Writing a Message

A message is a statement or set of statements that describes your work and why it is important. It should be written in clear, concise language that is easily understood by a wide range of people. Here, we provide a few tips on creating effective messages for your research.

• What is the benefit? You have committed your professional life to this work, but the rest of us have not. You have to create a context for your research that encourages people to care. How many people are affected by the disease you are studying? What is the cost to society? What is the pay-off for your hard work?
• Why is it important to you? Is there a personal reason why this matters? Describing this connection is often a good way to connect to an audience.
• Translate from scientific jargon to concrete, common language. Even in scientific audiences, colleagues are relieved to hear presentations or see posters that are presented clearly. And given the interdisciplinary focus of much of today’s research, “generalist” language will enable others outside your area of expertise to engage your work more effectively.
• Use metaphors and symbolic language to connect complex scientific concepts to commonly known images and processes. Is the neoplasm two centimeters wide or is the cancer the size of a dime?
• It is not enough to simply describe what you are doing. Often (indeed, almost always in research), the really exciting stuff is up ahead. What’s next? What do we hope to see from your research or from others in the coming months or years? Is there a call to action? If possible, describe what people in the audience can do to push this work ahead.
• Marshall a range of evidence. In a scientific presentation, you will need a clear, data-driven description of your research to back up your findings. But for non-scientific groups (and even for scientists to some extent), don’t forget to tell stories or provide anecdotes that support the case for why your work is important and how it is effective.