Storytelling for Science: Foundations

Storytelling can help researchers communicate complex ideas clearly, create relevance for different audiences and make their work more memorable. This highly interactive introductory workshop gives participants a practical foundation in using storytelling techniques for research communication and public engagement.

Rather than focusing heavily on theory, participants work with their own research throughout, starting with a short pre-work outline, then progressively shaping it in the session — from a story-structured research explanation, into a short, audience-focused story with a clear narrative arc, and finally into a format suited to a specific context.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

The ‘Storytelling for Science: Foundations’ workshop will be held online, on April 6th, from 9am to 1pm. The session will be conducted in english.

Registrations are open until March 7th.

After registration closes, registrants will receive a pre-work to do before the session. It will be a form with some important questions for the proper functioning of the session.

NOTE: The attendance certificate will be issued if the trainee attends at least 80% of the total course time.

If tickets are sold out, you can sign up for the waiting list (you will be notified in order of registration).

DESCRIPTION:

During the workshop, participants will:

• Explore simple narrative frameworks, and apply them to their own research, for use when communicating with peers/expert audiences;
• Consider the difference between communicating research clearly and developing a compelling story for a non-specialist audience;
• Explore how audience, relevance, tension, people and change influence the stories we tell about science;
• Use a narrative arc to develop a short story for non-experts based on their own research;
• Tell and test their story with other participants, using structured peer feedback to refine it;
• Discuss what to consider when adapting a story for different audiences, purposes, formats and channels;
• Practice adapting a story to a specific format as a group, exploring what changes — length, tone, what’s cut, what stays — and how the same principles apply to other formats and contexts.

Outcomes:

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to name and use the storytelling structures they already apply intuitively in their research communication, and use these deliberately to build a short audience-focused story for non-expert audiences – with clear stakes, emotion and a “so what”.

They will practise adapting that story for a specific format, exploring what changes (lenght, tone, what’s cut, what stays) and how to apply this thinking to other formats and contexts in future.

They will leave with three versions of one piece of their own research, including a structured outline, a non-expert story, and a format-adapted version, plus the skills to repeat this process independently.

Added-value:
Participants will receive a workbook for use during and after the course and post-workshop notes and resources.

Trainer: Suzanne Whitby, Founder | Trainer, Facilitator & Workshop Designer | SciComm Success

Suzanne Whitby is a futurer, facilitator, and storyteller working at the intersection of science, sustainability, and society. Suzanne is the founder of Futures Fit and SciComm Success, and is known for translating complex ideas into meaningful, actionable insights across Europe. Originally from South Africa and based in Innsbruck, Austria, she believes in the power of imagination to shape more hopeful, sustainable futures.