STORYTELLING

Jamie Hallj.hall.2@research.gla.ac.uk

Links and referencesCaroline van den Brul (narrative skills workshops) www.creativitybydesign.co.ukAlice Bell (@alicebell) (science studies researcher and commentator)

http://alicerosebell.wordpress.comEd Yong (@edyong209) (popular science blogger)

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscienceJohn Bohannon: Dance vs. Powerpoint (I should have listened!)

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_bohannon_dance_vs_powerpoint_a_modest_proposal.htmlThis American Life (great storytelling about everyday life)

http://www.thisamericanlife.orgPlanet Money (business and economics news and stories, entertaining and informative)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/moneyRadiolab (great storytelling about science and society)

http://www.radiolab.org/

Me: j.hall.2@research.gla.ac.uk and my Parasites comic is here: http://wellcometrust.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/of-parasitology-and-comics/

Public engagement with science is…

Education?Advocacy?

Entertainment?

Recruitment?

Translation?

Evangelism?

Social duty?

Brainwashing?

PR?

Pitching?

Training?

Storytelling?

Public engagement sciencewith

children?

adults?

academics?

businesspeople?

government?

scientists?

all science?

scientific ‘method’?

your discipline?

your PhD?

your university?

“understanding of”?

“Communication is something you take part in,not something you deliver.”

Dr. Alice Bellalicerosebell.wordpress.com

CONNECTIVITY

is it about the parasite you work on?did it happen in your city?does it affect things that are important to you?

are you in the same world?

something new, unknown, unexpectedsomething that doesn’t fit

a tension that must be resolved

wrongs must be righted!

STRANGENESS

COMPREHENSIBILITYthe story must make logical sense, it

must be believable

a lure What makes you start engaging with a story? – title, cover…

Where do they lie on this strangeness-connectivity axis?

the audience

Will they find the characters’ behaviour, or the outcomes, believable?

does the audience care about the world and the characters in it?

mood, setting, look/feel, detail & description

will the audience recognize strangeness in the world?

the world

a hook

something that doesn’t fit

a wrong that must be righted

character desiring a goal

hurdles and obstacles

interesting and surprising ways of dealing with them

the plot

structure

series of events that arouse emotion and maintain interest

concern for charactermystery (concern for outcome)suspense (concern for character and outcome)

Ed Yong, blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience