Communication Training for Knowledge Translation
Make your research resonate
Your ambition is to connect with non-experts, build relationships, and turn your research into real-world impact. But habits of academic communication don't get great results outside the lab and library.
Adapting your communication practices is the key to knowledge translation. With just a few changes to your approach, you can translate your research without sacrificing accuracy or personal authenticity.
Develop skills and confidence to make yourself heard
Communicating clearly and persuasively enables you to CONNECT with a wide variety of non-expert audiences, such as:
Industry Partners
Funders & Investors
Policy-makers
Community Groups
Employers
Hi! I'm Dr. Dawn Henwood, your knowledge translation coach
I have a PhD in English literature from the University of Toronto and more than two decades of industry experience working as a learning designer and communications consultant across various sectors, including IT, engineering, and healthcare.
I'll show you how to leverage the skills you've developed as a scholar to communicate differently. You'll learn how to engage, educate, and inspire the people you want to impact.
“Clarity Connect offers practical, personalized training services. Dawn's approach makes it easy to translate research into bite-sized bits of information for different audiences. In the world of research, it can be challenging when we work every day in our area of expertise. With Dawn's help researchers are able to put their new skills into immediate action. We chose Clarity Studio to support the great research ecosystem here in New Brunswick and support our world-class researchers. ”
“The [Networking for Success] workshop was exceptional and clearly indicated that Dawn paid attention to every detail, ensuring that students felt cared for and valued. I highly recommend Dawn if you are looking for more than the typical event facilitator – she is engaging, well-prepared, genuine, and understands how to bring people of different backgrounds together.”
The Clarity Connect approach could work for you if you...
- Want to get people outside the academy truly excited about your research. If you want to see results, it's not enough just to explain your research clearly. You must turn your audience into raving fans of your research. This takes more than removing jargon from your writing. It requires a radical shift in mindset so you're connecting with people at a deep, and deeply human, level.
- Harbor a healthy skepticism about outsourcing knowledge translation. No one understands your research to the depth you do. And you don't want to risk having your big, complex ideas squished into soundbites. As the expert, you're always the best spokesperson for your research--you just need the skills and confidence to connect with people who don't share your expertise.
- Are willing to try something new. To connect with humans, you'll need to get comfortable with leveraging the power of psychology and emotion—without getting all gushy or sounding "slick." And, of course, without compromising the integrity of your ideas.
- Have a clear idea of the audience(s) you want to reach and the goals you want to achieve. You may even have invested some time in learning about knowledge translation or knowledge mobilization at a high level. Now, you're ready to get down to the practical work of communicating with specific people so you can start making your vision real.