Given to University of Michigan Medical School graduate student class Pharmacology 502 Fall 2021

1. Talking to
the “real world”
Kara Gavin, M.S.
Lead Public Relations Representative,
Michigan Medicine
Dept. of Communication & IHPI
Communicating Science
to General Audiences

2. Who am I?
• Member of Michigan Medicine Dept. of Communication
• Trained in biology, science writing & journalism
• Cover health care research, mental health, basic science
• 20+ years’ experience publicizing research

3. • Find & tell stories
• Handle news media inquiries
• Push stories out any way I can
• Help researchers understand/use
communication channels
What do I do?

4. Why does U-M have staff like me?
• our institution’s work should reach people who care
• our expertise can have impact
• taxpayers & policymakers who fund research
need to know what they’re paying for
• most people need science/medicine translated
• it’s easier than ever
Because…

5. You
• Papers
• Talks/posters
• Tweets/posts
• Commentaries
Comm
Staff
• U-M/Michigan Med.
• School/college
• Center/institute/dept.
The
world
• Reporters
• Policymakers
• Advocates
• Clinicians & Patients
• Funders/Donors
• Professional societies
• Industry
• General public
The U-M
communications
ecosystem

6. Who are we
communicating to,
and why?

7. 1.8%
98.2%
STEM ~ 5.7M Everyone else ~310M
STEM workforce vs. US population
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2016/nsb20161/#/report/chapter-3/u-s-s-e-workforce-
definition-size-and-growth

8. Literacy statistics
Program for the International Assessment of Adult
Competencies (PIAAC) 2017

9. Science literacy of American adults
•20% can explain how to study something scientifically
•34% can describe how to test a drug
•55% say that astrology is “not at all scientific”
•25% say that genetic modification of crop plants
could be “very” or “extremely dangerous.”
•56% say animal research is acceptable
Science and Engineering Indicators, 2014 report

10. What do they think about science?
Pew Research Center’s US survey 2019 (left) and International
Science Survey 2019–2020 (right)

11. How do
views of
science
vary by
political
leaning?
Pew Research Center’s International Science Survey 2019–2020

12. What do they know?
•71%: mental illness is a medical condition that
affects the brain
•69%: a genetic code in cells helps determine
who we are
•53%: childhood vaccines are safe and
effective
•31%: life evolved through natural selection
AP poll published April 2014;
1,012 adults rated themselves extremely confident or very confident in a
scientific concept

13. Are genetically modified foods safe to eat?
Scientists: 88% Public: 37%
Should childhood vaccines be required?
Scientists: 86% Public: 68%
Is research involving animals OK?
Scientists: 89% Public: 47%
Did humans “evolve”?
Scientists: 98% Public: 65%
The survey of the general public was conducted using a probability-based sample of the adult population by landline and
cellular telephone Aug. 15-25, 2014, with a representative sample of 2,002 adults nationwide.
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/29/public-and-scientists-views-on-science-and-society/
Public views vs. scientists’ views

14. Where they’re getting science info
Pew Research Center – Sept. 2017
http://www.journalism.org/2017/09/20/science-news-and-information-today/
81% watch
science-related
entertainment
media

15. Researchers & policymakers
• Policy should be based on evidence
• Formal testimony, informal
conversations, service on advisory
committees, briefs & one-pagers
• Staffers may have little or no
medical/scientific background
• Tendency to seize on controversies
and what’s in the news

16. Traditional
News Media

17. For 200 years…
•Information flowed to the public
from officials via gatekeepers:
• News media
• Entertainment & publishing industry
• Educators & librarians
•Journalists as the ‘fourth estate’ of society
•Academic research & PR since WWII

18. Media reporting of science
•Shares results of research – much of it
taxpayer funded
•Changes health behavior & oversight of
science
•Influences public support of scientific
initiatives and legislation
•BUT – is declining in quantity as business
model changes

19. What makes a reporter tick?
• Most serve a general audience
• Little scientific knowledge
• Need to know implications for ordinary people
• Most are on tight deadlines
• Most have little space/time to tell the story
• ALL value their independence
• You probably won’t see the questions or their story
ahead of time

20. Tips for media interactions
• Prepare three key points
• Have supporting statistics & context ready
• Use layperson’s terms & conversational tone
• Respect deadlines
• Understand the news outlet
• Assess reporter’s level of understanding
• Respect their independence

21. Use the time AHEAD of publication
The “Scout’s honor” embargo
system for research news
• Institution/journal reaches
out to reporters a few days ahead
• Reporter agrees not to publish or broadcast
results until a set date/time
• Used by all major journals &
scientific/medical societies

22. The embargo system
•Increases the newsworthiness
of research news
•Gives institutions time to prepare
text, graphics, video
•Gives reporters time to prepare
stories on complex issues, and
increases accuracy/balance

23. Preprints & “science by press release”
Do
research
Compile
results
Give talks
or posters
Write
papers
Get peer-
reviewed
Make
changes
Get
published
Maybe
publicity
Traditional medical & scientific process
Do
research
Compile
results
Write a
preprint
Post to
server
Get peer-
reviewed
Make
changes
Get
published
Seek
publicity
Accelerated/altered path since COVID-19
Journalists or
social media users
Press release
but little data
“Raw” version
online
Occasional
publicity

24. A new era of communication
• Traditional news media’s
gatekeeper role is eroding
• Big institutions are
trustworthy news sources
• Everyone is a publisher

25. Now, everyone can be a publisher.

26. What does this mean for science?
• Patients, donors, advocates find info on their own
• Social media reaches people directly
• Visuals are vital
• Rapid response to crisis/controversy is expected
If it’s not on the Web,
and not easily found,
it doesn’t exist!

