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Volume 24, No. 2 • Spring 2017 BIOPHARMACEUTICAL REPORT Chair: Alex Dmitrienko Editors: Amy Xia, Junyuan Wang, Jeff Maca CONTENTS IMPROVING OUR FEATURED ARTICLES Improving Our Communication and COMMUNICATION AND Presentation Skills Christy Chuang-Stein ..................... 1 PRESENTATION SKILLS Using your analytical skills Christy Chuang-Stein, Chuang-Stein Consulting, LLC as statisticians in cross-functional leadership Why the Need you observed how well-respected and Peter Mesenbrink ............................. 5 Scenario 1 much-liked statisticians express their BIOPHARMACEUTICAL Imagine yourself sitting in a conference opinions on a presentation? They often SECTION NEWS room, listening to a fellow statistician start by praising the salient points of the Stat Ninja Warrior ............... 9 give a talk. The speaker is proposing presentation before offering their sug- a new approach to a hard problem. gestions. For the latter, instead of using Workshop Update Martin Ho and Weili He ........ 10 The approach is innovative and has a definitive tone, many of them choose great potentials. Still, you spotted some to ask questions such as “Have you Biopharmaceutical Section weaknesses immediately. You raise your thought of trying A or B?” or “What at the 2017 Joint Statistical hand, waiting for a chance to speak. do you think will happen if you do X, Meetings ..................................... 12 What are you going to say when the Y or Z?” Publications Officer Update speaker calls upon you? Are you going Richard Zink .............................14 to first praise the out-of-box thinking Scenario 2 and acknowldge the ingenuity behind Now imagine you’ve just heard an DIA Bayesian Scientific the proposal, or are you going straight amazing presentation. You look around Working Group KOL into criticisms on the weaknesses? How the room. Most in the audience have Lecture Series ......................15 long will it take before you use the word this awed expression on their faces. The 73Rd Annual Deming “but” in your comment? Many are on their feet and clapping Conference On Applied Statisticians were trained to be scien- their hands. You have this incredibly Statistics .................................15 tists. As scientists, we pride ourselves warm feeling washing over you. You to be truth-seekers and truth-keepers. are overwhelmed by a strong sense of Deming Conference on Applied Statistics We feel compelled to shine light on affinity with the speaker. Schedule .................................16 imperfect arguments and suboptimal Take a moment to reflect on the evidence. We demand perfection of presentation. How did the speaker man- new approaches even though the cur- age to arouse such a powerful feeling rent ones have their own limitations. in you? Was it the message? Was it We are eager to share our experience, the delivery? Was it the vigor of the expertise and insight. speaker? Was it the strong conviction What many of us fail to recognize projected by the speaker? Or, was it the is that there are many ways to share combination of all of the above that cre- expertise and offer feedback. Have ated a perfect storm of a presentation? BIOPHARMACEUTICAL REPORT SPRING 2017 1 You have given presentations before. Perhaps the “Providing excessive details topics you presented were not the kind that could have aroused the kind of deep feelings as the one you just to people who only want the heard. But, if you are to give a presentation on a topic similar to the one you just heard, could you do it in such big picture will bore them. a way to produce a similar response in your audience? Some people were born with a gift in communication Communicating vaguely without and public speaking. They are by far the minority. The rest of us have to cultivate these skills through active substantial details will frustrate observations and dedicated practices. President Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I people who operate the will spend the first four sharpening the axes.” The need for continuous improvement becomes stronger as we best through verifiable data. gain seniority at work because we are expected to be able to more effectively communicate with and present Understanding other’s styles is to decision-makers (Chuang-Stein et al., 2010). In many organizations, excellent communication and presenta- essential to achieving the objective tion skills are part of the requirements for promotions to a senior level. of communication and influencing.” Unlike taking a short course or working toward a professional degree, there is no clearly marked finish line for our journey to seek greater communication and presentation skills. While there are help aids and books BLIND. PLEASE HELP ME.” Occasionally a passerby on communication and presentation (e.g., Carnegie dropped a coin on his mat. A woman in dark sun glasses 1936, 