You work for a university, an institute, a branch of government or private industry where research takes place. It's your job to explain that research to audiences not reading peer-reviewed academic journals, whether those are industry partners, potential students, taxpayers, or government officials. Veteran communicator Kelley Teahen offers easy-to-digest tips on how to explain what sometimes seems unexplainable in "What is it you do, and why does it matter? Writing effective research profiles."

1. What is it you do, and
why does it matter?
Writing effective research profiles
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

2. About Kelley Teahen
• Working in higher education for nine years
• Previous career in journalism as writer, editor, and
columnist
• Winner of five Ontario Newspaper Awards for writing
• Five years running the media office, Stratford Festival
• Developed “writing for public relations” course and
taught for two years at Western University; Lecturer for
English 210H (arts writing) at St. Jerome’s and English
408A (media writing) at Waterloo
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

3. What on earth does this mean?
“Our research program is generally
concerned with the concept of multi-functionality
in reduced dimensions, and the
application of multifunctional nanosystems
for addressing important chemical, physical,
bio-medical, and technological problems.”
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

4. How about this. Better?
“Success for [Researchperson] means coaxing
nanomaterials such as quantum dots – tiny
nanocrystals up to 100,000 times smaller than
the width of a hair – into developing the ability
to multitask …
“This has a myriad of benefits. Having different
functions operating at the same time in the
same device allows it to store information in
different modes, using light, magnetic, or
electric qualities.”
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

5. And why should we care?
“Applications range from computers with larger
memory capacity and processing speed to tiny
devices implanted in a human body for cancer
treatment to energy production and storage to the
as-yet unimagined.”
(or better, for the web):
Applications range from:
• computers with larger memory capacity and
processing speed
• tiny devices implanted in a human body for cancer
• energy production and storage
• the as-yet unimagined
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

6. Each field has specialized language
• Don’t be cowed by “research-speak”
• If the researcher doesn’t have an explanation,
metaphor, or simile, try one out: “Is this like the
balance point on a teeter-totter?”
• If a techie term needs to be used, it needs to be
explained so your readers “get it”
• Be wary of being “co-opted” once you get familiar with
a field
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

7. This is not about academic peers
“You can’t explain what you do in terms of
other academics. You have to think of it as
advertising.”
Professor Glenn Stillar,
Director, Digital Arts Communication
Faculty of Arts, uWaterloo
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

8. To begin: research the research
Gather as much background info as possible
• Researcher’s own website
• Use search, seek credible sources in research
field
• Other articles
Make notes
• helps you absorb the information
• you can highlight what you don’t understand,
where you have questions
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

9. Which research to highlight?
To show off the university’s stars?
• Canada Research Chairs
• Recent winners of big awards: third-party endorsement
To show off how we’re recruiting exciting new talent?
• Department chairs can ID their most promising hires
To show the diversity of research?
• Include diverse backgrounds (both in discipline and in
life), diverse career stages
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

10. What’s unique in this research?
Could be a personal angle: from University of Waterloo
• Rob Gorbet (When technology dances with the sun)
is an engineer who is also an artist
• Susan Arai (Women struggle with stigma of prison)
has personal knowledge of discrimination, as a lesbian
and the daughter of interned Japanese-Canadians
• Roy Cameron (Healthy populations combat disease),
who focuses on cancer prevention research, lost his
father to cancer at an early age
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

11. Approach can be unique, too
Michel Fich (Researchers launch ‘real rocket
science’) said in an interview that he was
frustrated early on because the instruments he
needed, to conduct the research he wanted to do,
did not yet exist. He went on to help develop many
of them.
Rhona Hanning (Exercising healthy choices)
takes a deliberately inclusive approach to
research, including her Aboriginal subjects as co-researchers,
since this reflects their traditional way
of making decisions.
Examples from uWaterloo writer Pat Bow
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

