. We used Nancy Duarte's slide:ology as our text. This post is focused on part VI of the workshop: Defense Q&A.
Presenter: Dr. Monica Bulger
In preparation for your defense and public presentations, we asked MESM alumni to share their thoughts. Click here to download a handout from the workshop. Here are some additional tips for managing the Q&A portion:

• Try to anticipate questions and figure out answers in advance.
• Prepare a response for if you don't know the answer.
• Always thank or acknowledge the person who asked the question. You don't have to use the words "thank you" every time. You could say something like "oh, interesting question" or "good point."
• It's OK to think for a moment before you respond.
• If it's a multi-part question, write down the question as the audience member is asking it and make sure you cover all parts. (That also means you should bring a pen and paper!)
• If an audience member makes a suggestion, note it. Take it constructively (at least in the room) and/or write it down. Don't write it off!
• If a second group member wants to add a follow up to an answer, that's fine, but keep it brief. You do not need to give two full answers, and definitely try to limit it to no more than two "answerers" per question.

Some groups in the past have had one group member act as moderator for the Q&A. This idea may or may not work for your group; you need to consider your own group dynamics. If you do use a moderator, there's a couple ways you can handle it. You can decide ahead of time who's going to field which type of questions, that way the moderator knows who to direct each question to.

Alternatively, you could use some sort of signal. One group last year had red and green cards to signal the moderator whether they felt the could answer the question or not. In addition, as one person was answering, the other group members could also use the green card to indicate that they wanted to add a follow-up point. That way, the person answering could do a "warm hand-off" to the other group member.

--Audrey Tresham

Mindful Presenting, Part V: Logistics

On January 8th, the Bren Communications Center hosted a 4 hour workshop on developing and delivering compelling presentations. This post is focused on part V of the workshop: Logistics.
Presenters: BJ Danetra and Monica Bulger

When planning your presentation, here are some "logistical" aspects of delivery that you should consider.

Always test out the space prior to presenting. Make sure that any technologies you use will function as planned. Test out the lighting so that you know if you'll be able to see the audience. Determine whether you'll be standing on a raised platform, or level with the audience. Knowing these small details will reduce your anxiety when you present.

Microphones. If there's a podium mic, get used to staying at the podium. Otherwise, you will not be heard! If you have a lapel mic, be aware of where the screen is--you want the lapel mic to be on the same side as the screen, so that if you turn your head to look at the screen, people can still hear you.

Podiums. Don't clutch the podium! Practice with a podium and get used to it. Act normal. If your mic prevents you from strutting across the stage, you can move a little bit around the podium, as long as you're still picked up by the mic. Practice speaking with out the podium and then practice standing behind it. Review TED talks for examples of people using the podium to their advantage.

Panels/tables. If you're sitting onstage at a table while someone else is presenting, don't look like a deer caught in headlights. You don't want to distract from the presenter. Look completely engrossed in whoever's presenting, laugh at the jakes (in a natural way), act like you've never heard the presentation before. When you're at the the table there should be NO audience eye contact--look at the presenter.

Lighting. If you have a spotlight on you, make sure you stay in the light. Believe it or not, sometimes moving out of the light confuses the audience and something in their brain can make them think they can't hear you (even if you're mic'd)!

--Audrey Tresham

Mindful Presenting, Part IV: Lessons from Bridget Dobrowski

On January 8th, the Bren Communications Center hosted a 4 hour workshop on developing and delivering compelling presentations. This post is focused on part IV of the workshop.
Presenter: Bridget Dobrowski

Bridget Dobrowski (MESM '09) contributed to our Bren blog last year (see "Suggestions for Developing a Memorable Presentation") and emphasized the following points related to delivery during our workshop.

Bring water. You'll want it, plus sipping it is a good way to slow down or take a moment to relax.

Decide WHAT you want to say but not HOW you want to say it. Don't say the same words every time you rehearse. It's very hard to have something 100% memorized and have it not sound rehearsed. Your audience is also going to take the gist of what you say and translate it into their own words/understanding anyways. So don't worry about exact wording.

Stick with simple language. You want everyone in the room to be able to understand you. For example, think of the word "biodiveristy." If you instead say something like "lots of plants and animals," the ecologists in the room will still translate that into 'biodiversity' and everyone else will still know what you mean (which they might not if you say biodiversity.)

Own your own presentation. Work with your group, but your group should not write YOUR script. Don't let them direct you over word use. If you don't plan to speak like you normally speak, in a way that's "you," then you'll sound like a robot.

You can write a script, but then forget the script! If it makes you more comfortable, write a script to make sure that you're including all the important information. But try different ways of "writing" the script: tape record yourself talking, speak out loud while you type. You want to make sure you're speaking a script that you're then writing down, and not writing out an essay that becomes a script. Memorize your script in terms of main points and the order (not specific wording). You want to be so familiar with the material that it's easy to deal with distractions that might come up.

