BU Scientists Get a Lesson in Telling Their Stories
Alan Alda, famous for his roles in M*A*S*H* and PBS’s Scientific American Frontiers, made a guest appearance on the Medical Campus – via video recording, that is. On Oct. 21, the School of Medicine welcomed faculty from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science for a one-day workshop to help BU scientists communicate their work more effectively to the public, policymakers, funders, policymakers and colleagues.
Forty-one scientists from the Medical and Charles River campuses learned how to communicate their work, connect with their audience, and speak clearly and conversationally about why their work matters by attending two three-hour workshops on improvisation and message delivery.
Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs Suzanne Sarfaty, MD, previously had attended a workshop at the Alda Center at Stony Brook University in New York and was eager to bring the workshop to the Medical Campus. “I was so impressed with the thinking behind and the power of the program,” she said. “I knew it would be a valuable experience for our scientists and would enrich the BU community.”
During the “Distilling Your Message” workshop, participants had to explain their research as though they were pitching their story to a TV show producer, a non-scientist. The scientists practiced finding common ground with an audience, speaking at different levels of complexity for different audiences, and answering questions about their work. Later, the “Improvisation for Scientists” workshop used improv theater techniques to help participants speak more spontaneously and responsively with their audience.
The improvisation exercises were particularly helpful for Isabel Dominguez, PhD, assistant professor of hematology and medical oncology, who says she was excited to share the ideas and techniques with her lab colleagues and trainees. “This was a very valuable workshop that I feel will make me better at explaining my work and better able to train others in my lab to be more effective in telling their ‘stories’ as well,” she said.
The exercises challenged BU scientists, through both discussion and practice, to pay close attention to others and be aware of the two-way nature of communication.