I want to share some “exercises” and general suggestions to get you started on the main aspects of rhetoric.

These exercise are just hints for your personal reflection and consolidation of some concepts. They are optional and not graded.

Please note that you can can perform these exercises on a notebook or a pepar. If not specified otherwise, you don't need to post your answers in the course forum.

EXERCISE 1: "GOOD PLAGIARISM"

Don’t be afraid, it’s ok. And do be sure that I know that “real” plagiarism is bad. But it can also be used for the good, as in this exercise.

Cicero said that you learn by imitation. You find a report that according to you is well organized? Try to “copy” it, organizing YOUR report using that schema. You find an “introduction” paragraph that arranges arguments in a way you feel is effective?

Try to do the same for the introductory paragraph of YOUR scientific paper. And so on.

Exercise 2: “talk to the most unlikely audience”

This exercise is about common ground and being clear.

Take a technical topic (related to your research) and make a presentation (e.g. a 15 minutes oral presentation) meant for somebody with a different background (e.g. in humanities) or with a different education level (e.g. high-school students or even primary school children) or for someone completely far from the field you are active in (e.g. your grand-father?).

Try to find a way to actually deliver the presentation and get feedback, it will be eye-opening!

EXERCISE 3: “GIVE YOURSELF A GOAL”

This exercise is about invention. The same topic (e.g. a research activity) can give vent to quite different kinds of communication, according to a number of parameters (the goal, the audience, the context…). In this exercise, you are required to work on the goal.

Create a presentation about the topic of your research with the goal of getting funds for it, another with the goal of conveying to fellow scientists the significance of your work, etc.

If you have the option to actually find someone who might fit into your hypothetical scenario, give the presentation and collect feedback. But even if you can’t, the sheer exercise of choosing the proper topics (exercise on “key messages”) to fit the goal will bring substantial benefits to your communication skills.