Bus-Stop Talks to hone researchers’ presentation skills
The Colombo Medical Faculty on innovative pathway to bring about simplicity in research under Dr. Sumudu Seneviratne
Reminiscent of chats people had whenever they strolled up to a bus-stop and awaited this popular mode of transport in days gone by, it was innovative ‘Bus-Stop Talks 2019’ in a different setting recently.
The setting was not a bus-stop though the backdrop portrayed one, but the New Building Lecture Theatre of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo.
It was also not just a chat about this and that but a very specific one – just three minutes did each person armed with a single FM mike have on centre- stage along with the use of a single power point slide with no animation to present his/ her ‘case’. The ‘case’ was an important research the person had conducted.
Organised by the Research & Higher Degrees Committee ( RHDC) on Post
Graduate Communication Day for the second consecutive year on the theme, ‘ Simplicity in research – the ultimate sophistication’, ‘ Bus- Stop Talks’ were mooted by the RHDC’s Academic Coordinator Dr. Sumudu Nimali Seneviratne. They were open to all post-graduate students registered at the Colombo Medical Faculty, with 10 taking up the challenge to speak on a variety of scientific aspects.
The Chief Guest at this event was the Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Prof. Chandrika Wijeyaratne, while the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Prof Jennifer Perera; the RHDC Chairperson, Prof. Vajira H.W. Dissanayake; academic staff members and post- graduate students also attended it.
Explaining what ‘Bus-Stop Talks’ are, Dr. Seneviratne says it is a brief (lasting only a few minutes), persuasive speech to a non- expert audience which should spark an interest in a complex research idea, proposal, project and/or their outcomes.
“The researcher has to focus on the problem he/she has solved and how people will benefit from this study. He/she has to be excited about what the research is all about and be able to communicate his/her ‘unique selling proposition’ in an interesting, memorable and succinct manner,” she says.
Dr. Seneviratne was inspired to launch ‘Bus-Stop Talks’ in Sri Lanka after seeing a similar event during her doctoral studies at the Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, New Zealand. However, that had been a one-off project, but there is hope that the Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, will continue to hold Bus-Stop
Talks year after year and that other faculties and universities will follow suit.
“Bus-Stop Talks are a spin-off of the ‘elevator pitch’ which is widely used in business management. The idea is to enable effective communication of scientific work to the public. However, there is another, perhaps, greater value as it also motivates the researchers themselves to think about, understand and innovate on ways that their research can benefit the community at large,” she said.
To the query what the benefit is for the researcher, Dr. Seneviratne said when a researcher is able to present his/her studies simply and with clarity, it would motivate potential collaborators/funding bodies to support his/her ongoing and future research, without such research gathering dust on shelves.
While it would also enable a researcher to garner the support of colleagues, peers, family and friends by making them understand the importance of his/her research work, sharing the research findings with academia, industry and the public would also bring recognition to the researcher, she added.