 Hello everyone welcome back. Do you now all know how to publish papers and you're itching to get back to the hotel to start? Well welcome back. We have one more session before lunch and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. We're switching gears a little bit and we have, and I know I say this a lot, but two of my favorite people, and this is actually a true one. We have two excellent facilitators right now for this session on successful communication with reporters, policymakers, and funders and David Hosansky and Rachel Hauser will introduce themselves a little bit and say what they do here at UCAR and NCAR and I invite you to really enjoy the session and play with them. I'm pretty sure they have some activity for you prepared. They'll make you work hard, but enjoy and please welcome Rachel and David. Hi everyone. I'm David Hosansky. I oversee media relations here at NCAR and UCAR and Rachel Hauser is a communications expert and she focuses on partnerships with different organizations, foundations, nonprofits, and others and we're here today to talk about communicating with different audiences. We're going to focus, as you could see, on reporters, policymakers, and funders, so we're going to kind of blather at you for about 12 minutes or well, I'll blather. You'll be imparting wisdom for about 12 minutes or so and then we're going to give you a little exercise and if we have time maybe talk about that a little bit. So I'll start and I'm going to talk about communicating with reporters and by the way, one thing that you'll notice in this talk is there are some techniques in common for communicating with all these audiences and there are some techniques that are specific to the audiences. So let's go to reporters and the first question is why talk to reporters and the answer to be honest for a lot of scientists is there is no good reason or no reason good enough and we have plenty of scientists at NCAR who've spent their entire careers not, you know, not really talking with reporters and that's completely fine but there are some advantages to talking with reporters and I guess we'll highlight these. You can see the first couple of bullets, more frequent citations, new collaborations. So research has shown that studies that are highlighted in the media tend to attract more citations and that's because more people know about them. I mean we all get information from the media. Collaborations when we put out a news release, almost invariably we'll hear back from the scientists later that he or she heard from potential collaborators in the US or overseas who found out about the research through the media coverage. So it's a good way of getting more attention to your work and potentially it could generate additional research directions. In addition, supported by NSF, so NSF and the other funding agencies like it when there was media coverage. In fact, even if there's not a lot of media coverage, even just having a news release about your work is something that can elevate, get some attention at the funding agencies. We do have stories. There was one about a year ago of a reporter who was doing work funded by NASA. The news release went to NASA for their approval and the response to the program officers was, oh, we should get more money into this. This is actually getting a lot of attention. And then increased scientific literacy. That's scientific literacy among the public. So a more general goal here is the more the public knows about science, the more they support science, the better it is for taxpayer science. With that said, you'll see the blue in the bottom says, but remember the risks. There's the risk of being misquoted. There's the risk of your research being not quite characterized correctly in the press. Typically what we'll see in that case is it's overstated a little bit. Maybe it's somewhat incremental and it comes across as groundbreaking. And I, I'm not even a scientist and I have had issues. I was kind of, my comments were taken all out of context a couple of weeks ago in the New York Times on an issue relating to turbulence. But bear in mind that we all know that the media gets things wrong sometimes. So if your colleagues see something that's not quite right, you could always say to them, hey, the reporter got it wrong. And, and that's true. And I used to be a reporter. There are great reporters, but we all know reporters make mistakes. So to minimize the chances of being misquoted, there are some techniques to use. So this is a longer talk that I'm boiling down. I'm just highlighting three techniques here. Magnify two to four key messages. Before the interview, think about the key things that you want the reporter to know. What's unique about this research? What's special about this research? What tools or techniques did you develop to, to do the research? How does it benefit society? How does it relate to society? Folks who have not talked to reporters much have this view that when they do an interview, they're just going to kind of sit there passively and answer the questions and it's the reporter who does all the work. In fact, what we stress is it's the opposite. That you should go into the interview prepared. You should know what your key points are and kind of help to guide the interview. You have to respond to the reporter's questions. But once you respond, bring in a key message. The second technique I want to talk about is jargon. So jargon, try to stay away from it and when you're preparing for an interview, think about the terms that you should, that may not work. Reporters typically are not going to understand terms like