Good Day! Let’s talk about how to simplify your Science to the public.
The rule of thumb is to avoid any scientific jargon. For example, in palaeontology, I would avoid the term ‘Placoderm’ and exchange ‘Placoderm’ to extinct jawed fish with body armours to protect themselves. In this case, your audiences will be able to understand the term ‘Placoderm’ a bit better.
The second thing is that you need to bear in mind not everyone has the same education level or background as you do. This is a common mistake that may be every scientist will make, since we always assume that people must know the word.
For instance, you would think people should know the word- objective, however research showed that not everyone understands its meaning. ‘Aims’ in the other hand would be more appropriate than ‘Objectives’.
Research also shows that the average age of the audiences for the Canberra Times and ABC News are about 12 years old and 9 years old respectively. We must make sure when we get a chance to present our work to the public, the way it looks is correct, interesting and simple to understand.
Educating the next generation is one of the most important part of being a scientist. The world needs science and wants to hear about more scientific stories rather than political stories.
The last thing is that try to frame your story before your interview with any mass media. Who does not like an attractive story so use your science to control their appetite.
Tips for your interview: avoid buzz terms! For example: in order to, therefore, etc.
Use active voice instead- ‘to’ replaces ‘in order to’.
Science is fun. Do not make the world think science is too hard for them.