Science communication and media skills training for scientists

How many brilliant ideas, thoughts and theories fall by the wayside because no-one ever heard about them? Probably millions. Have you ever wondered why Dr Big-head’s not so brilliant findings are cited in hundreds of journals and enjoy weeks of press coverage, while your amazing result goes unnoticed by fellow peers and the public (and Dr Big-head finally gets the job you were hoping for)? Good communication is an essential tool if you want your ideas to flourish and fly.

Together with Stuart Blackman, Catherine Heinemeyer, Tom Pringle and Georg Rüschemeyer I run science communication courses to help scientists maximise the potential of their research. Our courses are usually aimed at early career researchers and can be tailored to suit the needs and requirements of the group. Using a mixture of presentations and specially designed exercises we can help scientists to improve their communication skills and understand how the media works.

Areas in which we offer training include:

• Hitting the headlines: what journalists want and why
• Mock radio interviews
• Communicating complex scientific concepts to non-scientists
• How to grab and hold the attention of your readers.
• Structuring your writing and telling a coherent story.
• Overcoming writer’s block
• The responsibilities of communicating science
• Writing a press release

Most of the courses we run take place over a half or full day, but we do occasionally do shorter and longer courses too. To see some sample programmes click here. If you are interested in holding one of our courses at your department or business then please do get in touch.

Past and present clients include The University of Edinburgh, The University of Dundee and The University of York.

Testimonials

“Kate has delivered a range of excellent media and communication workshops for doctoral students and professional researchers at the University of York over the last five years. Her training courses are meticulously designed, and delivered with professionalism. Students are inspired by her achievements and give excellent feedback on all of her sessions. I thoroughly recommend Kate’s work.”

(Dr Hilary M Jones, Training and Careers Officer, Department of Biology, University of York)

“This was a great course for getting researchers who are more comfortable with academic writing to think about how they can communicate their work to a wider audience. There was a range of hands-on activities, from the jargon-busting “Bang the Gong” to an analogy brainstorming session, all providing practical and transferable tips to improve clarity and writing style. Kate and Georg were very engaging and experienced making the day highly enjoyable as well as informative.

(Participant from the Department of Psychology at the University of York)