I could not agree more with this post. I would add that this holds true for native English speakers, not just people to whom English is a second language. Jargon is slightly faster to say and type but comes with a loss of clarity. People who are not intimately familiar with all details of your presentation or paper can find themselves foundering as they either fail to understand the speaker at all or take the wrong meaning as they use the jargon or acronyms to mean something different. Using all the "in" terms may be fun and give you as the presenter a sense of being "in the club" but that should not be the reason you are sharing your knowledge. If your purpose is to educate and inform other people, do so using the simplest language possible. Doing that enables you to reach the widest possible number of people and achieve the greatest impact. If you are in front of the audience to impress yourself or them, feel free to say what you want any way you want. If you want to share knowledge and help grow yourself and others, use the simplest possible language and make sure your audience is following along with you. As one of my favorite authors, science fiction writer Larry Niven says, "If the audience doesn't get it, let it not be your fault."
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Jim Horne
Lead Infrastructure Engineer
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
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Original Message:
Sent: Sat November 09, 2024 06:39 AM
From: Diego Rodriguez Bravo
Subject: Tell Us: What makes a great presenter conference session?
I often attend to presentations in international events where they are delivered in English as the common language, but for many people like me English is not our mother language.
In my opinion a great presenter engages non-native English speakers by speaking clearly, slowly, using simple language, avoiding jargon, and checking understanding, while encouraging interaction and providing visual aids for clarity and retention no matter how technical or profound is the topic. Empathy is key for the attendance.
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Diego Rodriguez Bravo
Original Message:
Sent: Fri August 23, 2024 11:04 PM
From: Susan Barker
Subject: Tell Us: What makes a great presenter conference session?
Be "friendly", smile (laugh & the whole world laughs with you), be yourself, don't be too formal, be energetic.