Communication skills workshop

Abstract This workshop is a practical guide to anyone who has to talk about his or her research. We will address questions like: Who is the audience? What do they want to know? What problem are you tackling, and what progress have you made? How can you get across the main points in a minute, a page, or in 140 characters? The workshop is highly practical, with open discussions, quick tips, and new techniques. Exercises are videotaped and played back, so participants can see where they do well and also see areas of potential improvement. And best of all, the lessons can be taken back to the classroom, for passing on to students! Objectives - To raise awareness about the importance of communicating your research - To understand the importance of considering the audience - To develop skills in communicating your research concisely and in plain English to a variety of audiences, including the media Workshop description There will be 2 x 90 minute workshops with 25 participants each (one morning and one afternoon). Half of these places will be available for ACSME registrants and the other half will be reserved for Faculty of Science academics from UQ. The UQ Faculty of Science is sponsoring the workshop so it is free to participants. Biographies of workshop leaders Jenni Metcalfe (BEd, BBusCom, MSc) is director of econnect. She has expertise in the fields of journalism, writing, publishing, community engagement, and in developing and implementing communication and interpretative strategies. She has a background in science, education and journalism. Jenni was president of Australian science communicators in 2005–07. Jenni has been a science communicator since 1989. Toss Gascoigne (BA, DipEd) is interested in the nexus between researchers, policy-makers and the media. He is a former executive director for fasts and chass, peak councils representing Australians working in research, education and practice. He devised and organised 'science meets parliament’. Today he runs workshops (with econnect) on communication: planning communication, media skills, using new media, and presenting science to different publics. These are held across Australia and internationally and have a focus on audience