3. • Communication is an activity of conveying information
through the exchange of thoughts, message or information as
speech, visual signals, writing or behavior.
• Communication is not dependent only on ‘words’ ……it can
also be through your ‘body language’ and ‘tonality’.
• Communication is an act by which one person gives or
receives information from another person.
• Scientific Communication spreads scientific information
among researchers, especially those outside your discipline.
5. MOST COMMON WAYS
WE COMMUNICATE
Visual Images Written Word
Body Language Spoken Word
6. FEATURES OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
• Active Listening
• Eye contact
• Posture
• Simple language
• Questioning skills
7. BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
• Noise
• Inappropriate medium
• Assumptions/Misconceptions
• Emotions
• Language differences
• Cultural differences
• Poor listening skills
• Use of jargon
• Distractions
8. TIPS TO BECOME A BETTER LISTENER
• Don’t talk – listen.
• Don’t jump to conclusions.
• Ask questions/paraphrase.
• Don’t get distracted by the environment.
• Keep an open mind.
• Be willing to listen to someone else’s point of view and
ideas.
• Provide feedback.
• Take advantage of your brain power
9. IMPROVING BODY LANGUAGE - TIPS
• Keep appropriate distance
• Touch only when appropriate
• Take care of your appearance
• Be aware - people may give false cues
• Maintain eye contact
• Smile genuinely
10. IMPROVING VERBAL COMMUNICATION-TIPS
• Eliminate Noise
• Get Feedback – Verbal & Body Signals
• Speak Slowly & Rephrase your sentence
• Don’t Talk down to the other person
• Listen Carefully & Patiently
11. TALKING TO THE PUBLIC: GENERAL TIPS
• Know your audience. Tailor your presentation accordingly.
• Make sure your speech is miniature , memorable (vivid
language), and meaningful (to the audience).
• Use your “speech” as an outline for longer descriptions.
• Use lay terms (no jargon!).
• Point out the broader impacts of your research.
12. Continue….
• Use clear, everyday analogies and gesticulate.
• Convey why your research is meaningful to you
• Be honest about how certain you are of your results, and
acknowledge controversies.
• Explain the basics of the scientific process.
• A respectful dialogue with the public is much more
effective in finding common ground than a more
traditional, instructional monologue. So listen!
13. MEETING WITH LEGISLATORS
• Before the meeting, identify the main points you want to
make, and anticipate questions.
• It is vital to point out the broader impacts of your research.
• Connect your research to positive economic impacts in your
area.
• Remember that you are not giving a lecture. Be
conversational, yet accurate.
14. Continue…..
• If a legislator repeats a question, it is not necessarily because
s/he is not intelligent, but perhaps your answer was not
satisfactory. Please try again
• Be enthusiastic and excited about your own research.
• Using clear, everyday analogies.
• Never read from a piece of paper, although you can use brief
notes with your major points as a guide.
15. Continue….
• Be sure to separate facts from opinions.
• Adding a human interest portion to your meeting or relevant
personal information, such as how you got involved in your
field of research, humanizes science.
• If you would like, invite legislators and their staff to visit your
research facility.
16. AFTER THE MEETING
• Send a prompt thank-you email or letter.
• Offer to be a future resource on pertinent subjects.
• Follow-up on any questions that you could not answer during
the meeting and make yourself available for additional follow-
up questions.
• If not done so previously, invite legislators to visit your
research facility.
17. ESSENTIALS OF COMMUNICATION
DON’Ts
• Do not instantly react and mutter something in anger.
• Do not use technical terms & terminologies not understood
by majority of people.
• Do not speak too fast or too slow.
• Do not speak in inaudible surroundings, as you won’t be
heard.
18. Continue…..
• Do not assume that every body understands you.
• While listening do not glance here and there as it might
distract the speaker.
• Do not interrupt the speaker.
• Do not jump to the conclusion that you have understood
every thing.
19. In brief
• L = Look interested- Get interested
• I = Involve yourself by responding
• S = Stay on target
• T = Test your understanding
• E = Evaluate the message
• N = Neutralise your feeling
21. SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
• Science communication generally refers to public
communication presenting science-related topics to non-
experts.
• Science communication can aim to generate support
for scientific research or study, or to inform decision making,
including political and ethical thinking.
• Science communication can also simply describe
communication between scientists (e.g. through scientific
journals), as well as between non-scientists
22. TYPES
• ORIGINAL ARTICLE
They are articles published in scientific journals, ranging
from a few to at most a few dozen pages.
They generally have a very schematic structure consisting
of;
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Experimental
• Results
• Discussion
• Acknowledgements
• References
•
23. • REVIEW ARTICLE
It is an attempt to summarize the current state of
understanding on a topic
• A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
A letter to the editor is a letter sent to a publication about
issues of concern from its readers
In academic publishing, letters to the editor of an academic
journal are usually open postpublication reviews of a paper,
often critical of some aspect of the original paper.
24. • SHORT COMMUNICATION
Basically a research paper of only two to six pages that
presents results of lesser importance
• PRELIMINARY REPORT
A preliminary report is a report prepared by a title company
before issuing a title insurance policy.
• CASE REPORT TYPES
A detailed report of the symptoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment
and follow-up of an individual patient.
A case report gives the information about a sudden change,
like an epidemiology or sudden reduction in the number of
species in a particular area.
25. BOOK
Presents the state of knowledge in a certain field of science in
an easily accessible format.
It can be aimed at very different audiences, ranging from
school pupils to other professional scientists
BOOK CHAPTER
One of the main divisions of a piece of writing of relative
length
26. • MONOGRAPH
A book, the exact scope of which depends on the area of
research. Literally, it means a work that aims to present all
that is known about a specific subject.
• NEWSLETTER
A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally
about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers.
Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters
• BULLETIN
A brief news item intended for immediate publication or
broadcast
27. • THESIS / DISSERTATION
The document submitted in support of candidature for an
academic degree or professional qualifications presenting the
author’s research and findings
• PROPOSAL
A research proposal is a document written by a researcher
that provides a detailed description of the proposed
program.
28. • POSTER
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached
to a wall or any vertical surface
• CONFERENCE PRECEEDINGS
A collection of abstracts, i.e. short summaries of talks or
posters that were presented at a scientific conference, in book
form.
