Top 5 Errors Scientists Make When Communicating to the Public (Plus Cute Animal Gifs)

Mar 03, 2014

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Top 5 Errors Scientists Make When Communicating to the Public (Plus Cute Animal Gifs)The first rule of science communication is to know your audience. With this in mind, our lab note today features the most popular communication technique for an audience of random people on the internet: the cute animal funny gif. Enjoy!
Top 5 Errors Scientists Make When Communicating to the Public
5) Not knowing your audience
                
4) Using too many confusing jargon terms
                
3) Dumbing down complex topics
                
2) Not having a clear take-away message
                
1) Not telling a story (and thus boring your audience to sleep)
                
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Jessica, Cindy, and 4 others like this.

4 comments

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Jessica RohdeResearcher

It's true! Learning to be a better communicator can help scientists better collaborate, particularly across disciplines. One of the many benefits we hope to measure in our study.

Mar 04, 20141

Dominic Evangelista

These same errors are also made by scientists when communicating to other scientists.

Mar 04, 20141

Jessica RohdeResearcher

Tip of the hat to Oscar Jasklowski for the idea!

Mar 03, 20142

Oscar JasklowskiBacker

but you guys did it better than I ever could have! This is awesome :)

Mar 05, 20140

Cindy WuBacker

love the gifs

Mar 03, 20141

About This Project

How does communication training benefit scientists?

University of Washington

Science can change the world, but only if it is communicated effectively to the public and policy makers. To help scientists better explain why their research matters, we created a communication training program for science grad students. We want all science grad students to have access to communication training. To overcome the critical roadblocks, we will evaluate the benefits of communication training to the careers of our students.