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The Effective Use of Rhetoric in Scientific CommunicationHow to get to know your audience
Keith GibsonSenior Design ConsultantAllen Communication Learning Services
Aristotle’s Reasoning
• Demonstration—when the premises from which the deduction starts are true and primitive
• Dialectic—when it reasons from reputable opinions
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Simon Locke• The technical sphere is nonrhetorical because it is the
sphere of truth; rhetoric is employed only as “handmaiden” in imparting truth to nonspecialist, public audiences, whose reasoning is “untrained.” –The Public Understanding of Science, 2002
My Claim
• The effectiveness of science communication is directly proportional to the level of knowledge about the audience
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Three Questions• What does our audience need?
• Where do we disagree with them?
• What do we have in common with them?
Three Audiences
• Public• Journalists• Politicians
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Building Metaphors• Thomson’s plum pudding model of the atom• Schrodinger’s cat• Turing test
Telling Stories
• “If we are to win the battle that is now going on around the world between freedom and tyranny, the dramatic achievements in space which occurred in recent weeks should have made clear to us all, as did the Sputnik in 1957, the impact of this adventure on the minds of men everywhere, who are attempting to make a determination of which road they should take.” --John Kennedy
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Finding Relevance
Kepler Spacecraft• 76 stellar systems
explored• 242 exoplanets
confirmed• 3,277 exoplanet
candidates identified• $550 million
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Identify the Issue• Stasis Theory
• Fact• Definition• Quality• Procedure
Climate Change - Fact
Source: NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Climate Change - Definition
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Climate Change - Quality
Armed Conflict BiodiversityChronic Disease Climate ChangeEducation Hunger and MalnutritionInfectious Disease Natural DisastersPopulation Growth Water and Sanitation
World’s Ten Most Important Challenges
Climate Change – Quality/ProcedureChallenge Solution
1 Hunger & Education Bundled Interventions to Reduce Undernutrition
2 Infectious Disease Subsidy for Malaria Combination Treatment 3 Infectious Disease Expanded Childhood Immunization Coverage 4 Infectious Disease Deworming of Schoolchildren 5 Infectious Disease Expanding Tuberculosis Treatment 6 Hunger & Biodiversity R&D to Increase Yield Enhancements
& Climate Change7 Natural Disasters Investing in Effective Early Warning Systems 8 Infectious Disease Strengthening Surgical Capacity 9 Chronic Disease Hepatitis B Immunization 10 Chronic Disease Acute Heart Attack Low Cost Drugs ‐
11 Chronic Disease Salt Reduction Campaign 12 Climate Change Geo Engineering R&D ‐13 Education Conditional Cash Transfers for
School Attendance 14 Infectious Disease Accelerated HIV Vaccine R&D 15 Education Information Campaign on Benefits
From Schooling16 Water and Sanitation Borehole and Public Hand Pump Intervention
Climate Change - Procedure
Source: stevenleahy.net
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Climate Change Stasis• Fact: How much warming has there been?• Definition: What is an acceptable level of warming?• Quality: Is climate change more dire than other problems?• Procedure: How can we most efficiently slow the warming?
Find a Commonplace
• What does the audience value?• What are their goals?• How can your project help them achieve those goals?
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Commonplace?
Commonplace?
Commonplace?
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Climate Change Stasis• Fact: How much warming has there been?• Definition: What is an acceptable level of warming?• Quality: Is climate change more dire than other problems?• Procedure: How can we most efficiently slow the warming?
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Three Questions• What does our audience need?
• Where do we disagree with them?
• What do we have in common with them?