Improving oratory skills of medical residents using an American Idol presentation competition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in July 2018 there was a seven-page article by David A. Hill et al. in Cureus magazine titled Improving Oratory Skills: An “American Idol” Presentation Competition for Residents. They ran a competition between seven senior residents with four sessions. The first session was a five-minute discussion limited to five PowerPoint slides. The second was a six-minute presentation limited to six PowerPoint slides. The top four went on to the next round. The third was a seven-minute presentation limited to seven PowerPoint slides. The fourth and final presentation was for fifteen minutes limited to fifteen PowerPoint slides. Twenty-six audience members filled out a baseline survey before the competition began, and nineteen filled out a survey after the fourth presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Survey results for how well the presenters communicated are shown above in a bar chart. Before the competition only 4% were rated very effective; after the competition 22% were rated very effective. Before the competition 62% were rated effective; after the competition 73% were rated effective.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Survey results for whether the slides were understandable are shown above in a second bar chart. Before the competition only 8% were rated very understandable; after the competition 52% were rated very understandable. Before the competition 54% were rated quite understandable; after the competition 42% were rated quite understandable.

 

A cartoon of a medical presenter was adapted from this one at Wikimedia Commons.