Do Scientists Understand the Public?

Or, check out Chris Mooney's presentation in full screen vision on NIH's website.

How To: Deliver an Elevator Pitch

Comic credit: zoitz

30 seconds to say who you are, what you do, why it's important. It just doesn't seem like enough time, does it?

An elevator pitch - or a pitch about yourself that you could deliver in the length of an elevator ride - is a great tool to have prepared for quick encounters. A good elevator pitch will include three key elements:

1. Your name. No kidding, please don't forget this part.
   
2. What you do. This should not be confused with your job title. "What you do" is a description of your goal or tasks.
3. Why it matters to the other person in the elevator.

The reason why the elevator pitch is so successful is because it not only tells who you are but it connects you to your audience (via part 3) and opens up the door for further conversation and questions. It's important to remember that elevator pitches:

• Do not have to be used in elevators alone. They are a great tool for use at social gatherings, conferences, when you're introduced to someone in a hurry, or really anytime you need to get started with an introduction.
• Do not need to take the full 30 seconds.
• Should be in simple, easy to understand terms that anyone can comprehend.

Practice makes perfect, so think about your 3 step pitch guide and use this 30 second timer to see if yours is brief enough.



How'd you do? We want to hear/read your elevator pitches! Add your 30 second (or less) self-promo in the comments section. Also, if you have any questions or can't think of a good way to simplify what you do, let us know. Think what you do is too complicated for 30 seconds? We're ready for the challenge.

Public Speaking Tips

Today New Voices tackles one of America's greatest fears: public speaking.

Ryan's three tips
Practice
It's normal to be nervous public speaking and my best advice is just to keep doing it. While this tip might not help much for any individual talk, every time you step in front of people to speak, it gets easier.

Prepare
If you have a serious complex about giving a specific talk, write down what you want to say for each slide. The act of thinking through your message for every slide and putting in on paper will help you organize your thoughts and might calm you a bit as well.

Feed your audience
Here's a nontraditional tip that works: if you can provide food, even just a plate of cookies or fruit and some coffee, do it. Something about speaking to an audience chomping and chewing makes them seem non threatening. Be forewarned - if you feed them too much, they will inevitably fall asleep afterward.

Alissa's advice on slowing down
The hardest part of presenting, at least for me, is speaking at a pace that the audience can understand. It is easy to get too nervous or excited and start rushing through your talk, frantic to get to the end. However, people tune out fast or incoherent speech, so they won't listen to or retain anything you say.

So in order to make sure you get your point across, follow these rules to speak at a good pace for your listeners:

• Breathe. It seems obvious, but taking some deep breaths before your presentation and between sentences can help you slow down if you're getting ahead of yourself.
• Look people in the eye when you're speaking. This way you can see if people are understanding what you're saying and slow down if they aren't.
• Take a pause. Pausing between phrases allows your audience to absorb and make sense of what you're saying, and helps you make your point.

Heather's keys to staying still
When it comes to public speaking, I find presentations to small, intimate groups of people I know MUCH harder to speak to than rooms with 1,000 listeners (I’m guessing this has something to do with my theater background). My biggest issue has always been fidgeting. I’m of Italian heritage and talking with my hands comes pretty naturally to me – especially if I’m nervous. To keep from flailing all over the place, I try to rest my hands on the edges of the podium in front of me. If I don’t have a podium, I try to not carry pages of notes. Papers make noise in motion; so if there has to be something in my hands, it’s going to be note cards.

Also, if you find that your legs are as fidgety as your arms, slide one foot just slightly forward so they are a bit staggered. (I find placing the ball of one foot at the midpoint of the other to be least obvious and most functional.) This prevents you from rocking (unless you want to fall over) and gives you a stance to come back to if you are prone to pacing. The pictures below demonstrate what I mean: the left shows balanced even feet and the right shows how to simply slide one foot back a few inches. Staggered feed will make a huge difference in how you can (or can't) move while presenting.

Thanks to our New Voices co-blogger Emily for demonstrating!

What tips would you give to burgeoning public speakers? What is the most difficult thing for you to overcome when public speaking?

What could be worse than death?

For many people, public speaking. National surveys have found that many Americans rank fear of public speaking as their number one fear, even above fear of death.

We here at New Voices often request that our readers stand up and be advocates, but sometimes it’s not easy for people to speak up – not because they don’t want to, but because they are terrified to do so.

Fear of public speaking (also known as glossophobia) is more common than you might think. Research has shown up to 70% of Americans list public speaking as one of their biggest fears.

Unlike the experience of those of us with just a normal level of nervousness during public speaking, for those with glossophobia, the anxiety does not go away as a presentation or speech continues, but increases.

