Inside the Classroom: Finding Confidence in Presenting Data

Earlier this month our DSAN Program Director, Dr. Purna Gamage, welcomed several special guests to her Probabilistic Modeling and Statistical Computing class.

Dr. Purna introduces Dr. Carfagno to DSAN students.

She kicked off class with Georgetown MS-ESM Program Director, Dr. Kerrie Carfagno, who gave a talk on “Presenting data and adapting to conflict, pushback, and difficult conversations.” Dr. Carfagno worked with students on adapting their communication styles to better navigate challenging people and situations. This is especially helpful practice for our students in learning how to persuade when they’re defending their data to both internal and external stakeholders.

A group of students practices their presentation skills during class

The talk concluded with an exercise in which a randomly selected student group presented their final project then applied what they learned about persuasive responses during questioning by their classmates (who were assigned specific personas, e.g. risk averse, arrogant, controlling, etc.).

Next up was a visit from several of our stand-out DSAN second year students, Viviana ‘26, Kristin ‘26, and Trey ‘26, who shared their wisdom on presentation skills. Check out some of their best tips:

Viviana Luccioli

Know your content, especially when working in groups. Know the whole presentation, not just your part.
Think of your presentations as a conversation as opposed to a rigid verbal presentation of an academic paper.

Kristin Lloyd

Have a dedicated slide for your research question and sub-questions.
Try to have a visually appealing presentation; don’t just have black text on white slides.

Trey Roark

In public speaking and presenting, trust in yourself and know that you are knowledgable on the subject matter.
Remember that you can pause if you don’t have an immediate answer to a question; a pause that may seem long to you when standing in front of a class likely feels like a few seconds to the audience.

It’s important for our first year students to have access to varied expertise on presentation skills as they continue their journey through the DSAN program and turn an eye toward their journey beyond the classroom and Georgetown.