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Friday's Digest - The Newsletter for Doctors & Scientists
You might think,
Friday's Digest - The Newsletter for Doctors & Scientists
For two decades, I've been developing tools that have improved my practice in medicine, dentistry, and scientific research.
Join me every Friday to discover a new tool you can integrate into your workflow as a doctor, a scientist, or both.
I believe in sharing knowledge, embracing automation, boosting productivity, and finding joy in the process.
Photo by ASIA CULTURECENTER on Unsplash
Table of contents
Table of contents
Preface
Main Article
OMFS World
Stuff
Preface
Preface
This week I started jogging again 🏃♂️.
Jogging has been a passion of mine ever since my high school gym teacher put an end to my couch potato years 🥔 🛋️.
Some people don't like the effort of the actual run. Instead, they do it for the added value: staying healthy, maintaining their goal weight, and feeling great after the run is complete.
🌈 I like the run itself.
🌈 I like the run itself.
Everything feels so calm and simple on the run.
It's just you, your thoughts 💭, the sounds of your breath 🫁 and feet hitting the ground 👟. Come to think of it, this is precisely what meditation is 🧘♀️.
My running gear includes the average sportswear and my beloved Garmin Fenix 7x sports watch. I never take my phone, but since I'm always on call, I wear my pager. This is the lesser of two evils.
The only two reasons that kept me from running were sports injuries and lack of time.
“Lack of time” is a problematic definition. I can always choose to run instead of doing something else.
So let's instead call it “prioritization.”
I prioritized running low. And this week I changed it.
Let's see how it goes.
Today we celebrate issue number 40!
The big four-O.
Respect 😃.
Main Article
Main Article
Storytime!
Storytime!
At 17, I wanted to become a first-aid teacher 👨🏫. So I left home for three weeks to participate in my first-ever teaching training course.
I had some teaching experience starting at 14, but this was my first experience with formal training.
Little have I known how this choice would profoundly impact who I am today.
Little have I known how this choice would profoundly impact who I am today.
💪 Aside from learning the necessary skills, this training included repetitive simulations.
These simulations involved lecturing in front of my peers about a first-aid subject. After I was done, I had to sit quietly in a circle while each of my 20 classmates gave me feedback 😨. One positive feedback, one negative feedback, and no repeating the same feedback twice.
In short, I had to sit and listen to 20 bad things I just did and keep quiet 😶.
But I got better. FAST 🧗♂️.
And then I started to teach. A LOT.
And I practiced the fundamentals of teaching. A LOT.
And I practiced the fundamentals of teaching. A LOT.
I discovered the significance of maintaining eye contact 👀, modulating my voice 🗣️, and effectively using a blackboard to hold my audience's attention.
By the time I was 22, I already had thousands of teaching hours under my belt.
And then I started working as an SAT (psychometric) instructor.
The company I worked for had the students fill out in-depth anonymous feedback forms. Students’ anonymous feedback is very different from peers’ feedback. It is raw and direct.
At 25, with 10,000 teaching hours under my belt, I embraced each piece of feedback to refine my methods, and avoid repeating past mistakes.
My satisfaction scores skyrocketed 🚀.
Why is that? It's not that the fundamentals of teaching have changed.
My satisfaction scores skyrocketed because I became better at applying the fundamentals ALL THE TIME.
My satisfaction scores skyrocketed because I became better at applying the fundamentals ALL THE TIME.
Fast forward to the present.
With 20,000 teaching hours in my portfolio, I utilize my knowledge to guide others in improving their lectures.
With 20,000 teaching hours in my portfolio, I utilize my knowledge to guide others in improving their lectures.
And you know what's the most rewarding part?
Observing their lectures after our sessions, and seeing the positive feedback they receive. I do it from afar.
Usually, no one but the two of us knows I helped them. I like it this way.
But today, I'll break some of this discreteness and share my top 5 tips for delivering an outstanding lecture.
But today, I'll break some of this discreteness and share my top 5 tips for delivering an outstanding lecture.
And here's the best bit: You don't need any prior teaching experience!
You can actually stand up and give a public lecture for the first time 🐣.
Do you have stage fright 😱? Perfect.
Do you have stage fright 😱? Perfect.
