Science Communications and Outreach

So, you've split the atom...  and you've also discovered the secret to immortality.  Not bad for a Tuesday afternoon. These eureka moments (whilst rare for most of us) are nothing if they are not shared with others. You need to communicate your discoveries.

But how do you go about telling your story and how do you get others to listen? There are some key steps to take in defining a message and building a communication and outreach strategy around it.

7 Steps to Communications Success

If you need help with this, get in touch with us. We offer an efficient, professional service to help you define your message and get it effectively heard by your audience.

Key Step 1: Define your motivation for wanting to talk about your science with a broader audience.

What are you trying to achieve with your communications and outreach activities? Effectively engaging an audience takes effort. Think hard about why you want to expend energy on this activity.  

Key Step 2: Define your audience. Who do you want to communicate with?

Before you define your message it helps to know who you want to communicate with. Is it other scientists? Patient groups? Children? Parents? Businesses? Government Officials? Or is it the "General Public"?

Key Step 3: Know your audience.

To build your message you need to understand your target audience. If you don’t understand them, they will not understand you.

Key Step 4: What's in it for your audience?

Why should your intended audience listen to you? If you can clearly tell your audience what is in it for them, your message will be much more graciously received.

Key Step 5: Now define your message.

If you now know who you want to talk to and what's in it for them, you can define your message. You need to make it relevant, interesting and understandable.

Key Step 6: You can now build your strategy

Now you have your message, you can define which channels to pump it through. How you reach your audience is about as important as what you have to say to them.

Key Step 7: Track your progress and achievements.

How have you done and what have you learnt? If you can effectively track your progress and understand what worked (and what didn’t) you can do it better next time.

If you can work your way through these steps you are well on your way to building an effective outreach and communication strategy that will be successful and repeatable.

Need help? We offer an efficient, professional service to help you define your message and get it heard. Contact us for a confidential discussion regarding your science communications needs.   

Our other services

Academic Writing and Editing - We can help you quickly and effectively develop and publish your scientific manuscripts

News Package Production - Take you publication one step further and engage journalists and writers with your content

Science News Services - Promote your work and publications. The Alternative Science News Service is designed to help you promote your work and to give journalists and writers a richer ecosystem to source stories from.