Fake News! Alternative Facts! Information Overload!
You’ve heard the headlines – misinformation, targeted disinformation and even information operations seems to be everywhere. As a scientist and researcher, you are in a unique and privileged position to help combat misinformation, and accomplish a tremendous amount of good in the process, however in order for that to happen, science communication must be done in a thoughtful way. In this TED talk, Melissa Marshall talks about why science communication is necessary and how you can think about doing it well, including avoiding jargon, explaining why your field is exciting and using examples, stories, and analogies – all ideas we’ll return to later. Access the embedded video here, or if your device or browser does not support embedded video, please use this link to access the video on the TED website.
Of course, some topics are trickier to communicate than others. Next, the special case of risk communication will be highlighted, since emotional issues need more work to be successfully communicated.