The speaker notices how nervous they are, and instead of focusing on how well they are speaking, they focus on the symptoms of their anxiety, which makes the feelings worse. This often means that unlike most of us who are relieved once we are finished speaking in public, those with glossophobia are often even more anxious and upset than when they started.

There are many proclaimed cures for fear of public speaking, and some of us here at New Voices will be posting personal techniques we use to overcome our fears of public speaking. So, how do you go the distance and get over your fear of public speaking? Give 110% by letting us know in the comments and we can include your tips in our post later this month.

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It

...is to read, "Do Scientists Understand the Public?" by Chris Mooney.

It's a quick read, incredibly thought-provoking and we'll be discussing it on Friday. See you back here then!

What's Your Theme Song?

I spent a significant portion of my childhood in dugouts or on metal bleachers next to a softball field. I was the "bat girl" for my sister's travel softball team, and boy, were those good times. Drinking Gatorade or - since our team was Davie Crush - orange soda with my big sister's friends, hollering at the opposing team, chewing sunflower seeds; it was a summer heaven. (Arguably, it was as hot as the other after-life realm, since she played on clay fields in Florida, but there was always a pool to jump in afterwards.)

My love of baseball, therefore, comes from my sister and those happy memories. Movies like a A League of Their Own or kids with their freshly-oiled gloves on the metro coming back from opening day always make me stop and remember; which is probably why I noticed this piece on NPR: What would be your at-bat theme song?

It got me thinking about what my theme song would be if I was headed up to the plate. Since I was never much of a softball player myself, I'd probably choose this classic (start at 3:10 for the clincher of a chorus).

In celebration of baseball (which we'll definitely be writing about this season) and as a way to learn about all of our fabulous readers, we want to know what your at-bat theme song would be (or is?). If you're not a baseball fan, what would your theme song be before a big presentation? Or, what's the song that you click to on your ipod for that last big uphill on a run?

When we have a full roster of theme songs, I'll put together a summer Play Ball! Playlist for New Voices, so make sure you get yours up in the comments!

It's All About You

This is a map of readership over the past 12 months

Counting down to the big blogoversary, we thought we'd take a look back at who we've been writing for all year - YOU!

New Voices has had more than 16,300 visitors from 131 countries and every U.S. state and territory.

Our strongest international followings are in the UK, Canada, Germany, India, Australia, the Philipines, France, Brazil and the Netherlands. Here at home, our top ten states/districts are: Virginia, California, New York, Maryland, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, DC, Massachusetts, and Illinois.

You've commented, on average, once every third day; sharing resources and thoughts on everything from health reform to animal research to votes on the Coolest Scientist Ever.

Some of you are scientists, others communicators. Some just people who were looking for an image or a keyword and found us.

As we head into our second year, we hope to continue to draw people in and provide useful and entertaining posts. How did you discover New Voices? What kept you reading?

Who Works in a Congressional Office?

Knowing your audience is an important part of successful interactions, and this is just as true on Capitol Hill as anywhere else. When, if ever, you visit a Congressional office, you should have some idea of who you are speaking with and what they do. Today’s post provides an overview of the different people who work in these offices, also known as personal staff.

Members of both the House and the Senate employ personal staff. In the Senate, the size of the population of the Member’s state determines the staff budget and thus the number of staff; the average office has 34. Members of the House can only hire 14 full time and 4 part time staff; the average size of a House office is 14.*

Although you won’t see all of them during a visit, the following staff members usually work in Washington offices:

Chief of Staff: the Member's top political adviser, runs the office
Legislative Director: plans legislative initiatives, supervises legislative staff
Legislative Assistants (LA): focus on specific issues, monitor related bills and committee meetings; draft floor statements; draft replies to constituents
Legislative Correspondent (LC): handles communication with constituents
Press Secretary/Communications Director: liaison to the press, drafts press releases
Executive/Personal Assistant to the Member
Office Manager
Computer Systems/Mail Manager

Other staffers also work in the Member’s home state office(s), usually including:

State/District Director: runs office(s) in the home state and acts as political liaison to the community
Projects/Grants Coordinator: seeks federal funding for District/State projects and institutions
Caseworker/Constituent Services: provides constituents with information and assistance with federal agencies

Depending on your reason for visiting, the people you are most likely to meet with in DC are legislative assistants or correspondents. The size of the office will determine how specialized the person you are meeting with is. In larger offices, it is possible that the staffer you meet will be fairly specialized and have a great deal of knowledge about your issue. In smaller offices, you are more likely to meet staffers who are tracking a significant number of issues.

No matter who you meet, though, remember the basic rules for making your case, be respectful, and always thank them for their time.


Photo credit: kimberlyfaye
*http://www.c-span.org/questions/weekly35.asp

10 Rules for Making Your Case

Based on our ongoing discussion about whether or not science and politics mix, it seems like many readers think that there are ways in which scientists can engage in policy - if not politics.

