Good speakers are not born so, but trained. How to become the next best speaker.
Having recently returned from 3 presentations in America, I have been pondering on my own performances and those of my peers and what I could learn from them. I was invited to speak in St. Louis by Dr. Rolf Behrents, the recently appointed Chief Editor of AJODO, who was tasked by the Orthodontic Education and Research Foundation of finding the “best” speaker in America. (That he chose me was, of course, very flattering, as I would not consider myself as the “best” nor do I come from America!)
Upon reflection, I have come to the conclusion that in order to succeed as a presenter, there are numerous factors: a difficult case, with good content, good visual aids and a good result coupled with a simple explanation so the audience can duplicate the treatment in their own practice. Furthermore, the delivery is probably the most important factor - not only stage presence, good gestures, eye contact, understanding different cultures, keeping the audience’s attention etc. - but it must also be entertaining!
It then occurred to me, whilst editing this latest version of IJOI, that our publication is also an excellent way of practising, how would you present the case reports in our journal to an audience? Everything is there for you, the case, with good content, visual aids etc. As each one of us is different, so of course will be our presentation styles, there is no “best”, but we can all strive for excellence on our path to glory.
Being a good speaker requires practice, not prodigious ability. I hope this edition will help to inspire you to get out and present your cases and I would be honored to share the stage with you in the future and have you introduced as the “best” speaker.
Chris Chang DDS, PhD, Publisher of IJOI