Storytelling for Researchers

Aims

In hard sciences, the fundamental tool used by researchers to convince their community of the validity of their work is the statistical significance (or lack thereof). Figures and error bars are indeed part of the communication of research. Yet, the proof is different than the explanation. The ability to bring meaning to scientific results through carefully crafted arguments and narratives is essential to having an impact, to triggering a lasting impression and to getting funded successfully.

At the end of this workshop, participants will
* understand the value of storytelling and rhetoric applied to research communication
* know storytelling and rhetoric techniques
* have concrete examples of these techniques applied to their own research

Content

How do you move people with a bar graph? How do you touch someone with a p-value? This workshop will open with a reflection on a conundrum of research communication: finding the right balance between credibility and efficiency. The participants will then be immersed in storytelling to understand its functions and principles before looking into its applications to research communication. The participants will be presented with and use simple elements of rhetoric.

Throughout the workshop, participants will write and speak, alone or in group(s). Along with the practice of storytelling and rhetoric, participants will learn to identify and evaluate narrative structures in others’ stories.

Methods

This workshop will be very practical. Each participant will use his/her research as a starting material to create a number of stories, story-arcs and structured arguments.

Target Group

All Doctoral Candidates & Postdocs

About the Trainer

Dr Samuel Lagier is a public speaking trainer and coach. He founded and manages SamSpeaksScience.com whose mission is to help experts talk about their knowledge. He runs workshops in Swiss higher education institutions and coaches researchers interviewing for Swiss and European grants. Sam coached, curated and hosted the TEDxLausanne conference for 7 years. He is a member of the science-entertainment collective The Catalyst and the improvised comedy troupe the Renegade Saints, with whom he taught improvisation and runs seriously fun workshops for non-profits and corporate clients.
In his scientific career Samuel studied sensory perception in the normal and schizophrenic brains in France, the US and in Switzerland.

Workload

8h workshop

Feature

Once registration is open, applications will be collected for 24 hours and course places allocated by lot. All registrations received after the initial 24h period will be put on a waiting list and assigned on a first come, first served basis.

Course places/places on the waiting list will be confirmed by e-mail. Course registrations can only be canceled before the registration period ends (send an e-mail to grace@unibas.ch). Full course attendance is mandatory. Participants who fail to attend a course without prior notification or withdraw after the registration deadline are subject to a fee of CHF 30. In addition, participants who cancel their course registration at a later point in time, are absent without an excuse or do not attend the entire course will, for reasons of fairness, not be considered for course registration in the following semester and will be removed from other courses offered in the same semester. Please find the detailed regulations on the Transferable Skills Homepage.