Melissa Marshall: Talk nerdy to me

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Penny Martínez Reviewer: Xusto Rodriguez

Five years ago, I experienced a bit

Hai cinco anos, experimentei un pouco

of what it must have been like to be Alice in Wonderland.

como sería ser Alicia no país das marabillas.

Penn State asked me, a communications teacher,

Penn State pediume a min, unha profesora de comunicación,

to teach a communications class for engineering students.

que lles dera unha clase de comunicación a estudantes de enxeñaría.

And I was scared. (Laughter)

Tiven medo. (Risas)

Really scared. Scared of these students with their big brains

Medo de verdade. Medo deses estudantes coas súas grandes mentes,

and their big books and their big, unfamiliar words.

os seus grandes libros e as súas grandes e descoñecidas palabras.

But as these conversations unfolded,

Pero ao desenvolverse esas conversas,

I experienced what Alice must have when she went down

sentín o que Alicia debeu sentir cando caeu polo tobo do coello

that rabbit hole and saw that door to a whole new world.

e viu a porta dun novo mundo.

That's just how I felt as I had those conversations

Xustamente así me sentín cando tiven esas conversas cos estudantes.

with the students. I was amazed at the ideas

Sorprendéronme as ideas que tiñan,

that they had, and I wanted others to experience this wonderland as well.

e quería que outros probaran tamén este mundo marabilloso.

And I believe the key to opening that door

E creo que a clave para abrir esa porta

is great communication.

é unha comunicación estimulante.

We desperately need great communication from our

Precisamos desesperadamente unha comunicación estimulante

scientists and engineers in order to change the world.

dos nosos científicos e enxeñeiros para dar cambiado o mundo.

Our scientists and engineers are the ones

Os nosos científicos e enxeñeiros son os que están a atacar

that are tackling our grandest challenges, from energy

os nosos maiores desafíos, na enerxía

to environment to health care, among others,

no medio ambiente e no coidado da saúde, entre outros,

and if we don't know about it and understand it,

e se non sabemos disto nin os entendemos,

then the work isn't done, and I believe it's our responsibility

o traballo non está feito, e creo que é a nosa responsabilidade

as non-scientists to have these interactions.

como non científicos manter esas interaccións.

Pero estas conversas estimulantes non poden xurdir se os nosos científicos

But these great conversations can't occur if our scientists

and engineers don't invite us in to see their wonderland.

e enxeñeiros non nos invitan a ver o seu marabilloso mundo.

So scientists and engineers, please, talk nerdy to us.

Así que científicos e enxeñeiros, por favor, fálennos con sinxeleza.

I want to share a few keys on how you can do that

Quero compartir algunha suxestión sobre como facelo

to make sure that we can see that your science is sexy

para asegurármonos de que podemos ver que a súa ciencia é sexy

and that your engineering is engaging.

e que a súa enxeñaría é atractiva.

First question to answer for us: so what?

Primeira pregunta para respondérmonos: ¿E logo que?

Tell us why your science is relevant to us.

Dígannos por que a ciencia é relevante para nós.

Don't just tell me that you study trabeculae,

Non nos digan soamente que estudan as trabéculas,

but tell me that you study trabeculae, which is the mesh-like structure of our bones

senon que estudan as trabéculas: a estrutura de malla dos nosos ósos

because it's important to understanding and treating osteoporosis.

porque son importantes para entender e tratar a osteoporose.

And when you're describing your science, beware of jargon.

E cando estean a describir as súas investigacións, coidado coa xerga

Jargon is a barrier to our understanding of your ideas.

A xerga é un obstáculo para a nosa comprensión das súas ideas.

Sure, you can say "spatial and temporal," but why not just say

Seguro que poden dicir "espacial e temporal", pero, por que non

"space and time," which is so much more accessible to us?

"espazo e tempo" que son moito máis accesibles para nós?

And making your ideas accessible is not the same as dumbing it down.

Facelas accesibles non é o mesmo que facelas parvas.

Instead, as Einstein said, make everything

Ao revés, como dixo Einstein, fagan que todo sexa

as simple as possible, but no simpler.

tan sinxelo como sexa posible, pero non máis.

You can clearly communicate your science

Poden comunicar claramente as súas investigacións

without compromising the ideas.

sen comprometer as ideas.

A few things to consider are having examples, stories

Poderían considerar o uso de exemplos, historias e analoxías.

and analogies. Those are ways to engage

Son maneiras de enganchar

and excite us about your content.

e entusiasmarnos co seu contido.

And when presenting your work, drop the bullet points.

E ao presentar o traballo, esquézanse da listas con frechiñas.

Have you ever wondered why they're called bullet points? (Laughter)

¿Preguntáronse por que lles chaman "frechas"? (Risas)

What do bullets do? Bullets kill,

¿Que fan as frechas? Matan,

and they will kill your presentation.

e matarán a súa presentación.

A slide like this is not only boring, but it relies too much

Unha diapositiva coma esta non só é aburrida, senón que se apoia demasiado

on the language area of our brain, and causes us to become overwhelmed.

na nosa área cerebral da linguaxe e abrúmanos.

Instead, this example slide by Genevieve Brown is

Pola contra, esta diapositiva de exemplo de Genevieve Brown

much more effective. It's showing that the special structure

é moito máis efectiva. Amosa que a estrutura especial

of trabeculae are so strong that they actually inspired

das trabeculas é tan forte que realmente inspira

the unique design of the Eiffel Tower.

o deseño único da Torre Eiffel.

And the trick here is to use a single, readable sentence

O truco aquí é usar unha frase sinxela, lexible,

that the audience can key into if they get a bit lost,

que o público poida entender se se perde un pouco,

and then provide visuals which appeal to our other senses

e de seguido, incluír elementos visuais que apelan aos outros sentidos

and create a deeper sense of understanding

e cren un sentido máis profundo de comprensión

of what's being described.

do que se describe.

So I think these are just a few keys that can help

Creo que estas son só algunhas claves que poden axudar

the rest of us to open that door and see the wonderland

a que os demais abramos a porta e vexamos o país das marabillas

that is science and engineering.

que son a ciencia e a enxeñaría.

And because the engineers that I've worked with have

E como os enxeñeiros con que traballei

taught me to become really in touch with my inner nerd,

me ensinaron a entrar en contacto coa miña rariña interior,

I want to summarize with an equation. (Laughter)

quero resumilas cunha ecuación. (Risas)

Take your science, subtract your bullet points

Colla a súa investigación, quítelle as listas con frechiñas,

and your jargon, divide by relevance,

e a xerga, divídaa pola relevancia,

meaning share what's relevant to the audience,

que significa compartir o relevante para a audiencia,

and multiply it by the passion that you have for

e multiplíqueo pola paixón que sente

this incredible work that you're doing,

polo incrible traballo que está facendo,

and that is going to equal incredible interactions

e isto será igual ás interaccións incribles

that are full of understanding.

que están cheas de comprensión.

And so, scientists and engineers, when you've solved

E así, científicos e enxeñeiros,

this equation, by all means, talk nerdy to me. (Laughter)

cando resolvan esta ecuación, madia leva, fálenme con sinxeleza. (Risas)

Thank you. (Applause)

Grazas. (Aplausos)