After you know the material really well, start intentionally practicing in different ways or by not focusing on the "script." Try drawing out the slides from memory or bulleting your main points (again, in ideas, not in exact words). The point is to know your facts and the order you have to work through, but don't worry about memorizing specific wording. (You may get push back from your group on this, but resist it!)

Try to feel comfortable with your content and presentation plan at least a week before your presentation. That way, you have some time to relax and live with it, and pressure isn't building right up until the moment of the presentation.

Most importantly: don't act, just be you.

--Audrey Tresham

Mindful Presenting, Part III: Delivery

On January 8th, the Bren Communications Center hosted a 4 hour workshop on developing and delivering compelling presentations. We used Nancy Duarte's slide:ology as our text. This post is focused on part III of the workshop: Delivery.
Presenter: Dr. Monica Bulger

While it is important to develop the content and visual impact of your presentations, the delivery of that content is an equally important--and sometimes overlooked--factor. Let's begin our examination of presentation delivery by looking to a pro: Steve Jobs. Check out this excerpt from his presentation introducing the MacBook Air.

What did you notice?

He really told a convincing story. Your presentation is not a dump of everything you know--remember to focus on the "so what?" aspect. Find the story in your data. You don't have to share every single finding, just what's important and/or what supports the story.

He made eye contact with his audience, including them in the story. Try to connect with at least 2-3 people in your audience. It will make you feel better and will draw the audience in.

His presentation is simple, clean (both in terms of visual impact and delivery). Notice that none of his slides had "titles." Think of the table he used to compare laptop, it was very simple: no column headings, not a lot of text. In terms of his delivery, the development of this product took years; people toiled over it. It would be tempting to put all that background info and data out there, but he would probably lose the audience. He didn't put all that out there, the level of detail in his presentation was insanely minimal! Focus on clarity and accuracy rather than on including every technical detail.

He speaks slowly. Every word has emphasis and the talk doesn't feel rushed. Rushing or speaking quickly (think back to our audience awareness tips) could make your audience feel anxious or uninterested.

There was a clear progression to his presentation. He took the audience from point A to point B and built up support for his "cause" along the way. Think about where your audience is at the start of your presentation, and where you want to move them. How can you lead them through that progression?

He had a STAR moment: when he pulled that laptop out of the envelope, everyone gasped and clapped. That star moment is what the audience will remember. What is your star moment? It could be a prop, a story, a data chart, images or pictures . . . but you want to have something like that envelope. You may even want to organize your whole presentation around your star moment. [see Duarte's slide:ology for details about STAR moments --> Something The Audience Remembers.]

