How to be a Well-Spoken Robot Nerd

As part of a robotics team, there are a lot of instances where knowing how to talk is a very valuable thing. The ability to convey information in ways that make sense to anyone who may be listening is something that my time in FLL and on my high school’s speech team has taught me. But public speaking is tough, and over 74% of the world's population has a fear of it. Whether or not you’re like me, and struggle to STOP talking, or you dread it; being able to speak well is very important. Here are my tips for being a well-spoken robot nerd.

1. Be aware of what you’re doing when you're not the one talking. In a group situation, (like judging) even if it’s not your part to talk, try not to look unhappy, and DO NOT. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, DO NOT FIDGET. Whenever you’re presenting information in a formal situation, keeping track of your face and body is key.
   -- Try to look pleasant. I spend a lot of time watching YouTube, and one of my favorite things to do is to is watch videos with more than one person in them and watch the person who isn’t talking. That person will, most of the time, go into a resting face which often looks to a viewer like they want to be anywhere else. In judging sessions, it’s crucial to look like you enjoy what you’re doing. Try to keep a smile on your face when you’re not talking.
   
   -- Don’t let yourself fidget! I understand the temptation to wiggle, but you have to keep track of what your body is doing. I fall into the trap of using big, exaggerated hand gestures that transition into arm gestures, that transition into full-body gestures, and pretty soon, I’m doing jumping jacks. This is especially a problem in group presentations. If you know that you’re a person who rocks back and forth, kicks your feet, or plays with your hands, pay close attention to what that part of your body is doing, and how that must look like to the people watching. I tend to play with my hands, and do weird little leg dances, so when I go into a judging session, I hold my hands behind my back, put my heels together, and wiggle my toes. For those of us who NEED to do something with their body, and can’t stand still, wiggling your toes inside your shoes is a good way to get that energy out without people noticing. Find ways to get out your energy without it being distracting. Having a team member unknowingly doing the Harlem Shake in a corner while another is explaining your drivetrain is a HUGE distraction, and takes away from the information you’re trying to present.
   
   -- “But, Anna,” you say, “I don’t notice when I’m fidgeting and I look dead in the face!” Well, here’s what you do: record your team in a mock judging session, or giving your presentation, and make the whole team watch it back. That way, people will notice from a judge’s perspective what distracting tendencies they have. You can get the same effect by presenting to as mirror. It may feel silly, but it will make you acutely aware of what you’re doing, and what you look like to a judge.
2. In a group scenario… Most of the time in robotics, you’ll be talking to people as a team. In judging specifically, there are a few easy things you can do that will make your session go much better!
   -- As a team, stand in a semi-circle rather than a straight line. This will allow everyone on your team to make eye-contact with each other. For those questions that might be unexpected and you weren’t prepared for, standing this way lets your team communicate quickly and silently to figure out who’s going to say something. On my FLL team, we’ve found this setup works well in these scenarios.
   
   -- Make sure everyone talks! On most teams, there will be definite talk-y, extroverted people, and definite introverted people. I am the former. I have a big problem with getting really excited to talk in judging, trying to answer all the questions, and then taking over. Not only does this prevent your team members from getting a word in edgewise, but it also makes one person’s effort on the team look disproportionately large compared to the rest of the team’s. If you pull an Anna Marie, and do all of the talking in your judging session, it is going to make it look to judges like you did all of the work, which is never the case. If you’re the Anna Marie of the team, reign yourself in! I did this by waiting five seconds after a question was asked to answer. This gave the rest of my team a chance to answer. On the other hand, if you’re the person who struggles to speak up in judging, find questions that you know you can answer well, and make those questions “your’s.” There are things in judging that are almost always asked, so pick a few of these questions and think beforehand how you will answer them. This is like putting your claim on a part of the judging, which guarantees that you will have a chance to talk and takes the stress off of you to formulate an answer on the spot.
3. Talk to people as if they’re your Grandma. Whenever you’re explaining what you do to someone---especially when you’re at a non-robot event---explain to them as if they’re your Grandma, or the least technical person you can think of. The best way to get your information across in a meaningful way is to make it understandable and interesting to anyone who might hear it. This includes judges, other teams, little kids, people at outreach events, and people who have never even heard of FIRST robotics before!
   -- Simplify. Define robot specific terms and acronyms when you use them. Air on the side of caution when you’re explaining your team, the FIRST program, the challenge, and what you do to someone outside of FIRST. It’s easier to assume people have no knowledge of what you do and explain as such, then go into your robot-lingo and find out the person had no idea what you were saying. As a part of the FIRST program, we learn a whole other robot language and whip it out at meetings and tournaments. But it’s not always appropriate for non-robot situations. For example, when my FTC team went to the Da Vinci exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts over the summer, we tried to explain the Cascade Effect challenge to our tour guide. The term “rolling goal” was thrown around when describing the field, and how to score points. When she asked us questions about the challenge, it quickly became apparent that we did not ever explain what a rolling goal actually was, and the term confused her. It is unlikely that people at your outreach event will know what a rolling goal is, but they will all know what a tall, wheeled plastic tube that you put balls in is.
4. Confidence! Being confident in what you’re saying is the single best thing you can do to become a well-spoken robot nerd.
   -- Use eye contact. There’s always a section on your middle school English teacher’s speech rubric for eye contact. There’s a reason for that. Making eye contact with the person you’re talking to sends the signal of “Yeah, I know what I’m doing, and yeah, I’m proud of it.” Making eye contact with a stranger may feel a bit uncomfortable at first, but it is something you need to try. Not only does it let people know that you enjoy what you’re doing, but it serves to keep the person you’re talking to interested and involved.
   
   -- Keep it positive! No one wants to hear about all the stuff that went wrong during your season, and how unexpected problems screwed you over. Every team will face some big problem at some time or another, and the importance of FIRST lies in how you deal with them. Talking about the problems that your team had isn’t a bad thing, but focus on what you learned rather than how terrible, horrible no good, very bad they were. Frame whatever you’re saying in a positive light. Being a positive team is contagious, and can people more likely to remember you fondly.
   
   -- Fake it until you make it. Even if you think you have no idea what you’re talking about, pretend that you do, and then talk. This is another area that I have a lot of experience in. When I’m talking to people, I just start talking, and words come out in one formation or another---that I hope makes some amount of sense---until I finish what I’m saying with continued prayers that I’m speaking understandable English. The more you put yourself out there, and start talking to people, the easier it will get. Even if you don’t know exactly what you’re talking about, or how you want to say it, don’t sweat! Like Dory from Finding Nemo would say “just keep swimming,” my advice to you is to just keep talking!
   
   ​-- Be confident that you’ve done the work, and now you just need to talk about it! As robot nerds, we do a lot of work to make our teams competitive. We learn the ins-and-outs of our team, and are there every step of the way. We know our teams, and the members on them, and the only last step is being able to verbalize that. Don’t be afraid to approach people and throw around some business cards!

And thus concludes Anna Marie’s Public Speaking Pro-tips: How to be a Well-Spoken Robot Nerd! Being able to speak confidently and understandably to anyone and everyone is an important skill that we can learn from FIRST, and utilize in FIRST. With these handy-dandy tips, I hope the 74% of you who fear public speaking will feel a little bit better at your next event or tournament.

This blog was written by Anna-Marie Mitchell, alumni of FLL team 29 Caught in a Brainstorm and current member of FTC team 9132, Polar Vortex. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule.