Communications Skills for Environmental Professionals
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The document focuses on effective communication skills for environmental professionals, highlighting the importance of conveying messages clearly to diverse audiences. It emphasizes storytelling, audience engagement, and the use of accessible language to enhance understanding of conservation issues. Additionally, it provides practical tips for writing and advocacy, including avoiding jargon and structuring communication to capture attention.
Communications Skills for Environmental Professionals
- 1. Communications Skills For Environmental Professionals Emily Moskal Communications Director [email protected]
- 2. Communications Successfully conveying the desired message to the right audience
- 3. Lifecycle of a message Intent Composition Encoding Transmission Reception Interpretation
- 4. Interactions are based on communications • Credibility • Authority • Every avenue of your life
- 5. Communications in conservation • Education • Outreach • Advocacy • Influence
- 6. Reduce barriers to reception • Ambiguity • Culture • Big words
- 7. Knowing your audience Sex – Love – Health – Happiness – Money Fears – Hopes – Dreams
- 8. Fun fact: sensory exploitation • Find preferences of audience, fine tune your song Measure of success
- 9. #1 conservation priority, ranked by the average American • SAFETY AND HEALTH: natural disaster, drinking, fitness, recreation You've been drinking Atrazine - now help get it banned
- 10. Don't Terms not to use: Landscape Ecosystem services Global warming Green jobs
- 11. Do • Remain optimistic • Local politicians’ positions • Seek federal support • Rural life • Recreational • Historic value
- 12. Stay people-oriented • Generations • Our, we • Pride of place • Responsibility
- 13. Connecting your audience • Testimonials & social proof • Emotion • Photos "I really appreciate everything you do to raise awareness and protect our amphibian populations!" — Mr. Froggie, Sacramento, CA IUCN Amphibian Specialist
- 14. Be a storyteller • Problem • Hero • Solution
- 15. Stand out • Information overload • Short attention span • Scanning vs. reading • Quick decision • Shares
- 16. Don't lose your reader
- 17. Flow • Mix short & long sentences
- 18. Transitions • So, • First, second, third • Then, • Also, • Similarly,
- 19. Rhetorical Questions • So, you want to save the frogs? Here’s how you can get started…
- 20. Connect paragraphs As we begin to reshape the dry wetland we find a nonnative bullfrog hibernating. Finding a bullfrog is a sure sign that when the wetland is full of water, it will support native frogs.
- 21. TL;DR • Headlines • Subheads • Bold • Links • Captions • Photos
- 22. Headlines • Bait • The Effects of Kernel Feeding by Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) on Commercial Hazelnuts. Four Ways Stink Bugs Will Shrivel Your Nuts. https://entomologytoday.org/2014/11/25/5-ways-to-improve-your-science-writing/
- 24. Headlines • Thousands of frogs are threatened with extinction Better • 8 ways to start saving endangered frogs right now BAD GOOD
- 25. First paragraph • Hook • Anticipation • It was a dark and stormy night • Call-to-action
- 26. Section headers • History of the deadly fungus • Infectious spread of chytrid • Tropics in threat • Species on the verge of extinction
- 27. Photo Captions • John shows Ted a bullfrog BAD GOOD • In Amphibian Conservation 101 at the Elementary of Nepal, students John Smith and Ted Rose learn about a deadly chytrid fungus killing frogs, like this Indian bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus tigerinus), found in our area.
- 28. Don't be such a scientist • Academic/technical journals ≠ writing for popular media
- 29. 2 ways to make someone think you're smart • Confuse them with big words • Or, teach them, and add value to their lives
- 30. Facts • Don’t list • “The bullfrog is native to the eastern U.S. The bullfrog measures between six- to 12-inches long. Bullfrogs mate in the spring. They lay 1,000 eggs per clutch.” • Every spring, a female bullfrog will hop from her burrow and lay around 1,000 eggs at a time. Her large size enables her to lay many eggs.
