I’m sure many of you are feeling helpless right now.
There’s been a lot of bad news lately for U.S.-based scientists but hardly any guidance on what to do next.
While we as individuals may not be able to solve the big problems like federal cuts to research funding, we can focus on small actions that make a difference—like telling a neighbor about our research.
Connecting with non-scientists builds trust and public support for science, but few scientists are trained on how to communicate their work with non-scientists.
Whether you’re talking to a neighbor, writing a lay summary, posting to social media, or presenting at a science café, here are some strategies that you can use to communicate more effectively with the public.
Don’t overcomplicate things
Many scientists spend their entire careers studying one specific research topic. Your audience may be learning about it for the first time. When writing for the public, you need to adopt the mindset of a beginner.
Minimize jargon use. What is jargon? Jargon is the specialized language used by members within a certain field of study.
For your average non-scientific audience, jargon is anything that would need to be defined in an undergraduate-level textbook (e.g. ribosome). You might have to use a few jargon words now and then, but you should always clearly define them—without using more jargon.
Most abbreviations are jargon and should be spelled out. CVD is jargon, but DNA is not.
Note: Within your field, it might be necessary to use jargon to convey a certain meaning (e.g., “apoptosis” instead of “cell death”). However, when communicating with the public, these subtle differences may not be so important.
Always stop and ask yourself if jargon use is necessary.
Be concise. Have you ever stumbled through a particularly dense scientific manuscript because it was relevant to your research? You might be willing to overlook bad writing to get to a hidden gem, but the general public will not be so forgiving.
Short and simple words can convey the same meaning as their longer counterparts but with more efficiency. Replace demonstrate with show. Facilitate with help. Try using a thesaurus to simplify your language.
Reading comprehension drops as sentence length increases, so don’t try to fit too many ideas in one sentence. According to the Plain Writing Act, your average sentence length should be 15–20 words.
Read more of my suggestions to improve your writing—applicable for the general public, as well as scientific audiences!
Check your readability score. The American Medical Association recommends that patient health information be written at or below a 6th grade reading level. We can’t write at the same level as we would for a journal article and expect the average person to understand it.
Get in the habit of checking your readability score while you write, so you can quickly correct your approach. It takes practice, but over time, you will begin to recognize what is appropriate writing for a lay audience.
Connect to what’s familiar
Most people have never set foot in a research laboratory or looked at cells under a microscope. To make the unfamiliar familiar, a good strategy is to relate to what your audience already knows.
Use analogies. Analogies compare two different things and highlight their similarities.
- Blood vessels are like highways that transport nutrients throughout the body.
- Proto-oncogenes are like your car’s accelerator and tumor suppressor genes are like your car’s brakes. Failure, or mutation, of either system will cause the car to speed out of control, which we call cancer.
Create a mental image. Some things in science are especially hard to visualize, for example, if they are too small or too large to observe with the naked eye. To help create a mental image for your audience, use everyday objects to describe size, appearance, texture, etc.
- A protein is much smaller than a human cell; it’s comparable to a golf ball on a football field.
- Under the microscope, these cells look like a cobblestone street.
Put yourself in their shoes. To really connect with your audience, you need to show that you understand them. If you don’t make connections between your research and their everyday lives, they will lose interest.
Anticipate what your audience is thinking. Use current events, social issues, or economic impacts as a bridge to understanding the impacts of your research.
- Your doctor has probably talked to you about your “good” and “bad” cholesterol…
- You may have heard on the news recently about budget cuts at the National Institutes of Health…
Keep it engaging
You might be eager to show off your data, but non-scientists may not be as excited to look at your bar graphs. It’s important to keep in mind that what we find interesting could be boring for someone else. For public-facing communication, we have to focus more on winning people’s attention, especially since they have the option to tune out.
Tell stories. What makes a good story? There should be a story arc with an introduction to the key players, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. A good story has ups and downs, which may be exciting or unexpected results. What was a turning point in your research? Can you map out a story around it? For more storytelling inspiration, see this article on the 7 basic plot types.
Focus on people. We often write in the third person as scientists, thereby removing ourselves from the action. Would you enjoy reading a story with no characters? Probably not. Research becomes so much more human and relatable when scientists are doing the action. Bonus: In doing so, you will naturally write in the (more engaging) active voice.
Know your why. In order to get your audience’s attention, they must be convinced that your work matters. But first, you must have a good handle on it yourself. Be ready to talk about why the research matters to you, and why it should matter to them, too!
Additional Resources
Thanks for reading!
I hope you feel empowered to talk to your friends, family, and other non-scientists about your research. Don’t feel discouraged at the beginning; it takes practice. If you’re looking for more personalized support, feel free to get in touch.
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