Scientists can use natural abilities to communicate better

August 20, 2019
Dr. Paula Traktman, dean of the College of Graduate Studies, and Besim Ogretmen, the SmartState Endowed Chair in Lipidomics and Drug Discovery, try to mirror each other's movements. Photos by Sarah Pack

Scientists from across the Medical University of South Carolina campus are learning how to talk about their work in ways that people will pay attention to and remember. For some, it’s a reminder of what they already know they should be doing. For others, it’s eye-opening.

Communications coach James Rea from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science recently came to MUSC to help with that effort. He led an hour-and-a-half presentation that included advice, anecdotes and exercises – and began with some reassurance.

“Before the session started, if I’d taken a picture of you in your home or at a coffee shop with your friends, you are phenomenal communicators. Every single one of you. I don’t care if you think you’re the most introverted person in the world. It doesn’t matter. You connect with other human beings, each in your own wonderful way,” Rea said.

James Rea 
Communications expert James Rea says the less you focus on yourself, the better you communicate.

But that connection can waver when a scientist speaking at a conference or talking to a reporter turns the focus inward instead of on the person or people who are listening. “It’s this language of me, me, me,” Rea said.

“You can be the most selfless person in the world, but it still ends up being me, me, me, me. It’s a pitfall because, first of all, none of us can withstand that scrutiny. There’s no way that we’re not going to wither under our own criticism. That’s where a lot of stage fright – a lot of it comes from that.”

Rea said you start second-guessing yourself. “Is my hair ok? How’s my tie? Oh my God, I said the sentence wrong. I clicked the slide too early. Gaah, I stink.”

A better approach, he said, is to focus on your audience. “The less you focus on yourself, the better you communicate.”

Scientists who communicate well with non-scientists as well as their peers benefit in multiple ways, Rea said. For example, lawmakers understand what they’re doing and are willing to fund their research. The public gets the importance of it, too.

Kathleen Brady, vice president for research at MUSC, put it this way when she introduced Rea to the audience. “We can do the best science in the world, but if we don’t know how to communicate it well to the lay public and communicate the importance of it, it doesn’t work to our advantage.”

Kathleen Brady 
Dr. Kathleen Brady, vice president for research at MUSC, says it's essential for scientists to communicate well.

So what does communicating well mean when it comes to science? Rea said researchers need to:

  • Figure out who their audience is.
  • Set a goal for the interaction.
  • Use bright and vivid language with the listener in mind.
  • Avoid jargon.
  • Work to make sure the audience understands.

Rea said his goal wasn’t to make everyone communicate the same way. He wanted to help people bring out the best in themselves. “We’re going to make you look, I hope, more like yourself. So when you get onstage at a technical conference, or you’re in the room with a patient or in the room with colleagues on this campus across disciplines, more of yourself comes to the fore. More of your natural ability to tap into vocal dynamics and body language and your passion for your work and all of that. That’s what this is about.”

He asked people to work with partners for several exercises aimed at getting them to use simple, colorful and memorable language. The auditorium bubbled with energy.

In one exercise, Paula Traktman, dean of the College of Graduate Studies, worked with Besim Ogretmen, the SmartState Endowed Chair in Lipidomics and Drug Discovery and a professor in the College of Medicine. Rea showed a list of questions for each pair to answer, starting with names and research interests. He encouraged them to answer in brief, interesting sentences.

Traktman went first in her partnership with Ogretmen and got creative. “My name is Paula Traktman, and my interest is really in understanding biological choreography. I look at you and I see cells, and every cell in your body is different so you don’t look like a raspberry. You have a head and arms and feet, and I want to understand how those cells have that choreography.”

When it was Ogretmen’s turn, time was short – and he was even briefer. “My name is Besim Ogretmen. I am a cancer researcher.” He was then cut off by the clock, but had a smile on his face.

People at Alda Center event. 
Participants laugh as they try to describe their work to each other without using jargon.

In another exercise, Rea asked the scientists to describe their work to a partner in the auditorium without using jargon. “The filter I want you to think about is, you’re talking to a relative. Your mom, a nephew, a neighbor. Someone who’s smart, maybe is an attorney or maybe teaches history but does not work on this campus.”

They gave it a shot. Afterward, Rea noted that social scientists in particular have it tough when it comes to jargon. “It’s words like ‘system,’ it’s words like ‘model’ that just don’t mean anything to the listener. You’ve got to get to the heart of it.”

The exercises were ways to play with different approaches to describing science. It’s OK to go too far when you brainstorm, Rea said, because part of what you come up with just might work. “I’m not making light of your science. This is not to turn it into some sort of a joke. It’s to find language that draws people’s attention.”

People standing at Alda Center event. 
The focus is on interaction as Rea coaches MUSC scientists on communication.

He said tapping into your passion about something changes the way you talk about it. “I’m not talking about breaking down in tears. Finding your passion creates the tiniest of sparks in you that I guarantee translates into the audience.”

Rea also reminded the scientists to start with the basics when describing their work to the public. Don’t bury the audience in details. “Give your audience the benefit of leading them into your content. Where are they coming from and are you giving them the why, the context they need to know to understand everything that follows.”

After the forum, several scientists waited to ask Rea questions. Traktman, the dean of the College of Graduate Studies, called the workshop excellent. “I had one partner who is an established researcher here. We did well together. But my other partner was a young graduate student who’d never done this. And for him, it was incredibly eye-opening.”

The August 7, 2019, forum was hosted by the Office of the Vice President for Research with the help of the Office of Communications and Marketing.

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