9 Tips For Communicating Science To People Who Are Not ...faculty.missouri.edu/~glaserr/3700s17/writing-resources/9-Tips_For... · too) FULL BIO Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors

The Little Black Book of Billionaire SecretsNOV 22, 2016 @ 08:49 AM 13,779 VIEWS

9 Tips For Communicating Science ToPeople Who Are Not Scientists

Science #WhoaScience/ /

What does a world withWatson look like?

Watson is revolutionizing service with the push of an Easy Button

Watson is helping doctors advance cancer care

Watson is helping transform telecom inspection

Conversation

Learn More

#HiddenFigures🚀 author@margotshetterly & @TherealTarajidiscuss Katherine Johnson's forgottenrole in history youtu.be/3lzjFoofnmM

Reply Retweet Like

Marshall Shepherd, CONTRIBUTOR

I write about weather and climaterelated topics (and study themtoo) FULL BIO

Opinions expressed by ForbesContributors are their own.

Many of the most complexand divisive topics of the dayinvolve science. While deepideological chasms cloudsome discussions, the realityis that large segments of theAmerican public are simplynot trained as a scientists. Forthis reason they may tune outwhen scientists try to explaindifficult topics, incorrectlyoversimplify them to theirown understanding, default toconfirmation bias, or justbelieve what their favoritepersonality believes. Howeverthis should not discouragescientists from engaging with

A World with IBM ...

12.130.60.4 - - [05/Mar/2014 18:10:57:153] "GET /category.screen?category_id=GIFTS&JSESSIONID=SD1SL4FF10ADFF10 HTTP en)" 559 128.241.220.82 - - [05/Mar/2014 18:10:57:123] "GET /product.screen?product_id=FL-DSH-01&JSESSIONID=SD5SL7FFWindows NT 5.1)" 317 27.160.0.0 - - [05/Mar/2014 18:10:56:156] "GET /oldlink?item_id=EST-26&JSESSIONID=SD5SL9FF1ADFF(compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)" 468 125.17.14.100 - - [05/Mar/2014 18:10:56:147] "PO/cart.do?action=addtocart&itemId=EST-16&product_id=RP-LI-02" "Opera/9.20 (Windows NT 6.0; U; en)" 564 130.253.37.97 HTTP 1.1" 404 3860 "http://buttercup-shopping.com/oldlink?item_id=EST-18" "Opera/9.20 (Windows NT 6.0; U; en)" 766 1"http://buttercup-shopping.com/cart.do?action=purchase&itemId=EST-6&product_id=AV-SB-02" "Opera/9.01 (Windows NT 5.1

9 Tips For Communicating Science To People Who Are Not Scientists http://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2016/11/22/9-tips-f...

1 of 10 1/23/17, 2:24 PM

the public. I have discussedweather and climate issuesfrom the White House to theWaffle House. Guess what?The message delivery shouldvary depending on audience.Based on my nearly 25 yearsof experience at NASA, theUniversity of Georgia and TheWeather Channel I offernine tips for communicatingscience to non-scientists.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right,listens to scientist John Snow about theincreased movement of icebergs acrossAntarctica at the Crary Science andEngineering Center, McMurdo Station inAntarctica Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016. (MarkRalston/Pool Photo via AP)

1. Know your audience. Manyscientists are guilty ofdelivering the same messageto the Rotary Club orCongressional Staffers thatthey give at a scienceconference. Research andunderstand your audience.Anthony Leiserowitz, anexcellent climatecommunication scholar atYale, once told me, "Not

12.130.60.4 - - [05/Mar/2014 18:10:57:153] "GET /category.screen?cat(Windows NT 6.0; U; en)" 559 128.241.220.82 - - [05/Mar/2014 18:10:5/category.screen?category_id=GIFTS" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6"http://buttercup-shopping.com/cart.do?action=purchase&itemId=EST-26/category.screen?category_id=SURPRISE&JSESSIONID=SD9SL4FF4ADFF7 HTTP130.253.37.97 - - [05/Mar/2014 18:10:55:189] "GET /cart.do?action=ch"Opera/9.20 (Windows NT 6.0; U; en)" 766 130.253.37.97 - - [05/Mar/2itemId=EST-6&product_id=AV-SB-02" "Opera/9.01 (Windows NT 5.1; U; enshopping.com/cart.do?action=remove&itemId=EST-15&product_id=FL-DSH-0HTTP 1.1" 404 474 "http://buttercup-shopping.com/oldlink?item_id=EST15&product_id=AV-SB-02&JSESSIONID=SD4SL1FF7ADFF7 HTTP 1.1" 200 205 "131.178.233.243 - - [05/Mar/2014 18:10:54:171] "GET /oldlink?item_id(Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_3; en-US) AppleWebKit/533.4 (KHTMSW-01&JSESSIONID=SD10SL3FF1ADFF4 HTTP 1.1" 404 2258 "http://buttercu[05/Mar/2014 18:10:54:165] "GET /category.screen?category_id=TEDDY&J(compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)" 969 "http://buttercup-shopping.com/cart.do?action=view&itemId=EST-13&pro/category.screen?category_id=BOUQUETS&JSESSIONID=SD10SL1FF4ADFF10 HT10_6_3; en-US) AppleWebKit/533.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/5.0.375."http://buttercup-shopping.com/category.screen?category_id=SURPRISE"JSESSIONID=SD3SL1FF7ADFF2 HTTP 1.1" 200 2567 "http://buttercup-shopp


2 of 10 1/23/17, 2:24 PM

knowing your audience is likethrowing darts at a dartboardwith the lights off."