1962; Barrett, 2006), I will share a few simple walked by him and circled back. She took out a pen and rules that have helped me personally on the long jour- wrote on the other side of the cardboard. The blind man ney of self improvement. These rules are not exhaus- felt her shoes as a way to get to know her. After the sign tive, but they are a good place to start. change, passerbys started dropping handfuls of coins on his mat, often in a respectable manner. At the end of the Pointers for Effective Communications day, the woman returned and stood in front of the man. Communicate in a way to arouse a positive response. By the feel of the shoes, the man knew it was the same We are humans before we are statisticians. As humans, woman from the morning. He asked what she did to his we desire to be acknowledged and validated. Direct sign. She said “I wrote the same, but different words.” criticisms without any preamble tend to invoke the The words she used were “IT IS A BEAUTFIL DAY defensiveness in us. On the other hand, suggestions and I CAN’T SEE IT.” The clip ends with the message expressed in the form of a question after praise tend to “Change Your Words; Change Your World.” make us more receptive to the comments and appre- ciative of the commentors. Yet, despite our positive Understand others’ communication styles. People reaction to this type of communication style, we don’t have different styles in processing information and necessarily emulate them consiciously ourselves. We making decisions. Some speak with precision, requiring should change this. numerical details while others speak more conceptu- ally. Some focus on what’s right and are energized by Remember that words matter. I once saw a youtube argument and negotiation while others communciate video www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU. In warmth and tolerance, avoiding arguments and con- the video, a blind man sat on a mat in front of a build- flicts. Providing excessive details to people who only ing. Next to him was a cardboard sign saying “I’M want the big picture will bore them. Communicating BIOPHARMACEUTICAL REPORT SPRING 2017 2 vaguely without substantial details will frustrate people likely to regret later. Once the words are out, we can’t who operate the best through verifiable data. Under- take them back. So, always think and read twice before standing other’s styles is essential to achieving the releasing a message. If a follow-up to the trigger event objective of communication and influencing. is necessary, it will be better to have a verbal dialogue after a cooling period. Don’t let our accent deter us. For many of us, English is not our native language. While we need to try hard Pointers for A Good Presentation to improve our proficiency in English, it is important No matter how many presentations I have given before, to not let the language barrier impede our need to com- I always remind myself of the followings each time I municate. There is an increasing acceptance of foreign have a chance to present. accent as long as the accent is not so thick to hinder • The first three minutes of a presentation is key. comprehension. At times, some form of an accent may An excellent opener not only sets a good stage actually result in a listener’s paying more attention to for the presesntation, it also helps ease the ten- the speaker. A guiding principle is to speak clearly with sion in the speaker. If necessary, write it out what a good pace. we plan to say during the first three minutes. Communicate often and proactively. Anticipating • Prepare the contents to match the audience and problems in advance and providing regular updates to the time allocated to the presentation. Nothing is others in a collaborative project will go a long way more irritating than a speaker who goes on and towards creating trust. We should avoid the approach of on, totally disrespecting the schedule set for the “I will let you know when I have results.” Always fol- presentation. low the mantra—when in doubt, communicate. • Delivery is as critical as the contents. Put fresh energy into the delivery even if we have given Practice a difficult conversation with a confidant. the same presentation numerous times before. There are times when we need to engage in a difficult The audience deserves our best. Give ourselves a conversation. This may include asking for a promotion, pep talk before each presentation. resolving a dispute with a colleague, or delivering a poor performance rating to a staff member. Difficult • Use different tones and pauses to emphasize a conversations should ideally be conducted face-to-face, particular point. Repetition of a core message or at least verbally. It will be very useful to practice the is good. Humor is also good, as long as it is not conversation with a trusted friend to strike an appropri- done at others’ expense.

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