By Lina Wood, Scientell intern Have you ever felt like scientists were speaking a whole other language? Or perhaps felt spoken down to when someone was explaining a complex scientific concept? One of the foundations of science communication is to avoid this ‘deficit’ model of communication. The deficit model assumes that the general public lacks the knowledge to understand scientific concepts and that it’s the job of scientists to ‘dumb down’ their research to make it accessible to the masses. This approach implies that the public needs to be spoon-fed information, and that simply by providing ..read more

Lina Wood If you get performance anxiety when talking on the phone, you’re not alone. It’s common for many of us to experience stress when making or receiving a phone call. But this stress is especially true for millennials when compared with older generations. With the invention of the BlackBerry phone in the 90s, we became text-obsessed mobile users and gone were the days when we would practise our signature answering lines. So why do we seem to love texting so much? Texting allows us time to consider what we want to say, whereas on the phone we may feel put on the spot. Over the phone we al ..read more

Composed by Max Pinczes, Scientell intern We all know the situation; you just finished your PowerPoint and there are a few slides with large blocks of text no one will read. You’re in need of infographics. Infographics are visual representations of information or data in the form of pictorials, charts, diagrams or maps. Infographics can help people quickly take in large amounts of information and are more compelling than any block of text. Like all communication, when creating your infographic, the most important element is your target audience. An infographic for a scientific audience present ..read more

This week’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) announcement concludes the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report series. It provides a final warning for action on climate change, but it won’t be the last word on climate change action. On releasing the report that kicked off the series of Sixth Assessment Report tomes in 2021, science communication colleagues and I commented in The Conversation that communicating climate change has never been so important. The IPCC assessments have become progressively more concerning and alarming. In 1990, the IPCC simply noted that global ..read more

By Max Pinczes, Scientell intern Every day people use measurements. Whether they are actively measuring something (like a cup of flour for a cake), or just thinking about how long they will be at work, how far away work is, or how long until the bus and so on. But people rarely think deeply about the concept of measurement. Measurement is a fairly abstract concept. A metre and a barleycorn are both measures of length and distance. Yes, a barleycorn is a measure of shoe size. USA, Myanmar and Liberia aside, the world employs the metric system. But what if our measurement system was based on oth ..read more

PowerPoints have become so over- or incorrectly – used, that many audiences dread seeing a mass of slides come up on the screen. But if you do it right, a well-crafted PowerPoint can still be a useful tool. Knowing your audience is the key to any communications, including presentations and accompanying PowerPoints. Before writing your presentation and PowerPoint find out as much as you can about your audience. For example, audience size, demographic, level of education and specific interests. It can also be useful to know what time of day you are presenting and in what context. Each of these f ..read more

Science communication helps share stories about scientific research, results and achievements. It helps to make science meaningful to the community, businesses and government. But who should be communicating science? Is it just adults, scientists, and communicators?   Young people are as important in science communication as anyone else. Science communication is already a much larger part of a young person’s world than you may realise.   Science communication isn’t just about adults talking about the latest peer-reviewed paper. It is also about communicating the wonder of science in ..read more

The world’s first science communication magazine was launched this month by our colleague Tullio Rossi, from Animate your Science. We recently met with Tullio over lunch to discuss how the magazine, SWIPE Scicomm, would create a point of reference for the science communication field. ‘I’d like to see Swipe Scicomm make small businesses visible to researchers so they are more aware of the services available to help them communicate,’ Tullio said. ‘We also want to bring to the broader scientific community papers from the field of science of science communication.’ We can’t believe nobody had tho ..read more

By Scientell intern, Nick Jackson There are many ways we can communicate a message. Imagine you were teaching someone to wash their hands for the first time. You could use an audio message, a fact on bacterial contamination, a cartoon illustration, or a short video. Which one do you think gives the clearest message? Now ask a friend or family member. Ask another friend. There’s a diverse range of responses. To communicate science effectively, we must first understand how different groups of people best interpret information. Scientell’s communication products encourage audiences to engage with ..read more

A blog from our colleagues at Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at introducing high school students to the worldwide to the world of work in STEM . ‘Without climate education, I don’t see the value in going to school at all,’ said Eleanor Andrade May, student at the University of Sheffield in the UK in an interview with Futurum Careers. When students are unable to see the connection between their studies and their future, it suggests a deep flaw in the education system. Climate changes affects everyone. But often, it is only taught to school students in geography and s ..read more