{"id":2960,"date":"2016-01-19T12:32:30","date_gmt":"2016-01-19T17:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/?p=2960"},"modified":"2016-10-27T08:52:26","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T12:52:26","slug":"how-to-make-research-relevant-to-the-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2016\/how-to-make-research-relevant-to-the-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Tools: How to make research relevant to the media"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Amy Richardson, CFICE Communications RA<\/em><\/p>\n

You\u2019re an academic who\u2019s uncovered groundbreaking research after years of testing. You know the topic inside and out; you\u2019re the expert. A news agency calls you to talk about your findings and you couldn\u2019t be more excited. While conducting the pre-interview, they ask you to simplify the complex terms and cut the jargon. But you\u2019re an expert, you thought it was ALREADY simple. What now?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Beth Gorham, the manager of Public Affairs at Carleton University, helps researchers make their findings relevant to the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur main goal when we deal with researchers and academics is to help them get their message across in a really accessible way,\u201d Gorham says.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Gorham, the Department of University Communications<\/a> and the Carleton University Research Office<\/a> work together to encourage the Carleton community to spread the word about what\u2019s happening at Carleton and the great things they are researching. They emphasize using storytelling techniques that will peak your audience\u2019s interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the main ways we try and support (researchers and academics) is through understanding their audience and how they have to take very complex subjects and present them in accessible, meaningful ways,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get very specific and tell them: don\u2019t use big numbers, round stuff off and create an image in people\u2019s minds. Don\u2019t say 6000 metres, instead say the length of two football fields. These are all things that are part of natural storytelling and creating a narrative that\u2019s simple yet compelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another trick, Gorham says, is to imagine that they\u2019re speaking to someone in particular that they know, maybe their mother, spouse or cousin \u2013 someone who isn’t an expert on the topic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not dumbing it down,\u201d she says. \u201cAll it\u2019s doing is taking it to a level that respects your audience so people aren\u2019t flipping the channel or turning the page; they\u2019re listening to you. And the reason they’re listening to you is because you\u2019ve got something to tell them that they find compelling and they want to know.\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really emphasize that they’re experts. The rest of the world is not. [The audience wants] to know the practical results of their research \u2013 what is the bottom line here? How is it benefitting the world and in what way?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Gorham and Maria McClintock, editor of Internal Communications, offer media training and sessions on an array of topics, such as writing opinion pieces.<\/p>\n

Gorham says they show researchers video clip examples of the right and wrong ways to talk to the media. They also record the researcher on camera so they can see how they look before an on air interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have bad habits. If you can\u2019t see it, you can\u2019t internalize it. Even if you cringe when you watch yourself on TV, you have to watch yourself. You just don\u2019t know what those bad habits are if you don\u2019t see them.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also work with researchers on how to prepare for pre-interviews.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always tell them that you might as well consider the pre-interview, the<\/em> interview. If (the news outlets) don\u2019t find you’re giving them good quotes or context in the pre-interview, you\u2019ll never make it to the real thing. You have to treat it just as seriously. All the advice we give them about the real interview applies to the pre-interview.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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While conducting the pre-interview, they ask you to simplify the complex terms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[92,1,98,99],"tags":[381,469,471,468,470,466,161,467],"yoast_head":"\nTools: How to make research relevant to the media - Community First<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Amy Richardson, CFICE Communications RA You\u2019re an academic who\u2019s uncovered groundbreaking research after years of testing. 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