sharing science workshops
Workshops for All Your Communication Needs
“The Sharing Science workshops and their amazing team have so much to offer for anyone interested in science communication. I would highly recommend these for graduates and professors alike looking to spruce up their skills and to develop a fresh new perspective on their research.”
-University of Missouri workshop participant, 2022
Invest in science-communication skills for your colleagues, departments, and institutions
Science-communication (SciComm) skills are a crucial part of 21st-century science, from collaborating across fields and disciplines to giving media interviews, advocating for science-based policy, or engaging with public groups and communities. These skills are hard to provide in-house for most research organizations and universities —and that’s where we come in.
Workshops for different levels, desired audiences, and skillsets
Our wide range of SciComm workshops for scientists at all career stages and experience levels help participants learn new skills, practice new techniques, and work with each other. Want to provide a group with the fundamentals of good SciComm? We offer 101- and 201-level workshops that address the value of these skills as well as giving participants the opportunity to try them out for themselves.
For more specific audiences or skillsets, we offer workshops on working with journalists/the media, working with policymakers, and doing a wide variety of SciComm—such as storytelling, using social media, or creating multimedia.
Workshop fees
For a “standard”-length virtual workshop (4 hours), we charge $5,000. Fees can vary depending on workshop length and the degree of tailoring required, should you be looking for something beyond our suite of offered workshop topics. For in-person workshops, the fees are same, plus travel costs for our conductor(s).
Workshop Benefits
Our participants report new levels of confidence after taking our workshops, and come away with skills they can immediately apply:
“Very engaging! The workshop provided me with new perspectives on how to better present my research to a wide range of audiences. I came away with new tools that I am going to use straight away.”
“This is an excellent workshop for those scientists who are deep in the field and need help adjusting their perspective to communicate to broader audiences.”
“This was really informative, hands-on interactive workshop that helped me brainstorm and practice my science-communication skills.”
“This is an eye-opening experience that really makes you think about your whole approach to communicating your science.”
“The Sharing Science workshops are excellent with changing scientists’ ways of thinking to place people as the focal point of the dissemination of knowledge, which is one of the main reasons we do science in the first place.”
“Your research has a story; learn how to tell it in this workshop.”
What's in a workshop?
Our workshops include an introduction to each skill area; examples, tips, and guidelines; and in-workshop activities for small groups (and sometimes individuals)—with plenty of opportunities to ask questions or share feedback.
We emphasize the importance of first determining your own goals for communication, and then focusing on understanding your audience’s goals, needs, and concerns. By creating a framework that helps define objectives and build connection and dialogue, we let scientists and other subject-matter experts approach communication from a position of thoughtfulness and mutual respect which can be applied in any further engagement they make.
Feel free to ask for sample agendas when you make a workshop request.
Policy
- Science policy priorities
- Value of policy engagement
- Deep dive on policymakers
- Working with difficult audiences
Media
- Deep dive on journalists
- What makes a news headlines
- Crafting plain-language summaries
- Value of social media
Storytelling
- Identifying the basic structure of a story (i.e., the story arc)
- Recognizing narrative themes
- Crafting personal narratives to bolster a scientific message
- Telling science stories via different media/mediums (e.g., social and/or multimedia)
Multimedia
- Types of multimedia (e.g. audio, photo, video)
- Creating a multimedia campaign
- Phases of production
- Creation of product(s)
Digital and social media
- Examining online footprint (i.e., what happens is someone Googles you?)
- Types of multimedia
- Social media review
- Multimedia via social media campaigns