Sharing Your Science Story
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This document provides guidance on effective science communication. It emphasizes the importance of understanding your audience and tailoring your message to be relevant, accessible, and compelling to non-experts. The document also offers tips on using different communication tools and formats like multimedia, social media, and storytelling to engage audiences and advance both your research and its broader implications.
Sharing Your Science Story
- 1. ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE AND STEWARDSHIP OF FRESH WATER SYSTEMS THROUGH RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND RESTORATION
- 2. 1. Why it’s Important 2. Know Your Audience 3.Tools of the Trade
- 3. 1. Employers rank communications skills first in qualities they seek in an applicant. 2. Lay-level explanations advance your research. 3.Media Coverage affects citations. 4. Explain the broader implications and applications of your work. 5. Affects your funding.
- 4. Why it’s important 1. Link between scientific capacity & national prosperity. 2. Decision Relevant Science (DRS) affects attitudes & behavior. 3. Counter junk science, superstition, parochial ideology.
- 5. • Peers/Colleagues • Foundations & funding agency administrators • Your institution's leaders • Employees • Private donors • Legislators • Potential collaborators in other disciplines • The general public (including children?) • Family and friends
- 6. What does your audience care about? What words are familiar and comfortable to them? Listen before you talk. Will political & social conditions affect message delivery?
- 7. Try to learn your audience’s point of view.
- 8. A conversation, not a lecture.
- 10. • Face-to-face • Voice-to-voice • Snail mail • Email • Talks (incl. TED talk?) • Web sites (incl. social media) • News releases • Op-Ed/Letter-to-Editor • Feature articles • Multimedia presentations
- 12. • The “curse” of knowledge • K.I.S.S. • More is the enemy of good enough. It’s a lonely place. • Make it miniature, memorable & meaningful.
- 13. Tell a story to make your message memorable. • Protagonist • Needs something • Struggle • Change • Resolution To inspire behavior change, you MUST touch the heart, not the head.
- 14. Use supporting information and visuals judiciously • Is that table/graph really necessary? • Is a picture, or illustration available? • Does the story lend itself to video or animation?
- 15. • Breaks new ground • Has broad significant applications • Challenges conventional wisdom • Has a great backstory • Entertaining or intrinsically interesting
- 16. Journalists Need a News Peg A reason to write a story at a particular time. • The best news peg is a related BIG news event. • It could be a scientific paper or symposium. • Report of your findings to your funding agency.
- 17. • Always ask a reporter about his/her deadline • Be a part of today’s news, or an observer of yesterday’s news. • You might have only minutes to convey your perspective.
- 18. • Stunning photo • Compelling illustration • Multi-media • Media web sites are far more likely than in the past to link to a researcher’s web site. Newspapers are now basically Web sites and are looking for visuals.
- 19. Learn to use social media • Lurk before you leap. • Learn the culture & language. • It’s a relationship medium, not a broadcast medium. • Use a dashboard like Tweet Deck or HootSuite.
- 20. You Face a New Era of Multimedia Scientific Publication • Learn the art of storytelling and how to produce effective images, videos and animations. • Publish, but not merely “papers.” • Create multimedia communications
- 21. Questions? Bev Payton, Communications Director bpayton@stroudcenter.org Ext: 305