boundary layer or aerosols or tropopause. At best, they won't understand it. At worst, they'll think they understand it and they'll get it wrong. And this was actually a problem a few years ago with an IPCC report that was previewed by a London newspaper that got a look at it in advance and the reporter saw the word aerosols and what came out was a connection between spray can use and climate change and it sounded like if only enough for spray cans, global warming would not be an issue and it took some time to kind of reeducate people around that. Finally, answer the last question. Most interviews end with the reporter saying, is there anything else you'd like to add? And you know, you've talked to this reporter maybe 20 minutes, maybe 30 minutes, you've covered everything and you're like, no, we've covered it all. Don't do that. That last question is like a gift to you and use it. If there's a talking point that you haven't brought out, then now's the time to do it. If you've covered everything, then what you could say is, let me just emphasize again, here's the key thing about this research. It's amazing how often the last thing you say is what appears near the top of an article. That's often what makes the most impression, biggest impression. At the bottom, it says help them by meeting their deadlines and being concise. Reporters are very deadline driven, be mindful of it. The more concise you can be, the more focused, the better. I'm going to now turn it over to Rachel, who's going to talk about communicating with policy makers. So I want to talk to you a little bit about talking to elected officials. You'll have an opportunity throughout your career to talk to elected officials, whether it's at a state level, a local level or federal level. And just as a heads up, they are going to be excited for the most part to see you. I haven't experienced yet one who isn't. The catch is with these guys, you're going to have to speak quickly. And so you're going to have to have your phone, your message, know what your story is, do your homework and know what their issues are because they are going to be on tight deadlines. They have a lot of meetings. If you're lucky, you're going to get 10 minutes with them. And oftentimes, you will not be talking to an official, you'll be talking to a staffer. And typically these guys are in their 20s. They are very smart. They're very eager. And if they're interested in what you're doing, it's really important because they will then run it up the flagpole to their boss, sorry. And so you can get potentially an advocate for your researcher for whatever your ask is. So let me just, I guess, tell you a few things. Yeah, so frame story by its relevance. So know what the legislature's agenda is. Know what bills they're sponsoring. For example, your senator might be working with the farmers in your area or in their voting district on trying to prevent flooding and drought issues and sort of finding an advance. So if your research tags onto that, make sure you talk about that in terms of, you know, with regard to what your research is and what you want from them. Also critical, who do they care about? They care about their voters. So it's also important to know what's going on in the region where their district is. So what are the voters interested in? Whatever interests the voters fascinates the legislator. So it's a good thing to consider. I think whenever you talk to anyone, whether it's the media or whether it's an elected official or whomever, if they're not a scientist, really think about how does your research fit into the societal picture? And then frame it that way. So how is it relevant to the public and how the public's concerns are? How can you enhance safety? How can you enhance the economy? That sort of thing. Be concise. And this really goes back. And so this is another thing that David was saying, but in this particular sense, it's really, it's about that 10 minute timeline. You've got just a quick opportunity to impress them and you will. But just know that, you know, you've only got that little bit of time and to try to use it as well as you can. And the last thing is go in with an ask. So what does an ask an ask is basically, these guys are there to help you. And they're fine with helping you. They expect you to ask them for help. So your ask could be something as general. Well, it'd be great if you ask if you supported NSF to fund the atmospheric sciences, or it could be, you know, you could specifically hone in on your research and say, this is a research project that would be terrific to be funded. And we're having some problems getting the funding. And here's how it would benefit you, your agenda, your your voters. And then the last thing to just mention to you is, don't be afraid ever all the universities and most organizations have a government relations person as does you car. So if you're if you're stuck come to you car, and we're happy to help you. But go to your government relations people for help, they can do the introductions to legislators, they can help you prepare your your 10 minute talk to legislators. They can give you great guidance and really good feedback on on the conversations that you can have with these folks. So yeah, take advantage of that. With that, I'm going to turn it back to David. Thank you, Rachel. You're welcome. And I just want to piggy back on something the last thing you said, which I always forget to say, which is when you land, excuse me, when you land at a university or another organization, if you want to reach out to the media, get to know their media office. Media folks are very good. What