Do you ever wish scientists’ communications would be better received by the public? Do you get frustrated that you have all the facts, but no one seems to hear them? In Don’t Be Such a Scientist, scientific communications researcher Randy Olson teaches scientists how to reach the general public.
With a Harvard PhD in marine biology, Olson achieved a tenured professorship at the University of New Hampshire; a few years later, he quit his professorial job to earn a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Southern California and produce films about science. He thus combines a deep appreciation for scientific rigor and narrative forms to help us communicate more effectively.
The chapters in this book, now in a second edition, center on six traits that, whether we like to admit it or not, can prohibit scientists from communicating well with the general population. He advises:
- Don’t Be So Cerebral
- Don’t Be So Literal-Minded
- Don’t Be Such a Poor Storyteller
- Don’t Be So Unlikeable
- Don’t Be Such a Poor Listener
- Be the Voice of Science!
Olson fills his book with playful, humorous stories – often from his own life – that illustrate barriers when communicating with the masses. Obviously, discussing what seem like inherent personality traits can prove touchy to scientists, and he frankly admits the controversies he’s provoked among scientists. But he does so with a deeply serious point: For science’s own survival, we need to become bilingual, speaking not only the language of science but also the language of the public and media.
To equip ourselves, he teaches us, through his film school experience, how to communicate in the structures of popular narratives. Science appeals mainly to the head, but mass media also appeals to the heart, the gut, and other human drives. He encourages scientists to figure out how to communicate better to the heart and to the gut when teaching about human nature.
As a marine biologist, Olson speaks from an environmental science perspective, but there’s no reason his communication style can’t work for biomedical research either. Indeed, the best medical communicators I’ve seen also make multifaceted appeals to humanity’s driving forces when educating the public or individual patients. For example, one of my mentors from medical school, Dr. Thaddeus Bell, records radio spots aimed at African American men to encourage them to take interest in their healthcare because of its impact on their everyday activities, like relationships or sports.
This book will make you laugh on one page, but it might offend you on the next. His overall motivation, however, lies in the right place: We science folk need to learn to converse with the public instead of just rehearsing our facts over and over. Recent media coverage of evolution, environmentalism, pandemics, or research’s value repeatedly presses this need.
He equips us with a framework he nicknames ABT (and, but, therefore). In contrast to merely piling on facts (and, and, and), he suggests addressing controversies (but) and synthesizing the results in conversation (therefore). This approach describes essentially how narratives work. For those interested, his other books explore the ABT framework in even more detail.
For example, many scientists just pile on facts and ignore public controversy. Their appeals for funding take an “and, and, and” format, like: “This happened, and then this happened, and then this happened.” Instead, he suggests formatting them into an “and, but, therefore” structure, like: “This happened, and this happened, but a problem came up. Therefore, this resolved the conflict.” The second example’s narrative heightens the intrigue compared to the first.
In an age where significance and societal impact are of hugely heightened importance in grant applications, we must learn to apply our science’s relevance to the public good. Untranslated and uncommunicated findings will never have the impact they should have if we don’t learn to relay them to affected groups. Olson – for all his quirky, Hollywood-enlightened anecdotes and methods – can teach us how to better engage broader audiences with our science.
Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style
By Randy Olson
Second Edition
Copyright © 2018
Island Press
ISBN13 9781610919173
Page Count: 234
