Coming up: Storytelling for scientists

Credit: esterase on flickr

I’m giving a talk next month to a group of health science graduate students, on how to communicate their work in the media.

I’m no expert, but I have worked in both worlds, and understand a bit about how they often clash.

Both sides have work to do. For example, many (most?) reporters will cover a story about a scientific publication without reading the paper itself (relying instead on the press release). But, since the talk is for a training day for scientists, this advice is for them.

As I prepare I’m going to post my ideas here. Some working titles:

• An introduction to the other side
• Know what your story isn’t
• Be the one to make it simple
• Stay human
• Have confidence in what you know

What does all that mean? I’ll flesh out each point and post it in coming days/weeks.