It just means that you'll always care about your performance, and work hard to improve your public speaking skills.
Perhaps you're skeptical about my assertions. You might think: "Seriously? You've spent 20,000 hours in front of an audience, and I'm supposed to match that?”
My answer: YES!
I actually guarantee it.
The significant difference between my extensive teaching experience and yours isn't the end result. Your public talk can surpass mine.
The great separator between us is the amount of preparation needed before the talk ⏰. While I may require 1-2 hours, a non-experienced lecturer will probably need 2-7 days.
I've seen it over and over again while mentoring hundreds of teachers.
So, let's get down to business.
Are you ready? Here are my 5 top tips for delivering an outstanding lecture.
Are you ready? Here are my 5 top tips for delivering an outstanding lecture.
1️⃣ Keep your message clear and repeat it.
1️⃣ Keep your message clear and repeat it.
Every lecture should contain 3-5 key messages 🔑 and one main take-home message 🏡. These messages are the facts you want your audience to remember, so they should be clearly stated and repeated 5-10 times throughout your lecture.
All other information merely supports understanding these messages and will be quickly forgotten.
👉 Bottom line:
Your audience will forget your lecture but will remember your messages. Repeat each one 5-10 times.
2️⃣ Keep your slides brief and straightforward.
2️⃣ Keep your slides brief and straightforward.
Oh my god, I can't stress it enough.
This is a HUGE mistake I see over and over again. You should NEVER, and I mean NEVER EVER, pack your slides with long sentences.
Slides should be concise and pleasant to view. They must contain less text ⌨️ than your verbal explanation 💬. Even if it means memorizing your text or using “presenter mode” in PowerPoint.
👉 Bottom line:
Keep the text on your slides to a minimum, always shorter than what you say.
3️⃣ Explain everything on your slides.
3️⃣ Explain everything on your slides.
EVERYTHING!
For instance, if you present a graph, clarify the x and y-axes. If you display an image, describe what it is. If you use colors to illustrate a process, state: "The green arrows indicate activation, while the red ones indicate inhibition.”
Yes, a few might roll their eyes 🙄, but when you start explaining everything, you'll see how YOUR ENTIRE AUDIENCE is focused on you. They'll be engaged.
👉 Bottom line:
When you switch to the next slide, explain its contents immediately.
4️⃣ Summarize every two minutes.
4️⃣ Summarize every two minutes.
Imagine your lecture as a tour bus 🚌, and you as the tour guide 🙋. The bus moves slowly and has no doors, so anyone can hop on anytime. This is not an express train that has only two stops 🚆!
By summarizing regularly, you allow your audience to re-engage with your lecture (”hop back on your bus”). It will make it easy for them to listen to you. People LOVE that.
👉 Bottom line:
Summarize after each slide or after two slides at most.
5️⃣ Maintain eye contact with your audience.
5️⃣ Maintain eye contact with your audience.
Not your notes 🗒️, not your screen 💻, not your mentor 👨🏫.
Maintain eye contact with your entire audience. ALL THE TIME.
This means maintaining eye contact with each person for about 3-5 seconds before moving on to the next. Engage with the person you're looking at. Smile if they smile.
If your audience is focused on something other than you, stop! Summarize, repeat your key points, and skip a few slides.
There's no point in talking to a room filled with people who are not listening.
👉 Bottom line:
Keep eye contact with each person for 3-5 seconds, then move on to the next.
OMFS World
OMFS World
🥼For the (almost) fellow
July 1st is just around the corner, meaning it's go-time for the 2023 fellows and the announcement of the 2024 fellows.
To help those on the fellowship hunt, I prepared this guide: Turning Dreams into a Reality: How to Get Accepted into Fellowship.
For those starting a fellowship (or wondering what's it like), I prepared an email course packed with my top tips: Your Guide to Fellowship - 7-Day Email Course.
Stuff
Stuff
💡Gear I use - Logitech Spotlight Presentation Remote.
This is a very advanced presentation remote with cool features. By no means will it replace the fundamentals of a good lecture (clear message, concise slides, eye contact, summary every 2 minutes). However, it will make it easier for you to apply the fundamentals.
Epilogue
Epilogue
That's it for this issue.
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Have a great weekend!
Shay
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