Sharing your story: how to write and speak about your research for general audiences

As a researcher, it’s essential you learn how to talk and write about your research in a variety of ways and for different audiences. Given that most research is taxpayer-funded, it’s particularly important we develop the skills of sharing our work with general audiences. In this workshop, we’ll consider how you can hook your audience’s attention and make your research relevant, engaging and accessible to different audiences. We’ll consider the styles of communication when both writing and speaking are most effective for non-scientific audiences.

Associate Professor Jen Martin (@scidocmartin) spent many years working as a field ecologist until she decided the most useful thing she could contribute as a scientist was to teach other scientists how to be effective and engaging communicators. Jen founded and leads the University of Melbourne’s acclaimed Science Communication Teaching Program and is deeply committed to helping scientists develop the skills they need to be visible, make connections and have impact. She also practises what she preaches: for 18 years she’s been talking about science each week on 3RRR radio, she writes for a variety of publications, hosts the Let’s Talk SciComm podcast and MCs events. Jen was named the 2019 Unsung Hero of Australian Science Communication and is Ambassador for The Wilderness Society’s Nature Book Week. Jen’s first popular science book, ‘Why am I like this? The science behind your weirdest thoughts and habits’ was published in 2022.