This document discusses best practices for communicating science to different audiences. It provides guidance on: 1) Preparing presentations by considering the audience, limiting technical jargon, and focusing on the main message. 2) Structuring presentations with an introduction, conclusion, and emphasis on meaning making for the audience. 3) Using techniques like eye contact, body language and varying speech to engage audiences and overcome the "curse of knowledge" where presenters assume more background than listeners have.

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The art and science of communication
Cormac McGrath
Director of Unit for Medical Education
Cormac McGrath
© Erik G Svensson

2. To communicate science
§ Orally present your research and
adjust to different audiences
§ Reflect on presentation skills and
ability to adjust to different audiences
§ Wakefield scandal (Moore, 2006)
§ The “Werther” effect
(Niederkrotenthaler et al 2006)
§ Reporting on suicide
§ Toothpaste
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4. Milestones during the course
§ Introduction
§ Video recorded 4-5 minute
presentation for general public
§ Literature seminar
§ Media facilitated 4-5 minute
presentation
§ Poster presentation (with poster)
§ Individual reflective statement (with
references).
§ Now organize in group after the date
that suits you the best.
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Do’s and dont’s
In pairs
Think about a lecturer/presentation you have seen in action.
Present one/a few things you thought were good
Present one/a few things you thought were less good
What did s/he do?
Create two lists– do’s and dont’s
What should one do as a presenter?
What should one avoid?
List the three most important points in each

7. Quick summary
What?
Why?Who?
How
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8. How would you target these
audiences with your project?
Write down a killer opening
statement for each audience:
§ Basic researchers
§ Clinicians
§ Patient organisations
§ Your grandmother
Adapt your message to the audience
(discuss two and two, 5 minutes)
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9. § Part one
§ Communication,
perception and
learning
§ Part two/three
§ Presentation
technique
§ To communicate a
message
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10. Common Communication myths
§ Good communication has taken place
§ More communication is better
§ Communication ability is innate
§ To communicate a hidden problem exacerbates the problem
§ The message sent is the message received
§ Intellectual intelligence is the same as good communication
§ Communication is unidirectional
§ Learning communication theory makes you a better communicator
§ Communication solves everything
§ Effective communication is about presenting the blunt truth
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11. Classical ways to convince an audience
§ Ethos
§ Logos
§ Pathos
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12. Different communicative contexts
• Scientific contexts
– Conferences
– Seminars
– Thesis defence
• Popular scientific contexts
– Media
– Funding organisations
– Society and patient organisations
– Practitioners
§ Focus of this course is the person
on the street.
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13. How do I get/compete with the audience’s thoughts?
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You need to be more interesting than the audiences’
own thoughts.
§ What am I going to make for dinner?
§ What time do I have practice this afternoon?
§ I wonder what’s bothering my boyfriend/girlfriend?
http://www.hemlin.pp.se/
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14. Lecturing and attention
“Some people talk in their sleep.
Lecturers talk while other people
sleep”
Albert Camus
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15. Attention curve (Bligh 1971)
Start End20-30 min
Where to introduce extra
emphasis?Level of
attention
Lecture
time
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16. Attention
Level of
attention
Effect of rest or change in activity on learning (Biggs, 2003 from Bligh 1971)
Start End Lecture
time
Short brake
Our sensory system adapts to the
humming of the air-conditioner
when it is consistent.
We notice the changes
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17. Information overload
§ Information overload
§ Too much information makes understanding
difficult
§ Cognitive load (Sweller, Merrienboer 2009)
§ Our working memory is limited, overloading impairs understanding
§ Allow time to process new terminology, new concepts and complexity
§ Reduce extraneous load: make it easy for your audience to get and interpret the
message
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18. Biological limitations
of cognitive capacity
• Multi modal information encodes more information/time
and we remember the content better
• Dual coding theory. Visual and verbal channels, where
information are processed in different processes. (Paivio)
• Which sense (channel) is dominant for our perceptions?
Ø Use both images and speech in conjunction and
coherence
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19. Esoteric jargon
§ Given that we have a limited ability to retain information, and then what is your
stance on esoteric jargon in your subjects.
§ Let’s play jeopardy:
§ This is an unobserved exposure associated with the exposure of interest and is a
potential cause of the outcome of interest. This lead to bias that distorts the magnitude of
the relationship between two factors of interest.
§ Suggested by Thomas Kuhn, this is a scientific revolution and completely changes the
way in which science looks at the world.
§ The theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope, and
the distinction between justified belief and opinion
§ Relating to or denoting the side of the body opposite to that on which a particular
structure or condition occurs.
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20. Chunking enhances memory of information
§ 52483612 § 524 836 12 vs. 5
2 4 8 3 6 1 2
§ G.A. Miller (1956) found the
optimal number of chunks to
be 7 when processing
information
§ ”The Magical Number Seven,
Plus or Minus Two”
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21. Interpretation – search for meaning
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22. Meaning making
§ Biological limitations are nessesary to consider, but
not sufficient to ensure understanding and
remembering
§ How do you facilitate meaning making?
§ Relate to previous experience
§ Relate to our needs
§ Who’s your audience?
§ Why should your audience care?
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23. Interpretation
We
§ Relate to previous knowledge
§ Fill in the gaps
§ Disregard information that is
perceived as redundant
We want to understand and make sense of the world!
Create meaning
This is an old house! Don’t flush tampons
down the toilet.
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24. What reaches the consciuos level?
§ We perceive 11 million information bits/second from our senses
§ Only 40 information bits reach the conscious level
§ The conscious experience is delayed with half a second
§ Perceptions reach Cortex after 10-20msek
§ Consciuos experience after 0.5 second
§ Help your audience to sort out impressions to get the core of your message
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25. Paris
in the
the spring
Are you familiar with the saying:
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I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht
I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the
hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in
a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit
and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a
taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm.
Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey
ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig,
huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was
ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.

