SEMINAR: Register now for Communications Training at RSMAS Friday 8th April

["Andrew Baker" <abaker@rsmas.miami.edu>]

Registration is now open for the COMPASS Communications Training at RSMAS on Friday 8^th April

Interested participants are asked to pre-register (RSVP) for the workshop (max auditorium capacity: 250) and the afternoon hands-on practices and exercises (20 participants, including mixture of faculty, postdocs and students)

Registration is free and open to all: http://www.as.miami.edu/seeds/RSVP%20page.html

If you wish to participate in the mock interview sessions (highly encouraged), you must respond by April 3, 2011.

Trainers for the event include: Erik Stokstad (Science magazine), Jeff Burnside (NBC Miami), Mark Schrope (Freelance writer) and Liz Neeley (COMPASS)

Workshop purpose:

Scientists must go beyond publishing in peer-reviewed journals if they want their research to inform decisions about our future. Unfortunately, academic training seldom covers how to effectively communicate beyond your circle of specialist colleagues. COMPASS (the Communications Partnership for Science and the Sea) training workshops are designed to help researchers shake bad habits so they can talk with journalists, the public, and policymakers what they do - and it why matters - in clear, lively terms.

 

The workshop is based on the prestigious Aldo Leopold Leadership program at Stanford University: http://leopoldleadership.stanford.edu

The Communication Training will be held from 9am to 5pm on Friday 8^th April 2011 in the Rosenstiel School’s Auditorium. The workshop invites leading journalists to address such questions as: Why should scientists communicate to non-scientists? How can you deliver a clear and compelling message? How can you ace an interview with a journalist? Why do the cultures of science and journalists sometimes clash, and what are the “do's and don'ts” of dealing with the media?

The Communications Training is sponsored by a grant to Andrew Baker from the University of Miami’s SEEDS program (Scientists and Engineers Expanding Diversity and Success), and by the Rosenstiel School’s Office of Advancement and Communications.

Workshop activities:

The workshop is designed to enhance communication skills, demystify media interactions, and increase willingness to engage in communications with journalists. A team of four professional journalists and science communicators will facilitate both sessions, and will provide participants first-hand experience interacting with the media through a range of realistic scenarios.

 

The workshop structure is as follows:

 

Morning (9am-12pm):

·         Welcome and Introductions

·         Video: True Confessions - Coming out of the Ivory Tower

·         Welcome to My World – Journalists share a typical day in their lives  

·         Lecture: Bridging the Worlds of Science and Journalism

·         Discussion: Thinking Story like a Journalist. Journalists share the “story behind the story” for a recent piece

·         Communicating Complexity: Introduction to the Message Box Video: “True Confessions – Coming out of the Ivory Tower”

 

Afternoon (1pm-5pm):

·         Message Box: Review and discussion, personalized feedback

·         Mock Interviews - 20 pre-registered participants will have the opportunity to role-play in mock interview scenarios and other common interactions scientists have with journalists

·         Group discussion and feedback

·         Lecture: How to Ace Your Interview

·         Reflection and final thoughts

 

 

___________________

Andrew C. Baker, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, University of Miami

Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation

 

On leave in the United Kingdom until Fall 2011

 

Visit the lab on Facebook by clicking here

 

Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries

Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science

University of Miami

4600 Rickenbacker Cswy.

Miami, FL 33149, USA

Office: +1 (305) 421-4642

Lab: +1 (305) 421-4226

Fax: +1 (305) 421-4600

Email: abaker@rsmas.miami.edu

 

Associate Conservation Scientist

Wildlife Conservation Society

www.wcs.org/marine