Throughout my college experience, I have had many assignments that required me to effectively communicate orally in multiple contexts within the discipline. My first experience with this was during my first biology class in my freshman year. During this class, each student was required to give a 5-10 minute presentation on a newly researched topic of their choice. I chose to complete my presentation using an article about a newly discovered, full wooly mammoth carcass that had been preserved in the ice for thousands of years. As this was one of my first college presentations that required me to communicate orally in a discipline I was unfamiliar with, I didn’t do that well. I was nervous, fidgety, and didn’t make much eye contact. Needless to say, the grade I received on that presentation wasn’t stellar. However, it taught me a lot about what college professors were looking for in my public speaking skills. The link to this presentation is below.

A few years later, in my Developmental Biology class, I was able to give another oral presentation on some new research. I did this presentation on axolotls, which are a type of salamander that live underwater and are able to regenerate parts of their bodies. This presentation went much better than the first one I described. I was able to hold eye contact with my listeners, talk confidently about the research I learned about, and answer questions competently. I got a much better grade on this presentation. The link to the PowerPoint is listed below.

In my Senior Capstone class, I have two opportunities to choose a recent scientific paper and give a presentation consisting of background, the paper findings, and a class discussion. The first presentation that my group and I presented was on a treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. This presentation went really well, aside from a lack of eye contact and use of notecards. Our second presentation was about size matching between pollinator proboscis and flower nectar tubes. This presentation went even better than the first presentation!  I was able to present the figures this time, which was a change in pace from our first presentation where I presented the background for the paper.  It was definitely more difficult, but more rewarding.  The link to this presentation is below.

Mammoth Presentation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nJLolQNfIRRlNlCbpmZoDkNOtcyK8yuI/view?usp=sharing

Axolotl Presentation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OIN3C-mCiB292ZHMvIl_yyo4XvNAG0C3/view?usp=sharing

Pollinator Presentation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17WkbzN7hehmcC9gxjqIYbIyChQwjSenE/view?usp=sharing