2. Don't use jargon. Scientiststhrow terms like "bias,""positive trend," and"pdf"around easily. While mostscientists associate"probability density function"with "pdf," I bet the first thingthat many in the public thinkabout is a file format orattachment. RichardSommerville and SusanHassol provide a nice table ofother jargony science terms tobe cautious of in a PhysicsToday article.

3. Get to the point. Asscientists we are trained todescribe a ton of details andbackground informationbefore we give the finalresults. This is the very natureof how graduate students aretrained to write their thesesand dissertations. It is howscientists deliverpresentations at conferences.For the public orpolicymakers this approachbasically needs to be flipped.The key points or findingsneed to be delivered very early(see below) and it needs to be


3 of 10 1/23/17, 2:24 PM

0%APR FINANCINGFOR UP TO 60 MONTHSFOR WELL-QUALIFIED BUYERS

PLUSUp To

$2,690TotalSavings*

THE ALL-NEW 2017NISSAN TITAN®

PRO-4X

SHOP NOW BUILD

*More Loan Information

concise (think elevatorspeech).

Styles of communication. Source: AAAS

4. Use analogies andmetaphors. I find thatanalogies to real life workwell. Though not perfect,when I use "weather is yourmood, climate is yourpersonality" or "if you don'tlike the weather wait a fewhours, if you don't like theclimate move" they resonatewith people as a way todistinguish weather fromclimate. It also helps them tounderstand how silly itsounds when someone makesa statement about climatechange based on today'sweather.

5. Three points. Studiescontinue to show that threekey points are effective withaudiences. I often notice thisseems to be difficult forscientists (remember I am ascientist) because they tend to


4 of 10 1/23/17, 2:24 PM

want to tell the entire storyand with every detail.Scientists need to work hardto keep their messagememorable, meaningful andminiature. These are theso-called "Three M's ofMessaging" that the AmericanAssociation for theAdvancement of Science(AAAS) has alsorecommended in its ScienceCommunications workshops.

6. You are the expert. Oftenscientists must speak with themedia and for many thisuncomfortable. The keypoints to remember: (a) Beconfident because you are theexpert, (b) Don't speculate orstretch if you don't know (sayso), and (c) Reflect on whatyou want (or do not want) onthe record days, months oryears later and use that as afilter.

7. Use social media. Socialmedia can be tricky but is a"net" good for sciencecommunication as long as youare able to deal with the veryhigh noise to signal ratio,dissenting thoughts (whetherexpert or not), limits onmessaging and timemanagement. I cringe when I


5 of 10 1/23/17, 2:24 PM

hear a scientist or scholar saythey shy away from socialmedia. Newsflash: It is notnew. It is not just for the kids.It is an important mediumthat policymakers, media andother scholars follow.

8. The myth of "popularizers."Some within the academy canbe a bit uppity and elitist attimes. They turn their nose upat scholars that choose to taketheir message beyondjournals, conferences andclassrooms. More than ever Ifind that thinking to be a kindof "head in the sand" model.More than ever the expertiseof scholars is needed inbroader venues otherwise"non-experts" or "agendas"will gladly fill the void. Intoday's world it is possible toachieve "scholarly" metricswhile having a broaderimpact.

9. Relate. As much as weunderstand the current andfuture challenges associatedwith our changing climate it isa struggle for many in thepublic to see beyond kitchentable issues affecting theirfamilies. The reality is thatthey are there but it is notalways obvious. The science


6 of 10 1/23/17, 2:24 PM

communicator must keep thisin mind and find ways torelate the message to the corevalues of the person oraudience. For some that maybe economics, faith, defenseor curiosity.

Kirk Englehardt is the ViceChancellor for Marketing andCommunications at theUniversity of Tennessee atChattanooga. He told me inan email,

Dr. Marshall Shepherd, Dir.,Atmospheric SciencesProgram/GA Athletic Assoc.Distinguished Professor (Univof Georgia), Host, WeatherChannel's Sunday Talk Show,Weather (Wx) Geeks, 2013AMS President

Broader engagement isn't aluxury, it's absolutely necessaryif we want boost understandingof, and support for, scientificresearch.....The public isn'treading published researchpapers, and the media oftenneeds help making sense ofthem. If you want to maximizethe impact of your research, youneed to share it broadly andmake it understandable.

“

Comment on this story


7 of 10 1/23/17, 2:24 PM

Print Report

Corrections

Reprints

&Permissions

From the Web

14 Times LottoWinner:Do This EveryTime You Buy A LottoLOTTO NEWS TIPS

Homeowners ShouldClaim Their $4264FETCHARATE

10 Habits The MostManly Men On Earth AllHave In CommonHEALTHCENTRAL

3 Common FoodsSurgeons Are NowCalling "Death Foods"NUCIFIC BIOTICS X4

Ever Googled Yourself?Do a "Deep Search"Instead!TRUTHFINDER

Granny Shocks Doctors:Forget Botox - Do ThisOnce DailyBEAUTYINFORMER

Ads by Revcontent

RELATED TOPICS

WEAT

NATUR

BEST

BEST

401K

TOPLU


8 of 10 1/23/17, 2:24 PM

If You're a Homeowner,Congress Urges YouClaim Their $4,250THE MORTGAGE INSIDER

Penny Pot Stocks Set toExplode by January 1stAGORAFINANCIAL

/


9 of 10 1/23/17, 2:24 PM


10 of 10 1/23/17, 2:24 PM

Documents

9 Tips For Communicating Science To People Who Are Not ...faculty.missouri.edu/~glaserr/3700s17/writing-resources/9-Tips_For... · too) FULL BIO Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors