Let's Talk SciComm

Staring down a big deadline and suddenly overcome by the urge to tidy your desk, reorganise your bookshelf, or look up random facts? You're in good company. In this short episode, Jen and Michael (both fresh from some very big deadlines of their own) share how they get unstuck: treating procrastination as an emotional issue rather than a time-management one, being kind to yourself when you've (once again) left it late, holding onto the basics like sleep and good food, and remembering that progress always beats perfection.
You can find more great advice here: 
Procrastination is an emotional problem, Fast Company - why the fix is managing your feelings, not your calendar.
Why we procrastinate and what to do about it, APA's Speaking of Psychology podcast - a researcher on the surprising role of self-compassion.
Emotion regulation and procrastination, Solving Procrastination - practical, evidence-based strategies for getting started.
Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/nu8h

This week we were thrilled to be joined by the wonderful Molly Patton - founder, sci-comm lead and producer at Miscible, a Melbourne-based science communication studio that has quickly made a name for itself for the way it turns complex research into visually striking, deeply engaging stories. Molly's path here is a fascinating one: a former biomaterials postgrad, she walked away from academia after watching the same three problems crop up again and again: no time, no funding, and no shared language to explain why the work actually mattered. With a dual background in science and the arts (photography in particular), she's spent the last nine years leading creative teams to help researchers communicate work that is, in her words, "easy to understand and impossible to ignore" - translation work that has supported nearly $200 million in research funding in just the past four years.
Join us for a fabulous conversation about why science and the arts were never meant to be separate, science communication as a profession in its own right, the art of a great grant application, and Molly's lovely reminder to be human first and scientist second.
You can follow Molly and learn more about her work here: 
Molly on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mollypatton
Miscible on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/miscible-co
Molly's Substack: mollykpatton.substack.com
And, since he got a mention, Molly's very photogenic dog Kodak: @kodak_the_bluemerle
Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/z58h

Been invited to talk about your research on the radio? Congratulations, and welcome to the world of "wild listeners." In this short episode, Jen and Michael explain why radio is unlike almost any other communication opportunity you'll get: your audience hasn't tuned in specifically for you, and they're very likely driving, cooking, or wrangling a toddler while you talk. Michael shares his practical tips for cutting through - short soundbites, signposting ("this matters for three reasons"), and a bit of repetition to help distracted listeners follow you. Jen, who has been talking about science on the radio for twenty years, makes the case that radio is fundamentally about human connection, not perfection: bring your whole self, be willing to stumble, smile while you speak, and prepare by talking out loud about your work rather than clinging to a script.
You can find more great advice here: 
Top tips for media work: a guide for scientists, Science Media Centre - a practical checklist for broadcast interviews, including what to ask before you say yes.

What makes a great radio interview, COMPASS - a radio producer's perspective on what makes a scientist a great guest.

TV and radio media tips, AAAS -  the nuts and bolts, including just how short a soundbite really needs to be.

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/q58h

This week we were thrilled to chat with the wonderfully interdisciplinary Dr Paul Mason: anthropologist, neuroscientist, medical researcher, and inventor of a dung beetle board game. Paul cheerfully describes his own CV as looking "like a pizza with the lot" (with, somehow, even the pineapple on there). Paul is also a musician, dancer and capoeira practitioner who began his studies wanting to get into brain research, before realising he was far more interested in understanding the brain in context. That curiosity took him from laboratory internships at the Howard Florey Institute (and beyond) into a PhD in anthropology, and out into the world doing fieldwork with arts communities in Indonesia and Brazil, infectious disease patients in Vietnam and Papua New Guinea, and conservation education at Taronga Zoo.
In our wide-ranging conversation, Paul shares why he believes good science communication actually makes for good science, and how creative formats can carry serious ideas to the people who need them most. We talk about his award-winning children's book about tuberculosis (translated into thirty languages and distributed free in four countries) his dung beetle board game Hexcrement, and the surprising social magic of gathering people around a table to play. Paul also offers his best advice for researchers who want real-world impact: put in the work to ask good, well-structured questions, and always make it easy for people to help you - because kindness begets kindness, and communities of shared practice are where change begins.
You can follow Paul and learn more about his work here: 
https://paul.sobriquet.net/

Fresh Produce Bioactives: freshproducebioactives.com.au

Insta: @freshproducebioactives and @sociocerebral

Hexcrement, via Aelytra Conservation: aelytra.com

Paul's tuberculosis children's book: https://paul.sobriquet.net/publications/
Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/k58h

"I'm happy to talk to different audiences, but I don't want to dumb down my research."
It's a phrase Jen and Michael both quietly dread and in this short episode, they dig into why it rubs them the wrong way. The problem isn't wanting to stay accurate; it's the assumption baked into "dumbing down" that your audience isn't intelligent. Jen and Michael reframe the whole challenge: it's not about simplifying your ideas, it's about simplifying your language while keeping every bit of nuance intact. Along the way they share why getting your audience to care comes first, how "clarifying" beats "simplifying," and why explaining your work simply is one of the best ways to understand it more deeply yourself.
You can find more great advice here: 
Tim Radford, A Manifesto for the Simple Scribe - the source of the fantastic quote we talk about: "Don't overestimate your reader's knowledge and don't underestimate their intelligence."

Ed Yong, On jargon, and why it matters in science writing - a lovely case for replacing jargon rather than dumbing down.

Don't dumb it down: the effects of jargon in COVID-19 crisis communication - research on why audiences engage with complexity.

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/j7ah