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ICIC offers workshop to help international researchers enhance oral presentation skills

News Categories: Centers | English | Faculty and Staff | International | Lectures and Seminars | Opportunities | Research

Ulla ConnorMaking oral presentations at scientific and academic conferences and meetings is a standard expectation for university researchers and instructors. For non-native English speakers, however, giving oral presentations that are clear, concise and  understandable to the audience may be challenging because of intercultural differences in presentation formats and styles.

The Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication, a language and cultural training center that is part of the School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, is presenting a workshop designed to help international researchers enhance their oral presentation skills. The workshop is being developed in collaboration with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at the IU School of Medicine.

This engaging, interactive session will provide guidance to non-native English speakers through individual practice and small-group discussions to ensure clear oral communication in English. Participants will learn about the key features of oral presentations related to language use and pick up tips on organizational structure, the use of visual aids and enhancing oral enunciation and pronunciation.

The workshop is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon March 23 at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute on the IUPUI campus. Registration, which costs $50 for IU and IUPUI students, faculty and staff, is available online at tinyurl.com/74ozmn2.

Workshop presenters are Ulla Connor, ICIC director and Chancellor’s Professor of English at IUPUI, an internationally known speaker and author; and Lauren Harvey, ICIC’s assistant director of training, an experienced presenter and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages certified trainer.

This is the latest in an ongoing series of intercultural communication and language workshops ICIC has developed for international medical and science professionals and researchers. The goal of these workshops is to equip international participants with effective communication strategies and improve mutual understanding.


For more information, contact ICIC at 317-274-2555 or icic@iupui.edu, or visit ICIC’s website, liberalarts.iupui.edu/icic.

Photo: Professor Ulla Connor

Published on: February 01, 2012