What is it you do, and why does it matter?

Writing effective research profiles

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About Kelley Teahen• Working in higher education for nine years

• Previous career in journalism as writer, editor, and columnist

• Winner of five Ontario Newspaper Awards for writing

• Five years running the media office, Stratford Festival

• Developed “writing for public relations” course and taught for two years at Western University; Lecturer for English 210H (arts writing) at St. Jerome’s and English 408A (media writing) at Waterloo

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What on earth does this mean?“Our research program is generally concerned with the concept of multi-functionality in reduced dimensions, and the application of multifunctional nanosystems for addressing important chemical, physical, bio-medical, and technological problems.”

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How about this. Better?“Success for [Researchperson] means coaxing nanomaterials such as quantum dots – tiny nanocrystals up to 100,000 times smaller than the width of a hair – into developing the ability to multitask …

“This has a myriad of benefits. Having different functions operating at the same time in the same device allows it to store information in different modes, using light, magnetic, or electric qualities.”

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And why should we care?“Applications range from computers with larger memory capacity and processing speed to tiny devices implanted in a human body for cancer treatment to energy production and storage to the as-yet unimagined.”

(or better, for the web):Applications range from:• computers with larger memory capacity and processing speed• tiny devices implanted in a human body for cancer • energy production and storage• the as-yet unimagined

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Each field has specialized language

• Don’t be cowed by “research-speak”

• If the researcher doesn’t have an explanation, metaphor, or

simile, try one out: “Is this like the balance point on a teeter-

totter?”

• If a techie term needs to be used, it needs to be explained

so your readers “get it”

• Be wary of being “co-opted” once you get familiar with a

field

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This is not about academic peers

“You can’t explain what you do in terms of other academics. You have to think of it as advertising.”

Professor Glenn Stillar, Director, Digital Arts Communication

Faculty of Arts, uWaterloo

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To begin: research the researchGather as much background info as possible• Researcher’s own website• Use search, seek credible sources in research

field• Other articles

Make notes • helps you absorb the information • you can highlight what you don’t understand,

where you have questions

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Which research to highlight?To show off the university’s stars?• Canada Research Chairs• Recent winners of big awards: third-party endorsement

To show off how we’re recruiting exciting new talent?• Department chairs can ID their most promising hires

To show the diversity of research?• Include diverse backgrounds (both in discipline and in

life), diverse career stages

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What’s unique in this research?Could be a personal angle: from University of Waterloo

• Rob Gorbet (When technology dances with the sun) is

an engineer who is also an artist• Susan Arai (Women struggle with stigma of prison) has

personal knowledge of discrimination, as a lesbian and

the daughter of interned Japanese-Canadians• Roy Cameron (Healthy populations combat disease),

who focuses on cancer prevention research, lost his

father to cancer at an early age

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Approach can be unique, tooMichel Fich (Researchers launch ‘real rocket science’) said in an interview that he was frustrated early on because the instruments he needed, to conduct the research he wanted to do, did not yet exist. He went on to help develop many of them.

Rhona Hanning (Exercising healthy choices) takes a deliberately inclusive approach to research, including her Aboriginal subjects as co-researchers, since this reflects their traditional way of making decisions.

Examples from uWaterloo writer Pat BowK E L L E Y T E A H E N C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

Sometimes, the topic is enough• “Tweeting cows”

• Why do fit astronauts faint?

• What’s “normal” when it comes to when children start talking?

• Can scrap tires be made into new tires?

• How can mathematical models help prevent an epidemic?

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Green brain break: hosta name?

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Rule No 1: audience comes firstApply the W5s to figuring out your audience

• Who are you telling this story to?

• What do they want to know?

• Why would they care?

• Where, when, and how will they hear your story?

Communications is foremost about audience. Always.

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Setting up the interview• Even for a 200-300-word piece, try to book at least 30 minutes.

Admin assistants can be helpful tracking down elusive / busy profs

• Arrange to see where the research happens: if elsewhere in the world, ask if there are pictures

• Decide if you should interview more than the main researcher and arrange

• Send a polite reminder email about the interview the day before

• Always “go to them”. See their office, their lab, their world

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Brush up your interview skills• Start with the easy stuff, like confirming the person’s title

• Prepare questions, but don’t be a slave to your list

• Closed versus open questions

• The “mirror probe” technique to clarify information

• To home in on key concepts ask: If there was just one thing that everyone should know about your work, what would it be?

• The “clearing house” question at the end

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Open your eyes, follow the clues • Check out the room: décor; art; bulletin boards; books;

photos. Ask questions. Get the stories. Why is there a rubber chicken stuffed in that beaker?

• Write down descriptions, impressions: you won’t know what you might want to use until you go to write your story.

• The interview subject: check out jewelry, clothing choices,

any obvious affiliations or symbols. Ask.

• You’re not being “nosy”: you’re being “curious.”

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More interview tips for researchIf a researcher uses technical or scientific terms, ask how

he/she would explain that concept to the average person

on the street. Ask again if it still isn’t clear.

Save questions that might seem critical or challenging

(e.g., about the environmental impact of an oil sands

researcher’s work) until the end of the interview:• Atmosphere should be friendly by then• But don’t leave questions so late that the researcher

decides he/she hasn’t the time to answer

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Other interview tips and tricks• You want your profile subject to be comfortable – can you find a

common hobby, passion, or interest to discuss to animate the conversation?

