The Top Five Communication Skills All Scientists Need To Know

Last post I told you that scientists need good communication skills.

1.    Analyze Your Audience.

Ask yourself, “Who is my audience?”

Are
they other scientists who are already familiar with the terms you are
using to describe your research or are they “lay non scientist people”
such as angel investors or individuals who need your research explained
in the simplest terms possible?

If it is a mixed audience
of both groups, you will need to remember to be sure and explain your
terms and concepts in both simplistic and scientific terms so you don’t
lose your audience.

2.    Figure Out Your Key Points
     
      Ask yourself: What Are My Three to Five Key Points?
 
This
is a really tough thing to do for scientists, technical people or
engineers. The problem I have observed is that these groups of speakers
are usually so excited about communicating as much as possible about
their topic, they usually overload their audiences with too much
information as result.

I always tell these clients, “You can get all the information eventually to your audiences, just not all at the same time!”

Figure out your top three to a maximum of five key points and stick to them.

3.    Look At The Language and The Power Point Slides of Your Speech

Ask yourself: How can I write this speech in such simple terms that no one will be left out in terms of their understanding?

Once
you know who your audience is and what they don’t know or know already
about your topic, go back and look at your speech and simplify the
language.

Do your best to lay out your research for your
audience in terms that are easy to understand and with as little
technical scientific jargon as possible.

Also don’t overload
your audience with too many Power Point slides with too much technical
information. If you can focus more on the stories about what your
research will do and the impact it will have, you are more likely to
get your audience excited.

We as human beings are not hard wired in our brains for numbers. We do love and remember stories more than anything else.

4.    Strategically Anchor Your Speech

Ask yourself: What is my strategy for this speech?

This
is where a great communications or media like myself come in. There are
always different strategies available to you for communicating
information depending on what your target is.

Aristotle said,
“Begin with the end in mind.” This is true for a scientific speech as
well. Figure out what your key objectives are and then write your
speech to hit that target.

5.    Get Some Coaching On Your Delivery

Ask yourself: Am I delivering my ideas and research in the most effective way possible?

A few hours of great coaching can make all the difference in terms of how your information is both understood and received.

If
you are used to being focused on the lens of a microscope and not on
talking with people, you really need to get some presentation coaching.
A few hours spent on learning how to lift your material up off the page
into a compelling speech is absolutely imperative if you want to move
your audience and get them engaged in your research enough to consider
funding it.

In Conclusion

My experience with scientists
is that with just a few hours of help with their writing and
presentation skills, it can make all the difference.  With improved
communication skills, most can make huge leaps forward in both their
communication of their ideas and their ability to move an audience
toward funding both them and their research.