Summary: Even if you’re not working on a paper or grant proposal today, you’ll probably communicate about science. You’ll send an email to a colleague, chat with your PI, or present a paper at lab meeting. In every case, you’re trying to convey an idea or change someone’s mind, and that’s why it’s so important to communicate clearly.<br> Write Right<br> This week, we invited David Shifrin of <a href="http://www.filamentcommunications.com">Filament Life Science Communication</a> and the <a href="http://www.sciencewritingradio.com/">Science Writing Radio podcast</a> to share his top four tips for what he calls “non-technical writing.” That includes those emails, conversations, and presentations you’re doing every day of the week. <br> Here are the tips he shared on the show:<br> <br> Define your audience: Create each piece of content for an “audience of one” and don’t try to be all things to all people.<br> Define the problem: Focus, try to convey one main idea, and support it with every sentence.<br> Less is more: Use white space, don’t feel compelled to tell everything you know, and edit yourself ruthlessly.<br> Tell a story: Data is critical, but data only makes sense in the context of a story. Use emotion, story arc, the hero’s journey, etc. to engage your audience.<br> <br> David has a 15-point checklist to improve your scientific communications on his website. Check it out at <a href="http://www.sciencewritingradio.com/hellophd/">http://www.sciencewritingradio.com/hellophd/</a><br> Freaks of Nature<br> The ethanol took on mythic proportions this week. David sampled the <a href="http://jackalopebrew.com/rompo/">Rompo Red Rye Ale</a> from Jackelope Brewing Company in Nashville, TN. They describe a “rompo” as “a mythical beast with the head of a rabbit, the ears of a human, the front arms of a badger, and the rear legs of a bear.” Magically frightening!<br> Josh and Dan couldn’t find that locally, so they drank a beer with a head of hops, the ears of hops, the front arms made of even more hops, and the rear legs of a bear who died from an overdose of hops. It was the <a href="http://wickedweedbrewing.com/beers/whats-on-tap/">Freak of Nature Double IPA</a> from Wicked Weed Brewing in… wait for it… Asheville, NC! It’s like Nashville, but headless. See what I did there?<br> <br> <br> <br>
