This document discusses strategies for sharing research stories with the public. It recommends telling stories to educate people, show accountability for tax dollars, and raise the profile of the institution. Sharing stories can help attract students, donors, and partners. The document provides tips on communication channels like print, broadcast, and social media and their pros and cons. It emphasizes choosing channels based on the audience and desired outcome. The document also addresses challenges like limited resources and reluctance of researchers, and provides strategies to overcome these challenges.

1. TELLING OUR STORIES
By Leslie McIntosh, Research Facilitator, Fanshawe College

2. WHY?

3. Why tell our stories?
 Research is of public interest, we have something to share
 Can educate, inform and help improve the human condition, increase
understanding of a complex world and identify solutions
 Lets people know that valuable, useful work is being undertaken
 Shows accountability to taxpayers, i.e., responsible use of tax dollars
 Shows our “people” focus -- socially responsible and community connected
 Raises profile and demonstrates community impact
 Fulfills funders’ requirements to disseminate widely

4. Why should institutions care?
 Perceived by community as valuable community asset worthy of respect and
support
 Seen as a leader
 “Relevant”, “responsible” and “winner” image can attract new research partners,
donors, sponsors, friends, advocates
 Recruitment tool -- prestigious institutions become destinations of choice for
quality graduate and undergraduate students, including international students

5. WHERE?

6. Where can we share stories?
 Employee publications, newsletters (print and electronic)
 Employee and student portals
 Presentation opportunities (e.g., research events, poster presentations, speakers
series, presentations to faculties, departments, service areas or alumni/retiree
groups)
 Employee professional development events
 Meetings/advocacy events hosted by the institution
 Open houses for public
 Community groups and presentations (off campus)

7. Where can we share stories?
 College/university publications (print), e.g., official newspaper, community
report, annual report, alumni magazine, fundraising publications, etc.
 College/university website
 Research Services web pages
 Social media
 External and student news media (media releases/advisories/updates)
 Campus TV or radio programs
 Journals and trade publications

8. HOW?

9. Communication channels
 Print
 Broadcast Media (TV and radio)
 Web (text/photos/blogs, videos, podcasts and live, interactive events)
 Social media

10. • Print isn’t dead, it’s evolving
• Print and online edition readership up for major papers like the Globe and Mail
(+5%), Toronto Star (+7%), Vancouver Sun and The Province (+3%)
• 78% of respondents to a 2012 national survey say they read both print and
online editions of newspapers
• 41% of respondents aged 18-25 read newspapers regularly (print and online),
rising to 64% for respondents over 64
• 18-25 group more likely to read online, 35+ more likely to use print
• Print editions remain the most popular format, with 46% saying they read the
news the day before
• Only 9% say they rely solely on the Internet for news
Source: Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank)
Characteristics -- print

11. Pros and cons -- print
Pro Con
• Labour intensive
• Can be costly to produce, reprint
• News/time sensitive content can
quickly make content dated
• Distribution issues unless a PDF is
available online
• Tangible, familiar, comfortable
• Can be read over time, anytime, most
places
• Some prefer hard copy rather than
onscreen, especially older people
• High credibility – editorial better than
advertising
• Can be saved as PDF file, printed out or
posted to a website

12. • More than 14 million Canadians watch television every weeknight
• 62% of respondents to 2013 survey watch TV and browse the web
simultaneously, and 63% go online to research a product or service seen on TV
• The average viewer spends 23.3 hours per week watching TV
• Local TV stations have detailed information on demographics and ratings per
program, which can vary according to location and type of programming
• Radio listeners spent an average of 18 hours per week in 2007, mostly on music
stations, with senior women spending about 22 hours a week and teens, only
about 7 hours**
• About 10% of radio listeners tune into talk radio**
Sources: Television Viewing Preferences and Online Synergy 2013, Television Bureau of Canada; **Statistics Canada,
Radio Listening Survey, September 2008.
Characteristics -- broadcast

13. Pros and cons – broadcast media
Pro Con
• Little content control
• Hard to target specific audiences
• Fleeting, quickly gone
• Doesn’t do numbers or statistics well
• Can’t cover subject in depth or
complex issues
• Small amount of time devoted to
telling story
• Broad reach, many viewers/listeners,
general audience
• Credible
• TV good for stories with pictures, action
and emotional people stories
• Radio great for sound-based events

14. • 50% of Canadians have a social media profile
• Breakdown for profile is 82% (18-34), 62% (35-54), 43% (55+)
• 45% visit a social media site weekly, 30% visit daily
• Facebook is tops, 86% of social media users have a Facebook profile; 687
million users worldwide, 16.6 million in Canada
• 65% of Facebookers, 55% of Twitter users, 79% of LinkedIn users and 63% of
Pinterest users are aged 35+
• Twitter is #2 after Facebook -- currently more than 500,000 users, 175 million
tweets sent each day
• Women are biggest users of social media; 59% on Twitter, 57% Facebook, 82%
Pinterest
• 71% of Google+ users are men, heavily technical, under 24
• LinkedIn has equal number of men, women, mostly 45+
Sources: Inside Network.com; Social Media Statistics, dazeinfo.com; The State of Twitter 2012, mediabistro.com; Social
Demographics, mashable.com.
Characteristics – social media

15. Pros and cons – social media
Pro Con
• Can’t cover subjects in depth, only
provides headlines, links, due to
character limits, e.g. 140 characters
for Twitter
• Best as a channel to drive traffic to
website
• Posts can disappear quickly as more
items are added at the top and people
may be reluctant to scroll down very
far
• Repetition important
• Immediate and interactive
• People can engage, react and respond
quickly
• Portable, used on all devices and across
all platforms with pictures
• Helps people feel “connected”
• Increasing being adopted by
professionals (LinkedIn)
• Best times early morning and early
evening for most demographics

16. Choosing channels
How, where and when you communicate depends on who you are trying to reach
and what you want to say. Key questions to ask yourself:
 Who is my audience(s)?
 What information am I trying to convey?
 Key message(s)
 Where does this audience get its information?
 What are the expected results?
 What do I want people to do after they receive this information?
 Most people use multiple communication channels, only 9% rely on the Internet
exclusively

17. TIPS

18. Writing for general audiences
• Readers ultimately want to know what the research means for them, their lives
and how it affects people -- put yourself in their shoes
• Keep it simple -- don’t assume people are familiar with the subject
• When interviewing researchers, there is no such thing as a stupid question
• Researchers sometimes don’t see the big picture or the implications, “newsiness”
of their work
• Use plain, clear language, average Canadian reading level is Grade 7, and have a
non-expert read the draft for comprehension

19. REALITY CHECK!

20. Challenges
 Research department is not the marketing department
 May not have resources – people, time, etc.
 Have limited access to website, external media
 Communication and information management policies, branding and corporate
identity rules
 May encounter internal resistance/barriers, e.g., research stories take a back seat
to recruitment and other priorities, people don’t think its news
 Researchers may be shy/reluctant to participate
 Internal politics and agendas

21. Strategies
 Find a champion(s) in senior management who recognizes the value of
communicating research
 Connect with marketing, alumni and development, find out what stories they can
use and provide them, build mutually beneficial alliances
 Ask to be included in media advisories/updates, alumni publications, fundraising
and other promotional materials; consider freelancers to document your stories if
budget permits
 Marketing often busy, not disinterested; find ways to get tips to them about
newsworthy, timely stories
 Prominently feature respected, “early-adopter” researchers who are eager to talk
about projects, others will follow their lead