To help those of you who aren't trained communicators on your path to engaging with the public and policymakers, here are ten rules adapted* from a December 2000 article from The Washington Lawyer. John Greenya's piece, "Make Your Case: Lessons from Journalists" may be dated, but his advice is not.

Rule 1: Get your side in the story.
If you aren't telling your story - the way you want it told - chances are no one will hear it.

Rule 2: Discard preconceptions.
Don't assume anything. Past experience can provide helpful guidance, but every crowd and every elected official is slightly different, so enter each situation with an open mind.

Rule 3: Honesty is always the best policy.
Explain what you know as simply as possible and without exaggeration. If you get a question and don't know the answer, just admit you aren't sure and promise to follow-up.

Rule 4: Get a sense of whom you are dealing with.
Know your audience: middle schoolers and parents of middle schoolers see things very differently.

Rule 5: Define the rules of engagement.
If questions get you off-track, ask the audience to hold them to the end. If you want to discuss a certain topic at a meeting, start the conversation with, "We're here today to discuss...". Be assertive and stay within whatever boundaries you design.

Rule 6: Provide easy-to-access information.
Bring materials with you to in-person meetings and keep your website up-to-date for those who are looking for details.

Rule 7: Organize media briefings.
Invite local journalists to come and take a tour of your lab. Have the community come to a demonstration. You don't need to have a press conference to get your news out there - everything from high school papers to Twitter posts to radio spots will get your message out there.

Rule 8: Ask to have your quotes verified.
If you aren't sure whether something you said was understood, ask someone to explain it back to you (preferably not during important meetings). If someone makes you a promise or says something quotable, be courteous and send them a copy before sharing it with others.

Rule 9: Be sensitive to deadline pressures.
Know when your schedule will be busy and avoid planning major communication at those times if possible. It will save you from feeling frazzled if something doesn't go to plan.

Rule 10: Be clear and concise.
No description necessary.

Those are ten easy rules to help keep you on track when you're communicating about research (or anything, really). You know what to do--all you have to do is get out and do it.


*The article was written specifically for lawyers on how to present their case to the media, and here we're using the rules with slightly different intentions.

Engaging Audiences

Yesterday I attended the National Academies Communications Fair. Something that one of the panelists, Sue Allen, PhD of the Exploratorium in San Francisco, said really stuck got me thinking and I wanted to hear what you thought about this idea (time was up so the panel didn't actually get to explore the topic).

Dr. Allen had been talking about learning science in informal environments (basically any place that wasn't a traditional classroom). A member of the audience then asked her whether or not she thought it was a good idea to release the message this way - didn't it mean that you lose control over the specificity or accuracy of the scientific argument?

Her response was to define science in broad terms. Here's my stab at a paraphrase:

Science is a culture unto itself that is based on discussion, argumentation and hypothesis.

Based on a definition like this one, how is it that getting the science out there and letting other people decide for themselves what it means a bad idea? Do we really have control over the "message" in science anyway?

As a panelist from the afternoon session, Anne Simon, PhD, explained, science is about what we know at the time. She said she spent years telling her students there was no such thing as cloning mammals - that it wasn't possible. Then Dolly came along, and she started teaching about how cloning was a reality.

When the message can literally change overnight, isn't it time we let people discuss it? Are we actually asking our audiences to engage, or just trust us and regurgitate what we've told them?

I believe that science is an ever changing field improved upon by those who continued to imbibe it with their knowledge and research. For me, that means opening up the discussion to anyone who wants to join in and provide reasoned arguments.

What do you think?

Spotlight on You!

Here at New Voices, we like to give you profiles of advocates who are already working to make research and science higher national priorities. As a "New Voice" you are also an advocate, so what about you?

We're constantly working to do everything we can to help in your quest to become a stronger advocate for research but to do that effectively, we have to know who you are and what you like!

We've done a little bit of homework already, so we know that our readers:

• Come from approx. 50 countries/territories, with most visitors hailing from the United States
• Tend to visit us between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. (with a dinner break around 6 p.m.)
• Like that we post pictures
• Prefer Google as a search engine

But that doesn't really tell us about YOU. So, to help us practice what we preach (know your audience!) we'd love to hear from you in the comments section. Who you are, what you do, and what you'd like to see us cover more.

We can't wait to meet you!

There is No General Audience

This is the second section of Part 1 of 6 in the Research Roadmap for Public Communication of Science & Technology Series

Last week we talked about how there was no general audience for science communication. In fact, I would argue that there really is no general audience for any type of communication. The keyword in that sentence being general. So although we may never be able to just put an ad on TV for science and have America fall in love with our beloved -ologies too, we can certainly talk to people about science.

