Post on 16-Apr-2017
TRANSLATE AND PROMOTE
SCIENTIFIC FINDINGS
To Get the Attention
of Your Audience MARCH 23, 2015 PRESENTED BY: JENNIFER SEYLER, MS, RD, CPT FLEISHMANHILLARD, VICE PRESIDENT @JSEYLER WWW.FITNESSANDNUTRITIONCONVERSATIONS.COM
TO TRANSLATE...
1. Need to know who your audience is
2. What your audience understands
Appropriate Messaging
TO PROMOTE...
3. Need to know where your audience
‘lives’
4. When your audience is most receptive
to what you have to say
5. Why they want to hear what you have
to say
Message Delivery Platforms
WHAT YOU WILL SEE..
• Media Landscape
• Importance of Science Communications
• Message Mechanics
• Target Audiences & Behaviors
• Building Relationships with Reporters
MEDIA LANDSCAPE
Sports Medicine and Fitness
GETTING NEWS
Then Now
TODAY’S WORLD...
Anyone with a smartphone is a
news reporter
...BUT...
Not everyone is an expert
SCIENCE
COMMUNICATIONS
Importance of
US CONSUMER TRUST
TRUST FACTOR
• You are a knowledgeable source of
information
• You can translate the information so it
is meaningful to multiple audiences
– Opportunity to help clear confusion
– Help solve the audiences problem
• You give a “face” to the story
You are the EXPERT
TRUST ABUSE
54% of information not backed by science
research or contradicted
BMJ 2014;349:g7346
MECHANICS
Message
MESSAGES ALLOW YOU TO...
• Communicate so those outside your
profession can understand
• Make it easy for you to “tell your story”
• Ensure consistency
• Make it easy for others to remember it
– The thoughts you most want your audience
to remember — and repeat
“… if you remember only one thing, remember this, ________________”
STRUCTURE
• Message points (1-4) =
primary messages + proof points
Headline
Support
Support
DEVELOPMENT
• Aim for sound bites
– Alex Chadwick, NPR Morning Edition reporter,
defines sound bites as “what you remember”
• Think “I have a dream”
– 15 to 20 words
• Approximately 7 seconds (TV news sound bite)
• 140 characters (social media post)
– Use techniques such as alliteration,
enumeration, parallelism,
and analogies to make your messages
memorable, conversational and quotable
DEVELOPMENT
• Write in terms of the listener’s self-interest
– Listeners constantly ask “so what?”
– Ask yourself: • What does your audience know about your
topic?
• Why do they want to know more?
• What questions might they have?
This is why it is important to be able to identify and understand your audience
EXAMPLE: SPORTS INJURY
• There is a growing epidemic of preventable youth sports injuries that are dismantling kids’ athletic hopes and dreams at an early age.
– According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), high school athletes account for an estimated 2 million injuries, 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations every year.
• Armed with the correct information and tools, today’s young athletes can remain healthy, play safe and stay in the game for life.
– Playing safe includes not play through the pain if you are injured and taking the proper preventive steps to reduce your risk of injury.
WHEN DELIVERING...
1. Explain the big picture and why the audience
should care
2. Jump into headline messages
3. Tell them what you’re going to tell them
4. Follow up with the detail (proof points)
5. Tell them what you told them (recap primary
message)
But never give them anything you don’t want
them to use
THE BASICS
• Avoid jargon and generalities; be simple,
specific, and “real”
• Speak in terms your audience can relate
• Use examples, stories to support and
personalize your messages
ENSURING MESSAGE
DELIVERY
• Blocking and Bridging: Phrases that
move a conversation from an off-agenda
topic (unproductive, hostile, irrelevant,
etc.) to an on-agenda subject
“Because of the success of the show…”
BLOCKING & BRIDGING
R=A+MP
Response = Actual Answer + Message
Point
SAMPLES
• “I think what you’re really asking is…”
• “Let me clarify. What we’re really talking
about here is…”
• “That speaks to a bigger point, which
is…”
• “That demonstrates how complex this
issue is, but what it all comes down to is
this…”
SAMPLES
• “You’d have to ask them. But for us,
what I can tell you is…”
• “Those things are true, but I think the
real news here is…”
• “I’m not the right person to talk to about
those issues, but what I can address
is…”
NEVER SAY...
“NO COMMENT”
• The only acceptable way to refuse to
answer a question is to “block” without
“bridging”
– Block by explaining why you can’t answer
the question
• Results pending, proprietary information,
pending litigation, etc.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
• Speak to the media’s audience
• Use messages consistently and often
• Make them your own
– Internalize the concepts, don’t just memorize the words
• Constantly review and update your messages
– Ideally, the support points change, not the primary messages
• Prepare and practice, practice, practice
– Even a little bit makes a big difference
MESSAGES AREN’T JUST
FOR THE MEDIA
• They work in all forms of communication:
– Presentations, papers, one-on-one interactions with members of the scientific community Business discussions (internal and external)
– Your flight here, the elevator ride, the cocktail party
– Your social media channels
TARGET AUDIENCE
Understanding
DEFINE
• Gender
• Parent
• Race
• Athlete
• Health Professional
• Policy Maker
• Scientist
WHERE & WHEN DO THEY
CONSUME INFORMATION
• TV
• Radio
• Newspapers
• Online
EFFECTIVE MESSAGING
The right message,
the right place,
the right time
REPORTER
RELATIONSHIPS
Building
UNDERSTAND ROLES
It’s a transaction, not a conversation
Reporter’s Job
• Find and share news that will keep people engaged
• Controversy and conflict
• New, unique and unusual
• Useful, on trend, local
Your Job
• Give people something to remember and repeat
• Know where you want to go, even if the reporter doesn’t
• Don’t think of the media as friends or enemies
CONNECT
1. Company/University media relations team
2. Other experienced scientists
3. Call outlets
4. Be proactive
a. Social media presence
b. Comment on relevant sites
c. Attend scientific conferences
d. Follow journalists
e. Submit Letters to the Editors
PREPARE
• If they contact you
– Never leap in; ask questions
• What’s your deadline?
• What’s the story you’re pursuing?
• Who else are you talking with?
– If it’s a good opportunity, buy a little time
• Prepare and practice
• Call them back or meet them when you said
you would
34
REMEMBER...
• There’s no such thing as “off the record”
– If you don’t know, don’t speculate
• The questions are up to them, but the
answers are up to you
– Say what you want to say, then STOP!
– Never repeat a negative
THANK YOU!
Jennifer.Seyler@fleishman.com
@jseyler
www.fitnessandnutritionconversations.com