COMMUNICATIONS TRAINING FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCHERS
Some members of the Communicating Economics team provide training for economists focused on opportunities to communicate their research findings and economic expertise to audiences beyond academia – to have more ‘impact’ on policy-makers, private sector decision-makers and the general public.
Courses and workshops, typically a half-day or full day, cover:
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Effective research dissemination: why it matters; the role of the media; engaging with the public and media agendas; making an impact outside academia; media success stories; developing a research programme’s media and communications strategy
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Thinking strategically about how to package your research findings and research-based policy analysis and commentary, when to release it, which audiences to target (policy-makers, private sector, the media, the general public) and how to respond to ‘real world’ opportunities to intervene in public debates – for example, elections, referendums, European/international summits, economic data releases.
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Stories and press releases: key elements of news; the importance of narratives; using rhetoric and metaphor; positioning research for the media; placing stories; reacting to news, communicating with the press.
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Writing accessible versions of research papers and evidence surveys for different audiences: including VoxEU; andf other multi-authored blogs (for example, the LSE’s suite of blogs; the Conversation).
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Effective presentation to non-specialist audiences – how to summarise your findings and their significance in 5-10 minute presentations.
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Organising events to present research findings and analysis: public meetings; policy seminars with civil servants, politicians, etc.; working dinners with journalists – also taking advantage of publicity opportunities at academic conferences, such as American Economic Association, the Royal Economic Society and the European Economic Association, and ‘festival of economics’-type events, such as Trento and Bristol.
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Establishing an effective Twitter presence: how to condense the message of your research in a way that attracts attention and stimulates productive discussions.
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Developing ideas for short films – for example those posted on Vox Videos: http://voxeu.org/videovox; how to do interviews well; different types of media interviews (TV/radio; live/pre-recorded; studio/down the line); conveying what you want to say rather than responding to someone else’s agenda.
For further information, contact:
Email: romesh@vaitilingam.com
Twitter: @econromesh