we do here is anytime that we think scientists can get a lot of calls, we'll sit down with the scientists do some media practice, do a practice interview, and that could be really helpful. So I'm going to talk briefly about talking to funders. You may, in the course of your career, find yourself reaching out to potential funders, maybe from the private sector, or foundations. But in this case, I'm going to focus on agencies, NSF, or other funding agencies, and specifically on program officers. And really, this whole slide, the one bullet, the first bullet, stay in touch is the key takeaway. I was talking to an NSF program officer last week, and she said one of her big regrets when she was in academia was kind of keeping her head low and not bothering her program officer. She thought, you know, she didn't want to bother everybody. People are busy. And now that she's a program officer at NSF, she realizes, hey, program officers want to hear from scientists. They want to know what's going on. So don't be shy. You know, if you're in Washington, you can get a few minutes with your program officer. As with everything else, be concise, be mindful of their time. You know, a 15 to 20 minute meeting is plenty to talk about your research and your aspirations and that sort of thing. Learn about their interests. It may be that your program officer, once upon a time, was engaged in research quite similar to yours, which would be a nice connection. Or maybe their research is different than yours, but that's a good thing to know about. It could help you explain your research. Checking in about possible proposals. So if you have an idea, particularly if it's a little bit different than what you've done before, it's a good idea to let your program officer know. They're going to be limited in the feedback they can give you. But if it's kind of outside the area, they can say, you know what, you should probably talk to this other program officer, or they can just kind of give you some general guidance on your idea, some helpful feedback. And finally, provide updates. When agencies are funding research, they want to hear when your research gets published. This is particularly important for field projects. I mean, we in the communications office, here from NSF, hey, you know, there was this field project a few years ago. Do you know there are papers coming out from that? So when there's that kind of moment, do you let your program officer know? Because that's a nice moment. That's kind of a win. So in conclusion, just summing up here for successful communications, think about what your goals are, why are you talking to this person, why are you talking to this audience? Decide on key messages in advance, kind of do your homework and think that through. Know your audience, whether it's a policymaker who's got constituents or particular issues they're working on, or a reporter who's writing for a particular audience, or a funder with research focus. And be concise and be clear. Just think about the jargon. So that concludes our brief slides. We're now going to pivot to an exercise which involves creating a one-minute elevator speech. And Rachel has been working on hers. We've worked on it together. Yeah, it was an interesting process. So we're going to, she's going to give an example, and then we're going to explain how we'd like you to kind of take it away from there. So, Miss Houser. Mr. Hosanski, what a pleasure to meet you. Are you going to the 20th floor? I am going to the 20th floor. Well, we've got a minute then. Well, fabulous. Let me tell you all about what I'm working on. So I do relationship development for the Engineering Proclimate Extremes Partnership. And that is a program that is run out of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. It's a pretty cool program. It's very unusual. So what we do is we bring together academics and we bring industry folks and we bring indigenous groups and other NGOs as well as government organizations. And the goal of this group is to try to develop tools and applications for decision makers to help them plan and manage around extreme events. So one of the examples of an application that we're developing is we're getting information to insurers that provides more information on hurricane damage potential. Another one is we are taking climate scenarios, which are usually really tough to use by an ordinary mortal. And we're taking those and we're providing them to urban planners so that they can look five, ten, twenty, a hundred years into the future and then that will help guide their infrastructure design. So what we're looking for at ESEP is we're looking for new partners. We're looking for great ideas for things to do in terms of the next steps. And then we're also looking for funding for applications. And so ESEP, the Engineering for Climate Extremes partnership is the goal is to strengthen society's resilience to weather and climate extremes. Thank you. Very interesting. So the key takeaway here is whenever you go into an elevator, have your speech there. So this was actually an interesting exercise. I actually one time was in a class and we're supposed to make elevator speeches and I really was lousy at it, which was quite humbling. Which surprises me. Well, I don't know. But anyway, talk a little bit about the challenges here. There were a number of challenges. So first of all I'm a writer and so when I write I tend to, there are far too many words. Like I fall in love with the words and so this was maybe a three paragraph long speech originally. Secondly, I rely on the fact that I speak very quickly. And David, this is actually