Upcoming Communication Workshops!

OPD helps students and postdocs improve their writing and presenting skills through a variety of programs offered throughout the year.

Crafting Slides for Engaging Presentations
Wednesday, August 27th - 2:00-3:00pm (online)
Do you ever envy a presenter’s slick presentation? Do you wish you could convey your data simply and tell a great story that engages your audience? Join us to learn how to design slides that capture attention and convey your meaning!

Fall Shut Up & Write Tuesdays
Tuesdays, September 2nd through December 16th - 9:00am-12:00pm (551 Goodell)
Writing alongside others is a best practice for academic writing! This weekly drop-in provides time and space to write while caffeinated - come late or leave early. We'll make the coffee; you do the writing. One pre-registration for the "Fall Series" is required; attend one week or attend them all!
 
Semester Planning Clinic: Making a Strategic Writing Plan from Now to December
Wednesday, September 10th - 2:30-3:45pm (551 Goodell)
Getting your semester off to a strong start requires knowing where you want to go and how you plan on getting there. This interactive clinic will provide strategies to plan your writing work and give you time to make those plans. Bring planners, calendars, syllabi, schedules of family members, access to email—anything you need to make a map of the semester.
 
How to Get More Out of Your Reading by Doing Less 
Tuesday, September 16th - 2:30-3:45pm (515 Goodell)
Are you looking for tips on how to tame your reading list and take efficient notes on what you’ve read? In this workshop we will break the reading and annotation processes down into concrete steps that will save you time and help you to keep track of your reading.
 
Effective Poster Design
Thursday, September 18th - 11:30am-12:30pm (online)
Conference coming up? Not sure how to make a great poster? Come get a crash-course in making a poster presentation. We’ll cover the basics of graphic design, and the software you need. Get feedback and learn how to use your poster to network in your field and promote your research.
 
What is a "Response to Reading" and How to Write One
Monday, September 22nd - 11:30am-12:00pm (online)
You might be asked to write a reading response – but what does that mean? This workshop will provide a framework for approaching a reading critically and suggest strategies for drafting a response.
 
Beat the Clock: Time Boxing to Get Your Writing Done
Wednesday, October 1st - 9:30-10:45am (515 Goodell)
Does it feel like you drag out your writing projects, spending too much time on tasks that aren’t important? Are you working hard, but never seem to make progress? Join us to learn about “time boxing,” a productivity technique that helps you regain control over your time. Bring writing tasks and be prepared to make every minute count!
 
How Do I Sound More Scholarly?: Demystifying the Elements of Academic Writing
Monday, October 6th - 10:00-11:00am (online)
Do you want your writing to sound more “scholarly”? Academic writing expectations vary across cultural and disciplinary lines – and are rarely explained explicitly! You can, however, become more confident in your tone and style with the help of a few simple revision strategies. In this workshop, you will learn techniques you can use to determine the tone, organization, and style appropriate for your discipline and how to apply those insights to your own writing.
 
How to Catch an Error: Tips for Proofreading Your Own Writing 
Wednesday, October 15th - 2:00-3:00pm (551 Goodell)
Typos are easy enough to find and fix, but what about mistakes in our writing that we don’t even see--until our draft gets ripped apart by our advisor? Join us to discover the most common writing errors and the tips and tools to help you spot and correct errors in your own writing.
 
Drafting Clinic
Tuesday, October 21st - 2:00-3:30pm (515 Goodell)
All writers agree: drafting is hard. By “drafting,” we mean that blank-page moment between research and initial draft, when most sentences are being composed for the first time. This “clinic” will be a combination of workshop and writing session. We will learn about and practice three different methods for drafting academic projects. Think of it as a drafting boot camp, a chance to get going on this semester’s writing projects.
 
Mid-Semester Reset: Warm-Up and Cool-Down to Keep Your Writing Going
Wednesday, October 29th - 9:30-10:45am (online)
Does it feel like if you don’t have three hours to write, there’s no point trying? Is it hard to get going or to know how to stop? This workshop presents various goal-setting, time management, and writing habits that can help make even thirty minutes productive. We will practice the act of the individual writing session together, giving you an experience you can replicate on your own. 
 
Beyond Book Reports: Critically Engaging the Literature
Monday, November 10th - 1:30-2:45pm (online)
Have you received feedback that you need to engage more critically with the existing scholarship? Do you have questions about what you need to cite, or if you’re citing too much? Join us for tips on how to strike the right balance between covering the literature and asserting your own voice in your writing.
 
A Topic is Not a Question: How to Design a Research Question
Tuesday, November 18th - 2:00-3:45pm (515 Goodell)
Determining a field or concentration for your research may be easy enough, but how do you transform a topic of interest into a specific and compelling research question? In this interactive workshop/work session we will discuss the qualities of successful research questions and why the advice to “just keep narrowing it down” can do more harm than good.
 
Writing Literature Reviews
Tuesday, December 2nd - 2:00-3:30pm (515 Goodell)
Many dissertations, research proposals, and articles require a literature review. But many grad students get stuck when tackling this genre of scholarly writing. This session will demystify the lit review by discussing its purpose and strategies for critical reading and writing to make moving toward effective synthesis easier.
 
Revision Clinic: Pushing the Draft Forward
Wednesday, December 10th - 9:30-11:00am (online)
If you have a draft, this workshop is for you! You can think of it as a revising boot camp, a place to push forward on projects, refining the argument, purpose, and/or organization of your draft. In this interactive workshop, we will practice three different techniques for revising academic projects – so make sure to bring a draft of your conference or seminar paper, article, chapter, or any other draft. 
 
The 5 Things You Need to Do to Prep Your Writing for Winter Break
Monday, December 15th - 11:00-11:30am (online)
We all know that breaks are important for our well-being and long-term productivity, but how do we take time off without losing momentum on our projects? The key to both a restorative break and a productive return is to take small steps to prepare your writing—and yourself!—in advance. Join us to learn the five things you need to do before you leave campus so that you’re able to come back in January refreshed, renewed, and ready to pick up where you left off.