Grad SLAM Preparation Resources

2022 Grad SLAM Information Sessions

These sessions provided an overview of Grad SLAM 2022, tips on how to get started, and strategies for connecting with past participants to learn from their experiences. Please refer to this recorded video of the information session to learn more about Grad SLAM 2022. 

• Thursday, January 20th at 11am PST
• Wednesday, January 26th at 3pm PST
• Friday, January 28th at 10am PST

2022 Support & Coaching Sessions

Drop-In Coaching from the Center for Student Involvement

Coaching sessions are drop-in spaces for participants to work on their presentations, receive and give feedback on research talks, and build confidence as they prepare for Grad SLAM. Bring your slides!

• Wednesday, February 2nd, 1:30-3pm PST | Register Here
• Tuesday, February 8th, 2-3:30pm PST | Register Here
• Friday, February 11th, 11-12:30pm PST | Register Here
• Tuesday, February 15th, 1-3pm PST | Register Here

iLead Workshops: 

iLead is a drop-in workshop program on various communication and leadership topics, the following sessions would be especially useful for students preparing for Grad SLAM. 

• Communicating Theory into Practice: UC San Diego provides the campus community with a wealth of knowledge, emerging research, and latest technology. How do you distill theory into everyday practice? What are ways to make information more accessible to the public? Join this workshop to brainstorm and engage in exercises of how to communicate your research and what you're learning beyond the academic sphere of UC San Diego. | Thursday, January 27th, 1-1:50pm PST | RSVP Here

Writing Hub Workshops: 

These workshops will explore useful strategies for connecting your highly-specialized research to more general audiences. 

• Telling a Scientific Story: The best academic writing blends the technical details of the research with a compelling story for the reader to follow. In this workshop, we'll explore strategies for writing scientific papers through telling a research story. We will discuss how your research involves characters in motion and practice putting together a research story plot for your reader. | Tuesday, February 15th, 12-2pm PST | RSVP Here

Ongoing Support at the Writing Hub

Grad SLAM participants can get ongoing, individualized support from the Graduate Writing Consultants at the Writing Hub.  Writing Consultants can help you think through and articulate your ideas thoughtfully.  Consultants are available for 30 and 60 minute one-on-one appointments, Sunday through Friday.  Make an appointment at writinghub.ucsd.edu.

• How to Talk like TED by Carmine Gallo, Article by Guy Kawasaki
• How to Give a TED-Worthy Talk by Dorie Clark, Forbes
• 10 Tips on How to make Slides that Communicate your Idea, by TED Staff
• 10 Most Common Rookie Mistakes in Public Speaking by Terry Gault, Managing Partner and Vice President of the Henderson Group
• Giving an Academic Talk by Jonathan Shewchuk, Associate Professor in Computer Science, University of California at Berkeley
• Giving Oral Presentations from English Communication for Scientists by Jean-luc Doumont (ed.), Nature (2010)
• Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
• Making the Most of Your Three Minutes for 3MT: The Three Minute Thesis by Simon Clews, Director, Writing Centre, University of Melbourne
• 10 Hints for Improving Presentations for the Three Minute Thesis Competition by Danielle Fischer, Charles Darwin University
• Presentation Skills: Overcoming Stage Fright from the GradPost
• Creating a Persuasive Presentation from the GradPost
• Top Ten Tips for Writing and Delivering Very Brief Speeches by Bill Cole, Founder and CEO of William B. Cole Consultants

Inspiration

• TED Talks: Approximately 3-minute talks on “ideas worth spreading”
• PhD Comics Two-Minute Thesis: PhD Comics challenged graduate students to explain their work in two minutes – the best have been turned into videos!
• 3 Minute Thesis Competition Winners: Winning presentations from a multi-university thesis competition in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the South Pacific