Explaining Research This page intentionally left blank Explaining Research How to Reach Key Audiences to Advance Your Work Dennis Meredith 1 2010 3 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2010 by Dennis Meredith Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Meredith, Dennis. Explaining research : how to reach key audiences to advance your work / Dennis Meredith. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-973205-0 (pbk.) 1. Communication in science. 2. Research. I. Title. Q223.M399 2010 507.2–dc22 2009031328 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper To my mother, Mary Gurvis Meredith. She gave me the words. This page intentionally left blank You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. —Albert Einstein This page intentionally left blank PREFACE Fortunately, I have had a multitude of heroes in my life—scientists, engineers, journalists, and fellow public information offi cers (PIOs). I have admired them as dedicated professionals, learned from them, and enjoyed their warm friend- ship. And I have deeply enjoyed writing about scientists’ and engineers’ dis- coveries, conveying those discoveries to journalists, and collaborating with my fellow PIOs. However, throughout this gratifying career I have been acutely aware of a critical knowledge gap that I believe greatly hinders research communication. Scientists and engineers are seldom given the communication tools and tech- niques they need to explain their hard-won discoveries to audiences beyond their peers. And they generally do not understand journalists and PIOs well enough to work effectively with those professionals. This guide aims to remedy that critical lack of knowledge. It distills nearly four decades of my experience as a PIO, during which I explored countless lab- oratories, interviewed a myriad of scientists, and prepared thousands of news releases, feature articles, Web sites, and multimedia packages. This book aims to help you as a practicing researcher master all the tools and techniques for explaining your research—from giving compelling talks to persuading donors and administrators of the wisdom of supporting your work. Also, it aims to help you understand the journalists important to explaining your research to both lay and professional audiences. It explains the infl uences on their professional function and how you can work with them most effectively. In addition, a special online section at ExplainingResearch.com offers a guide to working with PIOs, your invaluable allies in communication. Their skills for x Preface explaining your work and reaching important audiences benefi t you enormously and are invaluable to your institution. And importantly, Explaining Research will show how the same tools and tech- niques for reaching lay audiences can greatly improve your professional commu- nications with your colleagues. The tools and techniques in this book can also help PIOs explain their institu- tion’s research to its many important audiences. I owe my colleagues a huge debt. I have benefi ted enormously from their wisdom and experience, and Explaining Research contains many of their ideas. Students of journalism, science, engineer- ing, and medicine will also fi nd this guide helpful. The communication skills it teaches will greatly benefi t their future careers. Finally, I hope this book becomes part of a continuing dialogue about the best ways to explain research to important audiences. I encourage you to visit the book’s Web site, ExplainingResearch.com, and my blog at ResearchExplainer.com to take advantage of their resources and opportunities for interaction. Although I use the term “research communication” in this book, I titled it Explaining Research for a reason: it covers techniques not just of clearly com- municating your research, but also of explaining it to lay audiences that, unlike professional audiences, have no background in your fi eld and are not inherently interested in your research. In explaining your work, you seek to engage and educate those audiences—to benefi t your fi eld, your institution, and your own research career. References and Resources The references and resources cited in this book are online at ExplainingResearch. com. This online listing better enables updating, enhancement, and sharing. ExplainingResearch.com also offers additional content such as the “Working with Public Information Offi cers” section to help communicate your research. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My deepest thanks to the many people who gave generously of their time, their expertise, and their wisdom. They made this book immeasurably better and more insightful: Karl Bates, Sandra Blakeslee, Rick Borchelt, Chris Brodie, Merry Bruns, Robert Cooke, Keay Davidson, Tinsley Davis, Cornelia Dean, Terry Devitt, Joanna Downer, Sharon Dunwoody, Juliet Eilperin, Leslie Fink, Cath- erine Foster, Jon Franklin, Sharon Friedman, Lynne Friedmann, Don Gibbons, David Goldston, Chris Hildreth, Deborah Hill, Earle Holland, Michael Holland, Wendy Hunter, Deborah Illman, David Jarmul, Jim Keeley, Seema Kumar, Har- vey Leifert, Jennifer Leland, Bruce Lewenstein, Alisa Machalek, Sally Maran, Ste- phen Maran, Maureen McConnell, Kim McDonald, Julie Miller, Steve Mirsky, Jeff Nesbit, Sue Nichols, Joe Palca, Ben Patrusky, David Perlman, Henry Petroski, Ginger Pinholster, Paul Raeburn, Rosalind Reid, Andrew Revkin, Joann Rodgers, Carol Rogers, Cristine Russell, David Salisbury, Tom Siegfried, Francis Slakey, Cathy Yarbrough, Leah Young, Patrick Young, and Bora Zivkovic. I also thank the organizations that have made my career, and this book, pos- sible. My professional home for some four decades has been the National Asso- ciation of Science Writers, and my friends in that organization have enriched both my professional and personal life. The Council for the Advancement of Science Writing has also taught me much about science and about communi- cation through its New Horizons in Science Briefi ngs. For decades, that meet- ing has offered a savory intellectual smorgasbord of exciting science and deep insights. I also owe deep thanks to the staffs of two of the nation’s leading science organizations—the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Sigma Xi, the Scientifi c Research Society—for their professional and personal xii Acknowledgments comradeship. Their dedication to fostering communication among researchers is critical to the country’s scientifi c and technological excellence. And, I have ben- efi tted from working with the public affairs professionals in the leading federal research agencies—NASA, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation. Their skills and dedication have offered invaluable les- sons in how to inform the public about the discoveries made possible by public research support. I also owe a great deal to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, for which I’ve long had the pleasure of writing. HHMI has provided particular inspiration because of its commitment to supporting not only research excel- lence but also excellence in communicating that research. I should emphasize that, while I have drawn on the experiences and insights of all these scientists, journalists, PIOs, and institutions, this book refl ects my own perspective on research communication, and any errors are entirely my own. I welcome corrections and insights that will make this book better. Finally, I offer my deep gratitude to my wife, Joni, who has offered crucial support and unfailing enthusiasm, propping me up when mine faltered. CONTENTS Introduction: Explaining Your Research Is a Professional Necessity 1 Part I Learning a New Communications Paradigm 1 Understand Your Audiences 17 2 Plan Your Research Communication Strategy 30 Part II Effectively Reaching Your Peers 3 Give Compelling Talks 39 4 Develop Informative Visuals 60 5 Create Effective Poster Presentations 68 6 Write Clear Research Explanations 71 7 Build a Quality Web Site 80 Part III Engaging Lay Audiences 8 Forge Your Research Communications Strategy 99 9 The Essential News Release 108 10 Craft Releases That Tell Your Research Story 116 11 Target Releases to Key Audiences 134 12 Produce Effective Research Photography 143 13 Produce Informative Research Videos 156 14 Organize Dynamic Multimedia Presentations 169 xiv Contents 15 Create E-Newsletters, Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts, Social Networks, and Webinars 172 16 Write Popular Articles, Op-Eds, and Essays 194 17 Author Popular Books 213 18 Become a Public Educator 223 19 Persuade Administrators, Donors, and Legislators 231 Part IV Explaining Your Research through the Media 20 Parse Publicity’s Pros