- 31. No jargon • Jargon: words used inside social or work circles, not known outside • Clutch: mass of eggs laid at once
- 32. Too many words • Mechanism of reproductive behavior reproduction • Rates of speed speed • “Brain injury incidence shows two peak periods in almost all reports: rates are the highest in young people and the elderly.” More punch “Brain injury incidence peaks in the young and the elderly.”
- 33. Reputation • “This is academic writing at its finest: boring, unreadable, written to obscure rather than to inform!” –Stanford Writing Course • Be inclusive, don’t isolate
- 34. What makes a good writer? • Having a new perspective • Logical and clear thinking • A few simple, learnable rules of style Stanford University’s Science Writing
- 35. Advocacy • "In science, the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurs." --Sir William Osler
- 36. Must-have resources • Strunk & White • AP Stylebook
- 37. Fun fact: punctuation helps sp. ID via Purgatory Project
- 38. Common Mistakes
- 39. Species names • Common names: American bullfrog • Kingdom down to family: Ranidae • Latin names: Lithobates catesbeianus, or L. catesbeianus • AmphibiaWeb
- 40. Organization names • SAVE THE FROGS! not Save the Frogs or Save The Frogs But, Save The Frogs Day not SAVE THE FROGS! Day
- 41. Quotes • Outside punctuation BAD “Frogs are cool. I hope they don’t go extinct”, said Margot. • GOOD “Frogs are cool,” Margot said, “I hope they don’t go extinct.”
- 42. Numbers • Spell out units • Zero through nine, number 10 + • among vs. between • less vs. fewer • more than vs. over • 1980s not 1980’s
- 43. Capitalization • Places: West Texas vs. western United States • Diseases: Zika vs. malaria
- 44. How to read better • Underline • Notes • Unknown words • Creative use of word • Punctuation: semicolon (;), colon (:), dash (-)
- 45. Communication Styles • Fundraising • Copywriting • Journalism
- 46. Fundraising • Conversational • YOU • Donor is a super hero • Numbers • Personal story • Fund you or another’s project
- 47. Copywriting • Marketing, sales • Business, nonprofit, community
- 48. Journalism • Objective, balanced • Op-ed, feature, news • Professor, lobbyist, activist
- 49. Use an editor • Friends, Family • I am always happy to give advice [email protected]
- 50. Become a SAVE THE FROGS! Contributor • Receive personal edits of your work • Reach a lot of environmentalists • Receive a writing guide • If you’re interested, send me an email! emily@savethefrogs
- 51. Additional Resources • The Best American Science and Nature Writing • A Field Guide for Science Writers • Join National Association of Science Writers or follow email forums • Tips for writing an Op/Ed by David Jarmul for Duke’s Office of News and Communications • Using Social Media to Promote Environmental Action • For a good example of science writing, read Ed Yong’s blog • Stanford’s Science Writing course slides • Gail Perry e-newsletter for fundraising tips • Copyblogger e-newsletter for copywriting tips • National Geographic Style Guide • Pitch story to helpareporter.com
- 52. EDIT IN ACTION • https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/bir aj/154fd1ce7cea8181?projector=1
- 53. Homework • Spend 15 minutes looking through Nature Conservancy’s Language of Conservation memo. Results of survey of average U.S. conservation priorities. • Spend 15 minutes reading Ghana Expedition summary as example of environmental communication • Spend 30 minutes looking these SAVE THE FROGS! magazine issues and find three articles that catch your eye. For 30 minutes, a brief report (<1 page) about 3 things: 1) Why you picked that article, 2) what effectively communicated the SAVE THE FROGS! mission to a particular audience, and 3) what didn’t. • Keep in mind: audience, mission, reader motivation, headlines, layout. Bonus points if you find typos! Every publication has them! • Watch this effective advocacy and tabling video and come to next week’s meeting with any comments or questions
- 54. Next Week Week 3: How To Organize, Promote & Hold Successful Events