Science Communication Module 1

N A T F O X O NA R C C E N T R E O F E X C E L L E N C E F O R

E L E C T R O M A T E R I A L S S C I E N C E

S C I E N C E C O M M U N I C A T I O N

Module 1

How communication is a coreprofessional skill

Why you should care about being amore effective communicator

How storytelling is the secret sauce inthe recipe of great communication

When scientistscommunicate

more effectively,science thrives

- S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N

To be a good scientist, you needto be a good communicator

Communication is inherent in some of the key partsof your job. You work includes giving talks, writingpapers and proposals, pitching to variousaudiences and educating people.

Communication is increasingly becominga core professional skill

Being able to communicate to lay audiences buildssupport for science and promotes understanding,plus encourages more informed decision-making.

Science is increasingly interdisciplinary, so theability to communicate effectively acrossdisciplines is vital to ensure you foster collaborationand innovation.

Great communication skills can help you securefunding or find a job.

These skills will allow you to write better researchpapers and be a better teacher for youngerscientists.

If you are ever frustrated by misinformation in themedia around science topics, you can counter thatby being an influential communicator yourself –and setting the record straight.

Studies suggest that it's worth devoting a little timeto communicating your science message on socialmedia or in the traditional media.

There are correlations between media coverage,social media activity and citation rate.

As a scientist, you need to ask yourself:

If you're NOT interested in being better understood,

why ARE you writing that paper?

Why ARE you speaking at that conference?

Why ARE you making that poster?

You are an expert in your scientific field.Now it's time to become an expert in communication, too.

Know your audience.

The first principle of communication is the samewhether it's public communication or academic.

Know at what level you need to pitch yourcommunication (and never assume priorknowledge).

After you know your audience, then you can thinkabout the goal of your communication, and yourmessage.

BUT... a little effort goes a long way.

You might not want to be on prime-time TV, butperhaps you'd like to write blog posts, createexplainer-videos, tweet, make a podcast, doanimations, write songs... there's an opportunity forevery personality.

Public communication isn't everyone's ideaof a fun time

Whatever the platform you choose, to be aneffective public science communicator you need toZOOM OUT and look at the bigger picture, not gettoo technical or caught up in detail.

You need to answer the questions 'so what?' and'why does it matter?'.

TIPMost scientists are very worried about being WRONG.That's understandable in a scientific context.HOWEVER. In public communication, you MUST let that gobecause it doesn't come across well. Think of how boring mostpoliticians are in interviews - SO worried about sticking to theright message.

You're dealing with an introductory level of knowledge, so youcan relax and trust yourself.

(Drum roll.....)

STORY TELLING.

The secret sauce in the recipe of greatcommunication

Some scientists feel that communicating theirinformation should be enough, that the facts areinteresting enough on their own.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's just not true.

We're all bombarded with information. If you wantyour message to be heard, you're going to have topackage up your info, and you're going to have tosell it.

How do you package up and sell your information?

You create a STORY around it.

Who's the most fun person in a room at any time?It's the person who tells great stories.

ps. there are no boring stories, only boring storytellers.

Whether or not you like it, if you want tocommunicate something with substance, you'regoing to have to do it with style.

Scientist and pro-communicator Randy Olsen talksat his TEDMED talk about the very basic structureof a good story:

Rather then the common 'here's the data andhere's a graph and here's another graph and here'sanother graph', Randy teaches to structure a storywith '... AND... BUT...THEREFORE'. It'll make perfectsense when you watch the video.

(but first.... one more slide. or two.)

Your task is to watch Randy's TEDMED video(9min30sec), then structure your own researchstory by using Randy's 'story mode' of AND, BUT,THEREFORE.

Boring is OUT, style is IN. Go for it.

W W W . E L E C T R O M A T E R I A L S . E D U . A U

Nat Foxon