Why bother communicating science outside of your field? Why share your science to non-scientists at all?
When more people understand the science we are doing, it increases people’s understanding of what science can do!
Or, as the The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine detailed, the goals of communicating science are (1) sharing recent findings and excitement for science, (2) increasing public appreciation of science, (3) increasing knowledge and understanding of science, (4) influencing the opinions, policy preferences or behavior of people, and (5) ensuring that a diversity of perspectives about science held by different groups are considered when solutions to societal problems are pursued.
Science communication is incredibly valuable, whether its discussing your latest findings with a colleague in another department to explaining what you do to family and friends! But the how can seem so daunting many would rather not bother to begin with.
I’m going to address how you can communicate science to non-scientists! This, of course, does not cover all the valuable advice out there, so please check out the other articles I link here to learn more!
Use general words & analogies
No one is going to understand anything if you fill a talk or a powerpoint slide with acronyms and scientific terms. Keep it simple and, if you need to explain something more complex, use an analogy or metaphor to relate what you’re talking about to what your audience would understand.
Tell a story
How best to get your audience hooked from the start than explaining your research as a story! We all love a good story, remember the childhood stories we grew up with. Use emotions to convey the message you are sharing. Soph explains this in more detail here.
Get to the point
Something a good story also needs is to get to the point quickly! Don’t leave your audience wondering where you are going. In technical science presentations, we are used to describing all our methods, complications, before finally getting to the results. Flip all that on its head when communicating to non-scientists. Get to the point! Try to stick to 3 main points maximum for your audience to remember, and keep repeating those points to have them stick.
Answer the so what?
Why should the audience care about your research? You might be sharing a really cool story about the lifecycle of a protein, but if your audience doesn’t understand why that protein is important, nothing will stick. Does your research help cure cancer, work towards saving marine life? For example, my research is working with cells studying a membraneless organelle. Sounds not super relevant or exciting at first pass. But if I get into the “so what?”, the membraneless organelle I study is seen in the center of cancer cells, and so regulating the organelle could regulate cancer! And that is much more exciting because most people have heard of cancer.
Know your audience
Regardless if you have a great metaphor, a metaphor about juggling working while raising kids is going to mean nothing if you are talking to a bunch of 12 year olds. Similarly, using your journal club presentation to share your science at a local library science club will fall on deaf ears. Knowing who you are presenting to is critical so you can build the story & relate to the audience.
Show Pictures
Whenever possible, a pretty picture of a cell or a simple diagram can take what you are saying and give them a concrete image to remember. Even better, if you have videos, it can really drive home the point.
Leave space while you are talking to answer questions
This is especially important when you are talking to smaller groups, slow down and leave lots of space between your points to let the audience ask questions. I even like to start talks to smaller groups encouraging them to stop me and ask questions during the talk. This really opens up discussion between you and the listeners, creating a dynamic conversation instead of passive absorption of information.
Put yourself out of your comfort zone!
Finally, the biggest and best piece of advice, is just starting doing it! Sign yourself up to give a TEDx style talk at your school, volunteer to share your research to elementary school kids, present your work to your parents. Whatever it is, putting yourself out there is 90% of the battle. And practice makes perfect!
Good luck and happy presenting!