• Don’t be afraid of silence

• After, send a quick email of thanks for an interesting conversation; If anything seems unclear when you are writing, call back and clarify

• If you aren’t going to write your story for awhile, schedule enough time to transcribe or fill in notes immediately after the interview

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Interview is done, writing is nextFollow Luna’s example and take a minute to pause

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Before starting, think audienceHow would you start a research profile about a nano researcher for the following audiences:

• Potential donors

• Potential students (high-school age)

• Potential faculty

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In 300 words? Are you nuts?Web-based stories and print brochures need short text

• Describe research accurately while only covering a small

part

• Use mainstream language and a friendly, informal style• Make the subject comprehensible without dumbing it down

• Bring the researcher and the work to life without “going

down the rabbit hole” of irrelevant detail

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Ways to keep it shortNarrow your focus to one key project• Mention that this is just one part of the researcher’s work

Look for the “killer quote”• Can be an excellent way to kick off the profile • Encapsulates the topic while piquing interest

If you use a technical term, include a brief plain-language description

Keep language tight, direct, concrete. Use active verb tense

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OK. What’s a “killer quote”?• “In astronomy, every photon counts,” says Arsen

Hajian. “You’ve got to make the most of them, because what else can you do: turn up the stars?”

• Terri Meyer Boake admits her ambitions are lofty: “I’m trying to save the world, one architecture student at a time.”

• “Imagine,” says Marianna Foldvari, “chicken wire rolled up into a tube.”  That’s how a carbon nanotube would look.

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Descriptions? Be vivid not vapid“If millions – or even thousands – of people are going to use a cardiac monitor, it will have to be small, robust, and affordable. The key will be biological micro-electro-mechanical systems: BioMEMS.

These tiny devices will draw in the blood droplet, then sort and filter blood components through channels finer than spider silk.

At the other end of the channels, optical sensors will measure the levels of various cardiac markers. It all fits on a microchip not much bigger than a grain of rice.”

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Colourful details should add new info

“To maintain personal contacts, Skinner and other grad students often visit the remote communities, travelling by small plane and boat, snowmobile, or pick-up truck.”

This sentence adds … what?

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Selecting details for your profileIf you observe and interview well, you will have far more material than you can use

Type out your notes, or review written notes: highlight anything that stands out

Focus: remember the purpose of your story or profile. What will be of most interest to your target audience?

Some details create and reinforce the “main impression” but contrasting details add texture and depth … tricky to do in 300 words

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Your most important sentences are:

• Your lead: bring the reader in

• Your “closer:” wrap it up with a punch. Have two great quotes? Start with one and wrap with the second.

• Kelley’s rule: never, ever, end a profile with an attribution (“he said”; “she said”): tuck it in!

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The art of the headline• May be the only thing a person reads on a “skim

by”

• Important to spend time on crafting it well

• Alliteration is good, when restrained: “Don’t slack on the salmon”

• Use effective verbs: “Probing the history of fat”; “Plugging together energy solutions”

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Web writing is another course but…

• Online, you can provide live links in the text to connect readers to more information

• Short sentences; shorter paragraphs

• Consider doing lists of info in point form

• Searchability is key: make sure those posting research stories online know how to use tags and keywords to have that story show up in search

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As is Effective Research Photography

• As much as possible, the picture should give an “at a glance” clue of what the research is about

• That may mean using props to create a “storytelling” image not part of the person’s usual research tools

• The fallbacks: At the computer. Standing in front of relevant poster with arms crossed. Don’t over-use

• Don’t go too far out to cause puzzlement

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Example: illustrate investment riskThis researcher doesn’t weigh coins in his work but using this scale (a theatre prop from The Merchant of Venice) gets the point across

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Obey the grammar police• Spelling counts (and you can’t rely on spellcheck)

• Grammar counts

• These count even more when promoting academics

• Be especially vigilant for “sound-alike” errors

(homophones)

• Mr. Brown vs. Mr. Black: triple check small details that are

horrifyingly easy to mix up

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The final hurdle: signoffFor longer stories, do not show the whole piece to everyone interviewed: just send them their own “section”

Find out in advance a researcher’s availability for signoff and work to that timeframe. Be clear about deadlines

Don’t ask “what do you think?” or “I’d like you to look this over.” Ask: please check this for any factual inaccuracies

WARNING: Researchers may use casual language in your interview, but then balk at seeing themselves sounding so “un-academic” in print (or online). Try to hold off them “re-stuffying” their quotes.

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Information on reading levelsLove You Forever , Robert Munch: Grade 3

Average reading level in U.S.: Grades 6 to 8

Newspapers in Canada: Grade 9

A university magazine: Grade 12

People generally read with ease at 3 to 4 grades below their educational attainment

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Test writing level on MS Word• Go to Tools – Spelling and Grammar –

Options • Under “grammar”, click “readability

statistics”• Run the spellcheck• The program will spit out a grade level

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A final thought on good writing“Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.”

Joseph Pulitzer, American publisher, founder of the Pulitzer prizes

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Thank you!

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Remember: Why does this research matter?

What it is you do, and why do you it?

Kelleyteahen@gmail.com Twitter: @kteahen