You鈥檙e an academic who鈥檚 uncovered groundbreaking research after years of testing. You know the topic inside and out; you鈥檙e the expert. A news agency calls you to talk about your findings and you couldn鈥檛 be more excited. While conducting the pre-interview, they ask you to simplify the complex terms and cut the jargon. But you鈥檙e an expert, you thought it was ALREADY simple. What now?

Beth Gorham, the manager of Public Affairs at 杏吧原创 University, helps researchers make their findings relevant to the media.

鈥淥ur main goal when we deal with researchers and academics is to help them get their message across in a really accessible way,鈥� Gorham says.

Gorham, the and the work together to encourage the 杏吧原创 community to spread the word about what鈥檚 happening at 杏吧原创 and the great things they are researching. They emphasize using storytelling techniques that will peak your audience鈥檚 interest.

鈥淥ne of the main ways we try and support (researchers and academics) is through understanding their audience and how they have to take very complex subjects and present them in accessible, meaningful ways,鈥� she says.

鈥淲e get very specific and tell them: don鈥檛 use big numbers, round stuff off and create an image in people鈥檚 minds. Don鈥檛 say 6000 metres, instead say the length of two football fields. These are all things that are part of natural storytelling and creating a narrative that鈥檚 simple yet compelling.鈥�

Another trick, Gorham says, is to imagine that they鈥檙e speaking to someone in particular that they know, maybe their mother, spouse or cousin 鈥� someone who isn’t an expert on the topic.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not dumbing it down,鈥� she says. 鈥淎ll it鈥檚 doing is taking it to a level that respects your audience so people aren鈥檛 flipping the channel or turning the page; they鈥檙e listening to you. And the reason they’re listening to you is because you鈥檝e got something to tell them that they find compelling and they want to know.鈥�

鈥淲e really emphasize that they’re experts. The rest of the world is not. [The audience wants] to know the practical results of their research 鈥� what is the bottom line here? How is it benefitting the world and in what way?鈥� she says.

Gorham and Maria McClintock, editor of Internal Communications, offer media training and sessions on an array of topics, such as writing opinion pieces.

Gorham says they show researchers video clip examples of the right and wrong ways to talk to the media. They also record the researcher on camera so they can see how they look before an on air interview.

鈥淲e all have bad habits. If you can鈥檛 see it, you can鈥檛 internalize it. Even if you cringe when you watch yourself on TV, you have to watch yourself. You just don鈥檛 know what those bad habits are if you don鈥檛 see them.鈥�

They also work with researchers on how to prepare for pre-interviews.

鈥淲e always tell them that you might as well consider the pre-interview, the interview. If (the news outlets) don鈥檛 find you’re giving them good quotes or context in the pre-interview, you鈥檒l never make it to the real thing. You have to treat it just as seriously. All the advice we give them about the real interview applies to the pre-interview.鈥