12. Sometimes, the topic is enough
• “Tweeting cows”
• Why do fit astronauts faint?
• What’s “normal” when it comes to when children
start talking?
• Can scrap tires be made into new tires?
• How can mathematical models help prevent an
epidemic?
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

13. Green brain break: hosta
name?
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

14. Rule No 1: audience comes first
Apply the W5s to figuring out your audience
• Who are you telling this story to?
• What do they want to know?
• Why would they care?
• Where, when, and how will they hear your story?
Communications is foremost about audience. Always.
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

15. Setting up the interview
• Even for a 200-300-word piece, try to book at least 30
minutes. Admin assistants can be helpful tracking down
elusive / busy profs
• Arrange to see where the research happens: if elsewhere in
the world, ask if there are pictures
• Decide if you should interview more than the main researcher
and arrange
• Send a polite reminder email about the interview the day
before
• Always “go to them”. See their office, their lab, their world
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

16. Brush up your interview skills
• Start with the easy stuff, like confirming the person’s title
• Prepare questions, but don’t be a slave to your list
• Closed versus open questions
• The “mirror probe” technique to clarify information
• To home in on key concepts ask: If there was just one thing
that everyone should know about your work, what would it
be?
• The “clearing house” question at the end
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

17. Open your eyes, follow the clues
• Check out the room: décor; art; bulletin boards; books;
photos. Ask questions. Get the stories. Why is there a
rubber chicken stuffed in that beaker?
• Write down descriptions, impressions: you won’t know
what you might want to use until you go to write your
story.
• The interview subject: check out jewelry, clothing
choices, any obvious affiliations or symbols. Ask.
• You’re not being “nosy”: you’re being “curious.”
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

18. More interview tips for research
If a researcher uses technical or scientific terms, ask
how he/she would explain that concept to the average
person on the street. Ask again if it still isn’t clear.
Save questions that might seem critical or challenging
(e.g., about the environmental impact of an oil sands
researcher’s work) until the end of the interview:
• Atmosphere should be friendly by then
• But don’t leave questions so late that the researcher
decides he/she hasn’t the time to answer
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

19. Other interview tips and tricks
• You want your profile subject to be comfortable – can
you find a common hobby, passion, or interest to
discuss to animate the conversation?
• Don’t be afraid of silence
• After, send a quick email of thanks for an interesting
conversation; If anything seems unclear when you are
writing, call back and clarify
• If you aren’t going to write your story for awhile,
schedule enough time to transcribe or fill in notes
immediately after the interview
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

20. Interview is done, writing is next
Follow Luna’s example and take a minute to pause
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

21. Before starting, think audience
How would you start a research profile about a
nano researcher for the following audiences:
• Potential donors
• Potential students (high-school age)
• Potential faculty
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

22. In 300 words? Are you nuts?
Web-based stories and print brochures need short text
• Describe research accurately while only covering a small
part
• Use mainstream language and a friendly, informal style
• Make the subject comprehensible without dumbing it
down
• Bring the researcher and the work to life without “going
down the rabbit hole” of irrelevant detail
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

23. Ways to keep it short
Narrow your focus to one key project
• Mention that this is just one part of the researcher’s work
Look for the “killer quote”
• Can be an excellent way to kick off the profile
• Encapsulates the topic while piquing interest
If you use a technical term, include a brief plain-language
description
Keep language tight, direct, concrete. Use active verb tense
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

24. OK. What’s a “killer quote”?
• “In astronomy, every photon counts,” says Arsen
Hajian. “You’ve got to make the most of them,
because what else can you do: turn up the stars?”
• Terri Meyer Boake admits her ambitions are lofty:
“I’m trying to save the world, one architecture
student at a time.”
• “Imagine,” says Marianna Foldvari, “chicken wire
rolled up into a tube.” That’s how a carbon
nanotube would look.
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

