Publications
The Art of Academic Storytelling – The Art of English Academic Writing – The Art of Captivating Academic Presentations – Englisch in Siebenmeilenstiefeln
From the very beginning of my freelance work as an academic communication specialist I developed tailormade approaches for scholars from all fields.
At first, those concepts were written down in simple handouts. Over time it became clear that their continued use during preparation phases was subpar, and so I not only expanded their content to also offer more insights to the ins and outs of excellent academic writing and presenting but also changed the format and brought out the books “The Art of Academic Storytelling”, “The Art of English Academic Writing”, and “The Art of Captivating Academic Presenting”.
I also authored a book offering general insights to the English language for my German audience. "Englisch in Siebenmeilenstiefeln. Eine Entdeckungsreise" takes you on an unorthodox journey through English with many unexpected highlights.
Today, you can find all of them well-thumbed on the bookshelves of many scholars.
The Art of Academic Storytelling
The Art of Academic Storytelling is a workbook in which academics can find answers to how to write about their research in a way that pulls their readers into the text and retains their attention. Here you can learn how to be creative in your academic writing and adhere to the rather strict structure of academic contributions at the same time.
Being creative in a strict structure might seem to be a contradiction, and one might argue that it’s the novelty of a contribution that matters. Yes, it’s the novelty that matters, however, the more convincing you communicate novelty, the more likely you are to be heard—or read, for that matter.
This book accompanies the workshop The Art of Academic Storytelling and pivots around questions that will help you write about your research in a persuasive way. I would like to believe that those questions are guiding stars throughout the writing process whether you are writing a journal paper, a monography, or a dissertation.
The Art of English Academic Writing
The Art of English Academic Writing is a workbook for non-native speakers of English writing in English. This undertaking is anything but trivial because a “simple” translation from one language to another must remain unsatisfactory since it neglects the fact that each language has its own “character”. And yet it is exactly that character⎯as I have come to call it⎯that makes one language substantially different from another.
Neglecting the features that make English what it is puts you at risk to producing texts that are not only un-idiomatic but difficult or even impossible for Anglo-Saxon readers to digest. This workbook accompanies the workshop The Art of English Academic Writing and serves as a resource you can turn to when working on your texts.
My main goal, not only in this book, is to help scholars improve their academic writing skills in English regardless of their language backgrounds and disciplines and to show them what they need to pay attention to in order to create a paper that can be well received by Anglo-Saxons.
On that note, I hope you will find the advice given in this book beneficial and that you will enjoy the process of writing about your findings in English!
The Art of Captivating Academic Presentations
In The Art of Captivating Academic Presenting, I will introduce you to techniques that will help you win and retain your audiences’ attention and show you how you can master Q&A sessions. I developed this workbook for scholars from all disciplines who have to create and deliver academic presentations in English, and it accompanies the workshop The Art of Captivating Academic Presenting.
My main goal is to help scholars regardless of their national or academic backgrounds and to show them what they need to pay attention to in order to create presentations that can be well received by Anglo-Saxons.
On that note, I hope you will find the advice given in this book beneficial and that you will enjoy the process of presenting your findings in English!
Englisch in Siebenmeilenstiefeln
Understanding what makes English unique involves more than just knowing about its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. This is something that only became clear to me after I began assisting scholars in improving their English skills.
My sociological mind set to work and led to the creation of the book "Englisch in Siebenmeilenstiefeln". Literally translated it means “English in Seven-league boots”, which doesn’t immediately capture the idea behind the book. The idea is that once you grasp what makes English distinct, getting there can happen in leaps and bounds. That’s why I would translate the title as “In leaps and bounds towards English”.
Translating the book how it is, however, would make little sense. It is written for a German-speaking audience and draws on many German language and socio-cultural experiences that make little sense outside that realm. Should you know German-speakers interested in improving their English in an enlightening and entertaining way, please recommend “Englisch in Siebenmeilenstiefeln. Eine Entdeckungsreise”.
Their journey through English will be full of surprises, including lucky charms, invisible ink, mountain hikes, sailing trips, and much more.