Explaining Research: How to Reach Key Audiences to Advance Your Work

Explaining Research is the first comprehensive communications guidebook for scientists, engineers, and physicians. Drawing on knowledge gleaned from a forty-year career in research communications, Dennis Meredith maps out how scientists can utilize sophisticated tools and techniques to disseminate their discoveries to important audiences. He explains how to use websites, blogs, videos, webinars, old-fashioned lectures, news releases, and lay-level articles to reach key audiences, emphasizing along the way that a strong understanding of the audience in question will allow a more effective communication tailored to a unique background and set of needs. In addition to drawing on the experience of the author, the book also includes excerpts from interviews with 45 of the country's leading science communications experts, including academics, authors, journalists, and public information officers. As the "information age" places new demands on scientists, Explaining Research will be a valuable resource not only for current professional scientists, but also for students who are the voice of the science community's next generation. This authoritative guide shows how to: BL Develop a "strategy of synergy" that makes research communication efficient and effective BL Give compelling talks BL Build a professional Web site BL Create quality posters, photos, animations, videos, e-newsletters, blogs, podcasts, and Webinars BL Write popular articles and books BL Persuade donors, administrators and other key funding decision-makers BL Produce news releases that attract media coverage BL Give clear media interviews BL Serve as a public educator in schools and science centers Visit www.explainingresearch.com to learn more about the book and additional resources.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Introduction: Explaining Your Research is a Professional Necessity Section I: Learning a New Communications Paradigm 1: Understand Your Audiences 2: Plan Your Research Communication Strategy Section II: Effectively Reaching Your Peers 3: Give Compelling Talks 4: Develop Informative Visuals 5: Create Effective Poster Presentations 6: Write Clear Research Explanations 7: Build a Quality Web Site Section III: Engaging Lay Audiences 8: Forge Your Research Communications Strategy 9: The Essential News Release 10: Craft Releases That Tell Your Research Story 11: Target Releases to Key Audiences 12: Produce Effective Research Photography 13: Produce Informative Research Videos 14: Organize Dynamic Multimedia Presentations 15: Create E-Newsletters, Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts, Social Networks, and Webinars 16: Write Popular Articles, Op-Eds, and Essays 17: Author Popular Books 18: Become a Public Educator 19: Persuade Administrators, Donors, and Legislators Section IV: Explaining Your Research Through the Media 20: Parse Publicity's Pros and Cons 21: Understand Journalists 22: Meet Journalists' Needs 23: Prepare for Media Interviews 24: Make the Interview Work For You 25: Protect Yourself from Communication Traps 26: Manage Media Communications at Scientific Meetings 27: Should You Be a Public Scientist?

About the Author :
Dennis Meredith's career as a science communicator has included service at some of the country's leading research universities, including MIT, Caltech, Cornell, Duke and the University of Wisconsin. He has worked with science journalists at all the nation's major newspapers, magazines, and radio and TV networks and has written thousands of news releases and magazine articles on science and engineering over his career.

Review :
"Meredith delivers an avalanche of guidance on every facet of explaining research, from giving compelling Powerpoint presentations to advising museum exhibits, shooting videos, writing press releases, and talking with the media and with policymakers. Explaining Resarch includes some astonishing and useful minutiae: When writing for print or the Web, one should revise sentences that contain too many short letters such as a, c and n, because its easier to read text that combines short letters with tall ones. Readers are reminded to go to the bathroom before participating in Web conferences, and to wear tall socks for television interviews, lest their calves peek out below their pant legs." -- American Scientist "Research Explainer Meredith provides more than an expression of opinion regarding the urgent need to reach the public and bridge the gap in science. He provides data and information on the trends that will be quite surprising to most scientists in his "Introduction: Explaining Your Research Is a Professional Necessity." The remainder of the book is a well thought out How-to guideline for scientists who wish to create a communication strategy that is effective in today's world. [Meredith] creates a compelling case to motivate scientists into action and he provides an authoritative guide to show how it can be done. Any scientist in today's culture of media should have 'Explaining Research' on hand."--The Physiologist "...a huge range of tools and techniques are presented and successfully explained, with additional material available online through Meredith's blog and website. The book is consistently positive and encouraging, convincing the reader the step up and engage with the public, balancing aspirational suggestions with cautionary tales. Meredith wears his extensive experience lightly and his engaging style and up-to-date material are sure to make this book extremely popular as the need to tailor research communication to new audiences grows."--Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry "During his 40-year career, veteran US science communicator Dennis Meredith has written thousands of press releases and magazine articles while serving a string of leading American universities. In Explaining Research: How to Reach Key Audiences to Advance Your Work Meredith distils this experience into a fabulous guide for scientists seeking to communicate the fruits of their labours. Meredith offers stacks of advice on everything from creating a great website and crafting a well-written press release to preparing online videos and writing a blog. It is inspiring stuff, yet rooted in reality for example, Meredith provides useful PowerPoint tips (F5 starts a presentation; the space bar shifts to the next slide) and offers a list of "thrifty" words that can substitute for long ones ("do" not "perform", "end" not "terminate" and so on)."-- Physics World "An excellent guidebook, full of practical tips and advice and, just as important, key things to avoid and illustration of how not to do it, so that readers can, as the subheading says, 'reach key audiences to advance their research'." --Chemistry World "A highly readable compendium of techniques to get your message out from a PR pro. No matter how good you are at gaining "mind-share", you will learn something new from this book." -- Brian Snow, NSA IAD Technical Director, 1996-2002 "It is so important for scientists and engineers to communicate their work to the public no matter what field they are in. Explaining Research provides great advice to those new to the experience, and there's opportunity for the more experienced among us to learn, too." -- Peter Agre, M.D., Nobel Laureate "This book is what every scientist needs - a communication coach who gives you the tools to succeed while simultaneously urging you forward and cheering you on." -- Bruce Lewenstein, Professor of Science Communication, Cornell University "Explaining Research is a must-have, must-read not only for its primary target audience, scientists, researchers, and engineers, but also, given the new media landscape, for just about anyone eager to enhance his/her science communication skills." -- Ben Patrusky, Executive Director, Council for the Advancement of Science Writing Listed in Science Book News "The author shares a wealth of experience and common sense in this wide-ranging guide to communicating scientific research. Any researcher who samples this book's 27 clearly titled chapters will be better equipped to decide what is worth doing and how to get it done." -- Elizabeth Bass, The Quarterly Review of Biology