Informal Personal Introductions Gail P Taylor Ph D

Informal Personal Introductions Gail P. Taylor, Ph. D. UTSA MBRS-RISE/MARC U*STAR Programs 09/09/2013

Science Is Communication n Many forms – Papers, talks, etc… n Begins with Introductions! – New colleagues – New labmates – Scientific Conferences n Involve both exchanging name AND information about your research

Conference Introductions n Will introduce yourself to many people n Very important for networking n Need different lengths… § 5 second § ~1 minute § ~3 minute

If you Practice Your Introductions You Will be More Fluent!

Confidence and Introductions n n n Everybody is nervous and unconfident at times, but mask in different ways Confidence and warmth impress people and draw them to you You don’t have to show people that you’re nervous The more you do something, the more confident you feel Intro will look more confident if you – – Have a firm handshake Look people in the eye Speak fluently PRACTICE!

Aside about Imposter Syndrome n n n Some people may persistently disbelieve that they deserve to be in a position, level of education, etc. Someone has made a mistake Everyone else is smarter All successes are an accident or luck… Women, minority, first generation college students often fall prey “Lies” in their heads…believe that they are less smart than everyone…

Handshakes

Posture n Important for first impressions! n Always stand up for a handshake and introduction! http: //www. faqfarm. com/Q/How_does_one_give_a_proper_handshake

Components of a an “Western” Handshake n Eye contact n Grip n Position n Shake

Handshake Overview… n Establish eye contact n Break eye contact, if needed, to extend your hand to meet theirs n When the web of your hand meets the web of theirs, re-establish eye contact and engage grip. n Tiny shakes two or three times, for 1 -3 seconds, breaking off cleanly and smoothly before the introduction is over.

Details n May break eye contact to find hand… n Cultural issue… n Make sure thumb webs contact n Whole hand (not the Gwenevere!) n Firm, but not crushing n 2 -3 shakes, straight wrist

The Introduction Itself n Smile. n Initiate Handshake/Hello, I’m Gail Taylor (Listen to theirs) n End handshake n I’m an undergraduate biology major at UT San Antonio. I work in Dr. Firstname Lastname’s lab on superficial explanation of research.

Example n Hello, I’m Gail Taylor. I’m an undergraduate Biology student at UT San Antonio. I work in Dr. Martha Lundell’s laboratory on serotonin neuron differentiation in Drosophila.

Next…. n Longer introduction n Much more specific n Answer for question: “Tell me about your research…”

Longer Introduction of your Work n I have worked for the last year in a half, in Dr. firstname lastname’s laboratory on neuronal development in drosophila. I’ve had several projects. My main project involves…”Put smoothed abstract title here”. Say something about why your experiment was important to the world. We hypothesized that …. We used ………. (briefly put methods, techniques used here). We found (results here). We expected/didn’t expect this because. Next I will do ______.