There are PLENTY of audiences for science communication, if you don't shoot for the whole country en masse at the same time. Because as Hillary commented, "Many Americans are curious about and interested in lots of things that they do not know much about." So how do you get your information to the most people in the shortest amount of time? Strategize.

1. What is it that you want to tell everyone? (keep it simple folks)
2. Why is it important that they know? (general knowledge doesn't count)
3. Would certain people be more effected than others? (target audience!)
4. Can it be explained in a simple sentence or paragraph? (the answer should always be yes)
5. Is there some sub-population that might be more likely to spread this information? (these people will do some of your communicating work for you)

In just a few simple questions, we've found at least two audiences for your message. Now let's try an example and break down the possible audiences.

(1) Say that the message you want to send is that recycling is good for both human and planetary health. (2) It's important that people know because it could alter their health and the health of the planet itself. In answering the first two questions we've discovered that we have at least two targetable audiences: people interested in their health and people interested in the health of the planet.

(3) People who live near trash dumps and oceans (often used for dumping) will be most effected in the short term and young people will feel the effects the most in the long term. Two more specific audiences.

(4) Even if you can get the audience's attention, if what you're telling them isn't clear and concise, you've lost them again. Also, what is simple and easy to understand for some people isn't easy for others. Tailor your message to the specific audience you're talking to.

(5) If you can get even a small group of people interested enough in your message, they'll share it with others. In communication and marketing circles, these people are called opinion/thought leaders, influentials, or network hubs. In the case of anything science, a good group of opinion leaders to consider would be science bloggers or deans of research who might spread the information within their networks of influence.
In our example, we've already found a number of small audiences that would likely be interested in our message:

* People interested in health
* People who want to save the planet
* People who live near dumping sites (including beaches)
* Young people

From those populations, we can also see a number of other audience groups that make sense:

* Parents & teachers (for the young people)
* Tourists (for nature and the beaches)
* Local community leaders (for their citizens)
* Business owners in coastal communities (for their own well-being)

When you add up the eight different bulleted groups of individuals above, you're hitting a pretty big segment of the population. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. If and when you have something that is really important enough to tell everyone, it will be easy enough to split "everyone" into smaller, much more manageable groups.

So, no, there is no general audience for science communication. But there are audiences. Lots of them. It is going to take a bit more time to get to them in small groups than it would if everyone fit together. But instead of your really exciting science falling on uninterested (and therefore ostensibly deaf) ears, you'll reach the most important audiences - first. Once you've reached them, you can always work on reaching the other people that you'd like to know.

There's No Audience!

Part 1 of 6 in the Research Roadmap for Public Communication of Science & Technology Series

The first of Borchelt's finding from the Roadmap, is that there is no general audience for science communication. To explain why this is an important, we first need to explore the concept of an "audience" for communication.

There is a strategy to communication of any kind. It's simple and employed by just about everyone, everyday.

Take this simple piece of communication heard in kitchens/labs across America:

Could you please do the dishes?

What do we know from this sentence?

1. The dishes are not done.
   
2. The dishes need to be done, and
   
3. preferably not by the person making the statement.

Pretty successful communication, but it isn't great because fact #3 is a little vague. In a crowded kitchen, many people could hear the request and an hour later, there might still be a pile of dishes to be done. For better results, the phrase can be clarified.

Could you please do the dishes, sugar-dumpling?
OR
Hey you, could you please do the dishes?

The difference between these statements and the previous is simply that an audience has been clearly identified. Now assume that "sugar-dumpling" and "you" are the same person. Which of the questions is more likely to get the dishes done?

Identifying an audience and tailoring your message to that audience is critical to successful communication. It seems like a no-brainer, but surprisingly often, who a message is intended for is considered secondary to the message. Communicators forget that the purpose of communication is to get their message to someone else. Interestingly, it isn't always their fault.

In the case of science, there is no general audience. Politicians talk to their constituents. Doctors talk to their patients. Talk show hosts talk to their viewers (who are measured by Nielsen and other indicators). But who is the audience for general scientific knowledge? How do you segment the public to relay a message that is "important to everyone", and yet probably not on the forefront of any of their minds?

Without a clear audience for their messages, science communicators can have a hard time tailoring their messages. So to go back to our earlier example, we've got a lot of dishes piling up and people begging for them to get done, but no one knows they're being asked to do them.

I'm not saying some of it isn't selective hearing loss (as my mother likes to call it), but that's a topic for another day. Today, we're stuck with really cool and exciting information, we know we need to tailor the message to a specific group of people so they'll get the news, but we have no idea who those people are and no clue how best to reach them.

There's no general audience for our science communication. So what is a science communicator to do?

Let's hear your ideas in the comments section and we'll give you the New Voices best practices suggestion in the next installment.