The Burness Effect Blog

Some of the best tips about speaking to reporters come from reporters themselves. The most memorable point for me came from National Public Radio Science Correspondent David Kestenbaum, who by the way, has a Ph.D. in physics. He energetically said to our audience of biomedical scientists at a media training, "You have to speak to me like I'm the drunk guy at the end of the bar."

In an opinion piece in The Scientist, author Sara Yeo reports on the results of a survey of leading scientists at U.S. universities about their interactions with traditional media as well as social media like Twitter. The results? Yeo reports that “public communication efforts are linked to academic impact and that social media can augment more traditional forms of public communication.”

If Richard Can, You Can

Anyone can be transformed from “muddled to mesmerizing.”

Mission Statements—Eight Words or Less or Forget It

What does your audience want to hear? That’s the first question we ask before we work with trainees on messaging, and with good reason: targeting your statements and messages to your audience is imperative.

Sound Smart…Mean Nothing

Two words that most people would not think to find on a “no jargon” list: capacity and community. ThThink about it. What capacity are we building? Capacity to do what? And by the way, who makes up the community? What people are we talking about? These vague and bland words leave you with more questions than answers.

Reflecting on the Importance of Impact

I feel more thankful this holiday season than in years past. This realization came to me last week during a media and advocacy training with Baltimore community leaders who are fighting for the rights, health and safety of children, mothers, and families in East Baltimore. I’m thankful, because these advocates are having impact, and they have told us that our work with them has been part of what led them to success.

What Can Scientists Learn from Tonight’s Presidential Debate

2012's Presidential debate was packed with perfect examples of messages about real people, and use of storytelling to get a point across. It was also a great display of a tool we call “bridging”—what experts in this NPR piece call “the pivot.”

If the NIH can reduce years and years of amazing research into a few bullet points, you can do the same for your work, or your organization’s efforts.

Show Me the Infographics: Making Data Digestible

The infographic business is booming and that’s a good thing. At least for those of us who want to understand multifaceted issues such as the science process of stem cells or the complexities of health care policy.

Once I asked a pain expert, “why do you care about pain treatment so much?” The story that followed – about a dying girl writhing in pain who changed the course of his medical career - silenced the room. And then It became the lead to an opinion editorial he published soon after in Toronto’s Globe and Mail. More leaders need to open up and share what drives them day in and day out.