While it didn't seem that Steve ever got nervous, it is important to have a game plan for if you get nervous. Think of something you can do or wear that will make you comfortable and shift the nervousness. If you freeze up, try asking the audience a rhetorical question. That shifts the focus away from you; they'll be thinking about the answer instead of staring at you.

~~~~~~~

For an example of a Bren group project presentation with two different presentation styles, check out the Green Pieces project video.

For additional examples of strong presentation delivery, check out Ted Talks. The Ted Talk organizers give their presenters the following "Ted Commandments."

• Rehearse, but act spontaneous. Being too rehearsed is boring
• Provide revelations. Be interesting; say something the audience isn't expecting.
• Show vulnerability. Prioritize connecting with your audience, rather than being perfect. You're not expected to know everything (especially during the Q&A portion).
  
• Don't be tedious.
• Change the world.
• Don't use bullet points!

If you have any questions, please contact the Communications Center to make an appointment. We are happy to help you with all forms of communication, not just writing!

Good luck!

--Audrey Tresham

Mindful Presenting, Part II: Visual Design

On January 8th, the Bren Communications Center hosted a 4 hour workshop on developing and delivering compelling presentations. We used Nancy Duarte's slide:ology as our text. This post is focused on part II of the workshop: Visual Design.
Presenter: Aaron Sobel

The descriptions below follow Aaron's slides.

Mindful Presenting, Part II: Slide Design

Generally, there aren't any specific "rules" for designing a good presentation. Every presentation is different and you just need to do what works. That being said, here are some "rules" to go by for basic slide design!

• Don't use bullets

Bullets are boring! You're probably used to seeing them frequently in your classroom presentations but there are two reasons for that: (1) your professors are giving multiple presentations every day; they don't have time to craft great presentations for every class and bullets are easy, and (2) the slides are often available online as a reference and need to be easy to follow on their own. However, those limitations do not apply to your group project presentations. Remember that you are the presentation, not the slides.


There are ways to keep the notion of bullets, minus the bullets themselves (see Patagonia map slide). For example, in this slide, we highlight key ideas overlaid on a (visually interesting) map. Each idea appears in bold, then fades out as the next idea is introduced. Consequently, you have some visual interest, there's still white space on the slide, there's a progression through the slide, and the audience can tell where the focus is (all without bullets!)

• Know your presentation constraints and equipment.

Even if things look perfect on your computer, there are a number of issues that can come up in a new venue: the screen aspect could be different, there could be a washed out display or your colors may appear differently. Be prepared for these issues and whenever possible, try out your presentation at the venue in advance.

• Avoid cheesy clip art.

Visual interest is a good thing, but cheesy clip art . . . not so much. Use pictures and data visualizations, but eliminate (or at least minimize) that clip art.

• Think about font choice.

Font choice can put meaning into a slide . . . whether you intend it to or not, so be careful. It's also important to standardize your font choice--you don't want a different font on every slide. Font size can also be an issue. Guy Kawasaki (slide guru) suggests "Find out the age of the oldest person in your audience and divide it by two. That's your optimal font size." (While this might not always work out, it's at least a good place to start.)

• Consider contrast.

Contrast can either enhance the read-ability of your slides, or detract from it. Dark text on a light background (and vice versa) is good. Colors that are really close together on the color wheel (like green/yellow) are hard to read on top of each other, so definitely avoid that. Also avoid simultaneous contrast: when colors that are opposing to each other (see slide) are placed right on top of each other.

• Avoid pixilation of images

You can actually tell Google Image to find images above a certain size threshold. Generally, if it looks good on your computer screen, it will probably look OK on your presentation. On a related note, if you have images that contain text, the text doesn't always look so great, so be careful of it.

• Create "white space"

You don't want to cram your slides full of information. The audience's attention should be focused on YOU, not on the slides. A general rule of thumb is that they should be able to absorb your slide in 3-5 seconds. If it takes longer than that, the info on your slide is probably too dense.

• Blank slides are OK.

As soon as you switch slides, the audience won't be looking at you, they'll be reading the slide. So if you're talking for awhile and you don't want your audience distracted, put up a blank screen. It gives the audience a "break" too.

• Draw the viewer's attention

You don't have to weight everything on your slide evenly. If you have a key point or image, figure out a way to draw attention to it. You can use color, fadeouts, bold text, etc.

• Split complex ideas across slides (and go through them faster)

You don't want to overload your audience, so if you have a complex idea, split it up into bite-size pieces. (This tip also ties in with creating white space.) Some of you may have heard the guide that you should have one slide for every two minutes, but that should be the exception, not the rule.

• Images are absorbed easier than text

When your audience can absorb a slide quickly, it keeps the focus on you, where it belongs. You are the one giving the info, the slides are behind you supplement your info.

• Use your own photos (of YOU & your group!)

Using your own photos makes it interesting and creates a personnel connection with your audience. You can also use your own photos online or in your poster (Just remember to keep them professional and give proper credit.)

• Opacity

You can adjust the opacity in most slide applications, so you can dim out images to emphasize text, or vice versa.

And the final rule is . . .

• Break these rules!

If we all followed these rules, we end up with similar looking presentations, which is boring.

Remember that YOU are what makes the presentation.

Good luck!

--Audrey Tresham

Responding to Fellowship Prompts Workshop January 2010

On Wednesday, January 26th, the Communications Center staff presented a "Responding to Fellowship Prompts" workshop specific to the Switzer Environmental Fellowship. A critical component of the Switzer application is a 2-3 page essay to provide the reviewers "insights into the personal motivations of the applicant as well as how his/her academic experience will be applied to environmental improvement." The essay is the opportunity to really show the reviewers who you are, what you are about, and why you deserve this fellowship (much more so than your resume, transcripts, and other application materials). The slides from the workshop are embedded below and a handout is available here.

Responding To Fellowship Prompts 2010

View more presentations from Monica Bulger.

The Switzer Foundation's requirements for a complete essay are rather numerous. There are 5 interrelated key topics that must be addressed explicitly, 6 qualifications that must be demonstrated in the essay but not necessarily addressed explicitly, and 6 additional qualifications that should be highlighted if they apply to you. The key to this essay is to cover all of the necessary criteria without being repetitive, long-winded, or incoherent. To avoid these pitfalls, we recommend the following strategy for mapping your response:

• Copy the 5 key topics into your essay document
• Brainstorm your experiences and qualifications for each topic
• Use Switzer's "must demonstrate" and "highlight if applicable" qualifications as a checklist to make sure your brainstormed ideas hit on all the criteria
• Organize your outline according to some theme (chronological order, type of experience, etc.)

Remember that your goal is to tell a natural story that will be compelling to the application reviewers and each vignette should have a purpose in demonstrating a qualification. Good luck applicants!
--Sara Solis