25. Descriptions? Be vivid not vapid
“If millions – or even thousands – of people are going to
use a cardiac monitor, it will have to be small, robust,
and affordable. The key will be biological micro-electro-mechanical
systems: BioMEMS.
These tiny devices will draw in the blood droplet, then
sort and filter blood components through channels finer
than spider silk.
At the other end of the channels, optical sensors will
measure the levels of various cardiac markers. It all fits
on a microchip not much bigger than a grain of rice.”
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

26. Colourful details should add new info
“To maintain personal contacts, Skinner and
other grad students often visit the remote
communities, travelling by small plane and
boat, snowmobile, or pick-up truck.”
This sentence adds … what?
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

27. Selecting details for your profile
If you observe and interview well, you will have far
more material than you can use
Type out your notes, or review written notes:
highlight anything that stands out
Focus: remember the purpose of your story or
profile. What will be of most interest to your target
audience?
Some details create and reinforce the “main
impression” but contrasting details add texture and
depth … tricky to do in 300 words
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

28. Your most important sentences are:
• Your lead: bring the reader in
• Your “closer:” wrap it up with a punch.
Have two great quotes? Start with one and
wrap with the second.
• Kelley’s rule: never, ever, end a profile with
an attribution (“he said”; “she said”): tuck it
in!
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

29. The art of the headline
• May be the only thing a person reads on a
“skim by”
• Important to spend time on crafting it well
• Alliteration is good, when restrained: “Don’t
slack on the salmon”
• Use effective verbs: “Probing the history of
fat”; “Plugging together energy solutions”
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

30. Web writing is another course but…
• Online, you can provide live links in the text to
connect readers to more information
• Short sentences; shorter paragraphs
• Consider doing lists of info in point form
• Searchability is key: make sure those posting
research stories online know how to use tags and
keywords to have that story show up in search
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

31. As is Effective Research Photography
• As much as possible, the picture should give an
“at a glance” clue of what the research is about
• That may mean using props to create a
“storytelling” image not part of the person’s usual
research tools
• The fallbacks: At the computer. Standing in front of
relevant poster with arms crossed. Don’t over-use
• Don’t go too far out to cause puzzlement
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

32. Example: illustrate investment risk
This researcher doesn’t weigh coins in his work but using this scale (a
theatre prop from The Merchant of Venice) gets the point across
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

33. Obey the grammar police
• Spelling counts (and you can’t rely on spellcheck)
• Grammar counts
• These count even more when promoting academics
• Be especially vigilant for “sound-alike” errors
(homophones)
• Mr. Brown vs. Mr. Black: triple check small details that
are horrifyingly easy to mix up
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

34. The final hurdle: signoff
For longer stories, do not show the whole piece to
everyone interviewed: just send them their own “section”
Find out in advance a researcher’s availability for signoff
and work to that timeframe. Be clear about deadlines
Don’t ask “what do you think?” or “I’d like you to look this
over.” Ask: please check this for any factual inaccuracies
WARNING: Researchers may use casual language in
your interview, but then balk at seeing themselves
sounding so “un-academic” in print (or online). Try to
hold off them “re-stuffying” their quotes.
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

35. Information on reading levels
Love You Forever , Robert Munch: Grade 3
Average reading level in U.S.: Grades 6 to 8
Newspapers in Canada: Grade 9
A university magazine: Grade 12
People generally read with ease at 3 to 4
grades below their educational attainment
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

36. Test writing level on MS Word
• Go to Tools – Spelling and Grammar –
Options
• Under “grammar”, click “readability
statistics”
• Run the spellcheck
• The program will spit out a grade level
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

37. A final thought on good writing
“Put it before them briefly so they will read it,
clearly so they will appreciate it,
picturesquely so they will remember it, and
above all, accurately so they will be guided
by its light.”
Joseph Pulitzer, American publisher,
founder of the Pulitzer prizes
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

38. Thank you!
Remember: Why does this research matter?
What it is you do, and why do you it?
Kelleyteahen@gmail.com Twitter: @kteahen
K E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S