Professional Development: Science Writing and Storytelling

For scientists interested in reaching a broader audience, doing good research is only half the battle. For the research to have an impact, it needs to be communicated well. The Observer’s managing editor, Hannah O. Brown, and APS’s digital content manager, Lou Willwood, shared tips on how to communicate science effectively in a free webinar.  

Brown began by emphasizing the importance of simplicity. Jargon may seem scientific, but it makes the message less clear for everybody. “Jargon isn’t even fun for other scientists to read,” Brown said.  

Brown also explained that choosing details to focus on is important. “Simplicity also is really helpful when you’re trying to tell a story, so every word that you include is a choice, right? You’re making a choice when you’re writing a story on what to focus on and what not to include.” By focusing on details, she said you can make a story more engaging and understandable for the reader.  

Brown and Willwood also discussed the importance of using quotes in science writing to add a personal connection to the research and include the scientist’s own voice.  

“Quotes, I think, are just an amazingly powerful tool to use as a communicator and a writer to capture the voice of a person in your writing, and can make it so much richer,” Brown said. Brown also emphasized the importance of being accurate with quotations and being prepared as much as possible for interviews to have a more in-depth discussion. 

The presenters’ last tip was to use narrative tools like images, quotes, and anecdotes to break up scientific information and give the reader guideposts.  

As Willwood put it: “When you’re giving those guideposts, breaking them down paragraph by paragraph, you’re kind of holding people’s hand and making sure like, ‘This is the science, but I’m going to explain it to you in a way that you can understand, and hopefully that way you can share it and be part of the dissemination process, which is what we hope for in science communication,” she said.

The webinar recording is available through Instats to registrants. Follow the Instats link and select ‘Content’ to view.