27. 27
michiganhealthlab.org
michiganhealthblog.org
“Brand journalism”
• Our own “news organization”
• Sharing cutting-edge research news &
clinical stories
• Aimed at professionals & public
• Jump on timely news topics quickly
• Shared on web, social media and email
• Optimized for search engine visibility
• 8.5M total views in FY21 (July 2020-June 2021)

28. Track research “buzz” via Altmetrics
• Aggregates activity around journal articles:
• media coverage
• blog posts
• social media activity
• Traces links to/mentions of papers by DOI
• Assigns a score & percentile
• Not perfect! But getting better

29. But there can never be
enough people like ME
to tell the public about
what people like YOU do.

30. You can communicate directly!
• Your own tweets, LinkedIn posts, website
• Grant applications
• IRB-reviewed materials
• Journals and major meetings
• Reaching scientists in other disciplines
• Talking to donors, legislators
• Public events:
Nerd Nite, Science Café, Science by the Pint, TED

31. So…
how about
some tips?

32. • What are they looking for?
• What do they know about the topic?
• Why should they care?
• Will they understand your jargon,
acronyms, abbreviations?
Who’s Your Audience?

33. Logical
organization
“You” and
other
pronouns
Active voice
Common,
everyday
words
Short
sentences,
short
paragraphs
Easy-to-read
design
features
Key principles

34. Passive
voice

35. Make it clear who does what:
• A frog was swallowed.
• Fred swallowed a frog.
Avoids awkwardness:
• Eye examinations and vision tests are covered in the plan.
• This plan covers eye exams and vision tests.
Saves time:
• The application must be completed by the applicant and
received by the financial office by June 1st. (17 words)
• We must receive your application
by June 1st. (8 words)

36. Don’t be afraid of pronouns!
•Pull readers into a document and
make it relevant to them
•Reader needs to do less “translation”
•Humanizes scientists
•Let you eliminate a lot of words
•Your team = “we”
•The reader = “you”
•Define who’s who

37. Jargon
(Words that are not in the common vocabulary, or words that people
in a certain field use in a different way from how others use them)

38. Use common words
YES!
Use
Help
Method
Needs
Limits
NO!
Utilize
Facilitate
Methodology
Necessitates
Parameters

39. Avoid:
•Undefined abbreviations & acronyms
• Spell them out, give the acronym, and use it
•Multiple terms for the same thing
• Brain tumor, brain cancer
and brain neoplasm
•Strings of nouns
•“Surface water quality protection procedures”
…and by using illustrations & glossaries

40. If you can’t
avoid it,
EXPLAIN it!

41. Does it pass the Dinner Table Test?

42. Imagination
Emotions
Senses
Bring your work
ALIVE by
engaging the
audience’s…

43. Testing readability
• Flesch-Kincaid readability test:
• File  Options  Proofing
• Show Readability Statistics.
• Define scientific terms, take them
out of the text temporarily, run
Spelling check.
• If you get a score over
8th grade, revise!

44. Confusion

45. Place words carefully
• Keep subjects & objects
close to their verbs
• Put conditionals such as
“only” or “always” next to
words they modify

46. Short sentences & paragraphs
• More manageable,
• Less intimidating
• Avoid confusion
• White space and headings:
clues to what’s important
• One subject in each sentence
• One topic in each paragraph
• introduce your topic in the first sentence

47. What should you aim for?
• Average sentence length:
20 words
• Maximum sentence length:
40 words
• One subject per sentence,
one topic per paragraph

48. Good design helps understanding
• Use bulleted lists
• Add blank space for easy reading
• Show all items or steps in a
process
• Make a table to save words

49. DO NOT WRITE IN ALL CAPITALS.
IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ.
Instead:
Emphasize critical information by putting it in a box
Put important words/phrases in bold print
Change font color for emphasis
Increase the font size to make key info stand out

50. During the first phase of your treatment you will
be receiving chemotherapy and radiation at the
same time, this is also called “concurrent”
treatment. This phase will last for 10 weeks and
includes six weeks of treatment and a four week
break at the end. After the break you will have
an MRI and lab work done, and then may start
cyclic Temodar treatment, which is discussed in
another handout.

51. Weeks 1-5 Radiation Monday-Friday
Temodar every day
Labs/Blood draw once a week
Weeks 6-10 Break
At the end of the 10th week:
MRI and labs
Week 11 Start cyclic Temodar treatment

52. I need more help!
Resources for communicating with press & public
https://www.slideshare.net/KaraGavin
AAAS Communication Toolkit
https://www.aaas.org/resources/communication-toolkit
NIH Checklist for Communicating Science & Health to the Public:
http://michmed.org/EzD1O
Logos, photos, templates:
U-M: http://vpcomm.umich.edu/brand/home
Michigan Medicine: http://www.med.umich.edu/branding/

53. Your duty as a scientist
•Engage with laypeople of all kinds
•Speak their language
•Listen, don’t just tell
•Don’t just hope someone else will do it!
•See it as part of your career