27. Paris
in the
the spring
Are you familiar with the saying:
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28. How do we focus our audience’s attention?
Selective Attention Awareness
(Simon & Chabris, 1999)
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29. Set the context for interpretation
§ Our expectations or model of the world determines what we see
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30. The curse of knowledge
§ Your everyday knowledge of your topic and scientific field is acquired since many
years. Eventually it becomes transparent to ourselves
§ What does it take for your audience to understand your message?
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31. Can your listener guess the song?
§ Think of a well known song
§ Tap the melody with your finger while someone is listening
§ What are the chances of a correct answer from the listener?
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32. What’s in your mind doesn’t automatically
transfer to the audience
§ Elisabeth Newton had subjects tap
out the melodies of a familiar song
with their finger and predict what
fraction of those songs will be
recognized by a listener.
§ “Tappers” estimation was that 50%
would be recognized
§ the result was 3% recognized songs.
Tappers estimation and listeners correct
guess
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
estimation outcome
percentage
Ref: L. Newton, “Overconfidence in the Communication of Intent: Heard and Unheard Melodies,”
Ph.D. dissertation, (Stanford University, 1990)
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So far
• Good communication takes place when the presenter’s intended
message has been internalised by the listener
• Too much information, inhibits learning and understanding
• Too much one-way talking could be taxing for the audience
• Esoteric Jargon complicates things

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Your presentation
• What is the basic information you wish to convey?
• What is the right amount of information?
• Be specific, share with your partner!
• Critique each other

