Melissa Marshall: Talk nerdy to me

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Five years ago, I experienced a bit

of what it must have been like to be Alice in Wonderland.

Penn State asked me, a communications teacher,

to teach a communications class for engineering students.

And I was scared. (Laughter)

Really scared. Scared of these students with their big brains

and their big books and their big, unfamiliar words.

But as these conversations unfolded,

I experienced what Alice must have when she went down

that rabbit hole and saw that door to a whole new world.

That's just how I felt as I had those conversations

with the students. I was amazed at the ideas

that they had, and I wanted others to experience this wonderland as well.

And I believe the key to opening that door

is great communication.

We desperately need great communication from our

scientists and engineers in order to change the world.

Our scientists and engineers are the ones

that are tackling our grandest challenges, from energy

to environment to health care, among others,

and if we don't know about it and understand it,

then the work isn't done, and I believe it's our responsibility

as non-scientists to have these interactions.

But these great conversations can't occur if our scientists

and engineers don't invite us in to see their wonderland.

So scientists and engineers, please, talk nerdy to us.

I want to share a few keys on how you can do that

to make sure that we can see that your science is sexy

and that your engineering is engaging.

First question to answer for us: so what?

Tell us why your science is relevant to us.

Don't just tell me that you study trabeculae,

but tell me that you study trabeculae, which is the mesh-like structure of our bones

because it's important to understanding and treating osteoporosis.

And when you're describing your science, beware of jargon.

Jargon is a barrier to our understanding of your ideas.

Sure, you can say "spatial and temporal," but why not just say

"space and time," which is so much more accessible to us?

And making your ideas accessible is not the same as dumbing it down.

Instead, as Einstein said, make everything

as simple as possible, but no simpler.

You can clearly communicate your science

without compromising the ideas.

A few things to consider are having examples, stories

and analogies. Those are ways to engage

and excite us about your content.

And when presenting your work, drop the bullet points.

Have you ever wondered why they're called bullet points? (Laughter)

What do bullets do? Bullets kill,

and they will kill your presentation.

A slide like this is not only boring, but it relies too much

on the language area of our brain, and causes us to become overwhelmed.

Instead, this example slide by Genevieve Brown is

much more effective. It's showing that the special structure

of trabeculae are so strong that they actually inspired

the unique design of the Eiffel Tower.

And the trick here is to use a single, readable sentence

that the audience can key into if they get a bit lost,

and then provide visuals which appeal to our other senses

and create a deeper sense of understanding

of what's being described.

So I think these are just a few keys that can help

the rest of us to open that door and see the wonderland

that is science and engineering.

And because the engineers that I've worked with have

taught me to become really in touch with my inner nerd,

I want to summarize with an equation. (Laughter)

Take your science, subtract your bullet points

and your jargon, divide by relevance,

meaning share what's relevant to the audience,

and multiply it by the passion that you have for

this incredible work that you're doing,

and that is going to equal incredible interactions

that are full of understanding.

And so, scientists and engineers, when you've solved

this equation, by all means, talk nerdy to me. (Laughter)

Thank you. (Applause)