relatively slow for me. So David reminded me, okay slowly, slow it down, see if you can do it in a minute. And you know, with all the extra stuff it took me about, it was close to two minutes, even speaking quite quickly. So that was interesting. I think you got it down to a minute. Then I got it down to a minute. Speaking more slowly. Yeah, and it's interesting. By taking out the words, so you saw that that last phrase I really have a hard time with. I always have a hard time with that. So I need to translate it into my own words and I was able to do that with everything else. And that was one of the benefits of taking away some of the words. So with that, David's going to tell you. Well, yes, go ahead. You're bringing me back in. Yes, that's always a good practice. Yeah. So I also just want to say one more thing about Rachel's elevator speech, which I thought came out really well. Not to overanalyze it, but elements in it that were good for elevator speeches is kind of an overview of what the program is. Some specific examples of what it does. And this is universal, whether it's a particular research area or Rachel's case, a program that's more applied. Yeah. Third, kind of what are the societal implications? Fourth, an ask. I mean, you said looking for new partners and whatnot. We're looking for money. We're looking for money. So this is not an end. I don't mean to say when you do your elevator speeches, you're going to say, Hey, you know, can you spare a dollar or something like that? But even if your research is more esoteric, elements of, you know, why are you excited by it? Why is this important? If there's any kind of societal tie in, it's worth mentioning. If there's any kind of, here's what would make the research even better. So your ask might not be money. It might be, you know, I would love to find collaborators. I would love to find experts in this particular area to make connections. That sort of thing. So what we're going to do is we're going to give you five minutes. Okay. So basically you're going to create your own one minute elevator speeches. We're going to start with you just getting your heads around this, maybe jotting some notes down where you could try to explain your research. We're going to pair you off. Yeah, I was going to get to that. We fight all the time. And then so five minutes on that. And then we're going to ask you to, we'll tell you when the five minutes are up and then we'll ask you to pair off. Ideally with somebody you don't know and I don't know if you all know each other and you're sitting with friends but if you're bold enough to maybe find a stranger and you'll be kind of practicing these elevator speeches for about ten minutes. One of you will go, the other will provide feedback, the other will go, hopefully have enough time for each of you to try it twice. Did I, is that good? I bet that there won't be enough time to try twice. But yes, perfect summary. Okay. So should we start the five minutes now? Start the five minutes now. And then we'll give you a heads up. We have a couple questions. Yes. That's really excellent. Oh, that's a good question. Man, that's a good one. We need to think of that. I would, I would create your audience, whatever audience you want to direct it to. Yeah, who do you care about? Right. Yeah. And I would say that elevator speeches, the idea of this exercise is to explain your research succinctly and in, in relatively everyday terms that resonate with a wide degree of audiences. So yeah, it's a good idea to say this elevator speech is geared for this particular audience, but ideally it won't have to be reshaped too much to, to work for other audiences who are not specific in your field. Any other questions? Okay. So guys, you've got five minutes to just, I know this is a very compressed presentation, but five minutes to get some thoughts around an elevator speech. Sounds good. Yeah. Can you get the tie run? I actually can. Yeah. Oh, good. Okay. Yeah, 11.41. So that was fun. Oh, that was fun. Yeah, cool. That's a good one. That's a good one, right? That's a good question. That was good. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, as you said, it's amazing succinct. It's so ambide. I know. So we put a new question in here. I know. That was huge. His door was closed at the front. One here is closed, and the other is closed. I mean, that's the kind of, that's what I made for, where you have to do, you know, a cute, enthusiastic person who's got all the time you can help a little bit, and really get something out of it. It was, it was right, right? Like once a year, once in 18 months or so, all of a sudden, I look at it for my own personal, I mean, it's, it's great. Yeah. Sorry, but just working on your own, are they? Yeah, just working on your own, and then we're all, you think people know each other? Yeah, I'll also announce it. Go ahead, David. I think there is. Well, so everybody, just to clarify, we'll tell you when those five minutes are up. So for now, just working on your own to draw up those elevator speeches, and then we'll guide you to the next step. What? Maybe we'll be able to guide you? Yes. Rachel will guide you to the next step. You've got about another 30 seconds or so. We're slave drivers. Usually you are. Okay, let's try pairing off. So if you could find a partner again, ideally, somebody who you don't know, I know that could be hard. And you've got about 10 minutes to, you know, switch off, yeah, to wow them. One of you will give your elevator speech, then if the partner can give feedback, the partner goes, you give feedback, that kind of thing. So are we good? Okay.