35. Part two:
Communication and learning
Creating meaning
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Supports memory and learning
§ Meaningsfulness
§ Organisation/structure
§ Practice/execution
§ Repetition
§ Feedback
Ref: Bligh ur Bolander, Good Practice in Lecturing
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Obstructs memory
§ Being passive, inactive
§ Too much information
§ Irrelevance
§ Too fast too furious
Ref: Bligh ur Bolander, Good Practice in Lecturing
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38. Preparation
Preparation– what will I talk about –
gather and filter material
§ To whom will I speak?
§ What will I speak about?
§ Why?
§ Where?
§ When?
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Who?
What? Why?
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Cormac McGrath
Model for planning your speech
Who?
What?Why?
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Target group- Who?
§ Age? Gender?
§ Occupation?
§ Knowledge?
§ Experience?
§ Expectations?
§ Cultural context?
§ Number?
§ Needs?
§ Interest?
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What?
§ Context?
§ Time?
§ Content?
§ How much information?
§ What level?
§ Language (specialist-
general)?
§ Take home message?
§ Media?
Take home message
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§ Introduce?
§ Inform?
§ Inspire?
§ Convince?
Why?
§ To learn?
§ Remember?
§ Understand?
§ Be inspired?
You Them
Purpose
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43. Part three
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How to plan my presentation?
1. Jot down some questions
2. First things first; what is most interesting
1. You
2. Target group
3. Make sure you answer your questions
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Main message
A new filter for measuring air pollution has shown high reliability
Target group: Engineers
Storgatan will be closed for traffic after 15.00 on Friday
Target group: Shop owners
Air pollution in the central areas of Stockholm is a serious health concern
Target Group: Politicans
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46. Execution
§ Body language, eye-contact, voice
§ Variation during the presentation
§ Time & Attitude
§ Script, introduction and conclusion
§ Questions & flexibility
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47. In summary
§ Preparation (who, what, why, how)
§ Structure
§ Practice with an audience
§ Start or finish with main message -
”Take home message”
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48. Modes of persuasion
§ Ethos:
§ Credibility:
§ Logos:
§ Logical arguments, reasoning
§ Pathos:
§ Emotional aspects
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49. Consider your presentation
§ Ethos: who are you? What has
been done in the field previously?
§ Logos: How do you present a
coherent argument from what you
have said? Hrd facts.
§ Pathos: What is the human aspect
of your presentation? Why should
I care?
§ Ethos
§ Pathos
§ Logos
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50. § Ethos: It can be used to gain credibility: "The 1990 consensus reports that fifty
percent of all marriages will end in divorce.”
§ Pathos: Awakens a sense of involvement "Turn and look at the person sitting
next to you. One of the two of you will get a divorce.”
§ Logos: Present the hard facts "Because one out of every two marriages here in
the United States ends in divorce, it is imperative we reform the court system to
have a more fair resolve in settlements for both women and men."
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51. § And they can be blended together:
§ "The 1990 census report has found that 50% of all marriages end in divorce.
That means that one out of every two marriages are not successful. It could be
yours; it could be the person's sitting next to you. And if you are a woman, your
chances of a fair settlement are far lower than if you are a man. We must reform
our court system."
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52. Non-verbal communication, signals
§ Body language
§ Gestures
§ Appearance
§ Requires less cognitive resources to process
§ Can be practiced, but difficult to perform
deliberately when presenting
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53. Summary
§ What is the most important things you picked up so
far?
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54. Some tips
§ Get organized
§ Practice, practice and practice again
§ (in front of the mirror or peers)
§ Time yourself
§ Plan for the unexpected
§ Remember to breathe and find a breathing pattern that suits you. Exercise in
advance works for some!
§ Powerpoint is your greatest friend and your worse enemy
§ Find a subject that people really care about.
§ Know 100 words about each word on your slide
§ Relax
§ Did I say practice?
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Elevator Pitch
Key Points
• Identify your goal.
• Explain what you do.
• Communicate your unique selling point.
• Engage with a question.
• Put it all together.
• Practice.
Try to keep a business card or other take-away item with you, which
helps the other person remember you and your message. And cut out
any information that doesn't absolutely need to be there.

56. Critical analysis
§ How would you introduce your topic? Catch people’s attention?
§ How would you change/tweak the presentation to different audiences?
§ What does grandma need to know?
§ How would you pitch the idea to the HR manager at a local firm?
§ Why should KI fund your research?
§ Considering Ethos/Pathos/Logos, how would you adapt the presentation to
incorporate those aspects of public speaking?
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57. Wrapping things up
§ Make sure what you want to say
§ Plan it carefully!
§ Lighten up on the details!
§ Focus on a clear Take home message
§ Adopt different modes of persuasion
§ Ethos
§ Logos
§ Pathos
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58. Resources
§ http://www.ted.com/talks
§ http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/04/
§ http://rhetoric.byu.edu/
§ http://www.toastmasters.org/tips.asp
§ http://www.hemlin.pp.se/
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