{"id":2097,"date":"2017-03-07T10:50:56","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T22:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/?p=2097"},"modified":"2017-03-07T11:12:34","modified_gmt":"2017-03-06T23:12:34","slug":"engaging-hearts-and-minds-themes-are-messages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/engaging-hearts-and-minds-themes-are-messages\/","title":{"rendered":"Engaging Hearts and Minds: Themes are messages"},"content":{"rendered":"

During our very short foray into some key techniques for engaging a public audience I emphasized the importance of moving beyond merely having a `topic\u2019 for your talk and developing a ` theme\u2019, or key message, that you want to convey about your topic in the 5-6 minutes that you will have for your science shows in July.\"\"<\/a>
\nIt\u2019s great to see some of you moving in this direction in your closed Google Community groups. I strongly encourage you to use the three sentence approach to taking a topic to a theme developed by interpretation specialist Sam Ham. Namely:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Step 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Select a general topic<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally my presentation is about\u2026\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Step 2. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 State your topic in more specific terms<\/p>\n

\u201cSpecifically, however, I want to tell my audience about\u2026\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Step 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now, express your theme.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter my presentation, I want my audience to understand that\u2026..\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Complete each line as one complete sentence.<\/u><\/p>\n

This will not only give you presentation a focus it will make researching for your show that much more manageable.<\/p>\n

A worked example<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grace posted this as part of\u00a0 the Medical Science group discussion<\/p>\n

“What is antimicrobial resistance and how do we combat these new resistance mechanisms that are emerging and spreading on a global scale” \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Step 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Select a general topic<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally my presentation is about<\/em>\u2026\u2026 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Antimicrobial Resistance<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Step 2. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 State your topic in more specific terms<\/p>\n

\u201cSpecifically, however, I want to tell my audience about\u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

..what antimicrobial resistance is, how it is emerging and spreading on a global scale, and how we might combat it\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Step 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now, express your theme.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter my presentation, I want my audience to understand that\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This, your overall theme for the show, will come out of the research you do to address the \u00a03 sub-topics in Step 2 above<\/p>\n

Sub-topic 1: \u00a0What is\u00a0Antimicrobial resistance?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sub-topic 2a: How it is emerging.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2b: How it is spreading.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sub-topic 3: How we might combat antimicrobial resistance?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A key message or sub-theme can then also be developed for each of the sub-topics above<\/p>\n

e.g<\/p>\n

The sub-theme or key message around sub-topic 1: What is Antimicrobial resistance?<\/span> <\/strong>might be something like:<\/p>\n