Introduction to why universities and other research institutions employ science/medical communicators, and what their role is and how they can coordinate among communicators from different areas of the same institution or across institutions. Also includes slides on public understanding of science.

1. Communicating for a
Research Institution
Kara Gavin, M.S.
Lead Public Relations Representative,
Michigan Medicine
Dept. of Communication & IHPI

2. Who am I?
• Member of Michigan Medicine Dept. of Communication
and the communication team at IHPI
• Trained in biology, science writing & journalism
• Cover health care research, mental health, primary care
• 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 people’s 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. Members of
the U-M
research &
medical
community
• 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. 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 & 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

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

10. 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

11. 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

12. Institutions as a direct source
• Traditional news media’s
gatekeeper role is eroding
with its business model
• Big institutions can be
trustworthy news sources
• Everyone is a publisher

14. 14
michiganhealthlab.org
michiganhealthblog.org
The rise of institutional
“brand journalism”
• Our own “news organization”
• Sharing cutting-edge research news &
clinical stories/advice daily
• 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)

15. Coordinating among communicators
Every entity wants to:
• Communicate to its stakeholders
• Have its role recognized
• Put its experts or leaders forward
• Attract new followers/subscribers
(and donors!)

16. Communicators from across an institution
(& collaborating institutions) should:
• Proactively reach out to one another
• Have rules of thumb about division of labor
• Agree on key messages, timing & tactics
• Keep one another informed
• Consider sensitivities/limitations

17. 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 (especially since COVID-19)
Journalists or
social media users
Press release
but little data
“Raw” version
online
Occasional
publicity

18. 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

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
• Source won’t see their questions or story ahead of time

20. Prepping experts for media interactions
• 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. More resources
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/

23. 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

24. • 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?

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

26. Passive
voice

27. 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)

28. 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

29. 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)

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

31. 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

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

33. Does it pass the Dinner Table Test?

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

35. 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!

36. Confusion

37. 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

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