Core Principles for Written Communication
Is writing dead? Not in the world of health research and innovation. In fact, your writing skills may be the most important tools in your knowledge translation toolkit.
Certainly, visual, media-rich elements are playing a greater and greater role in knowledge translation. Yet many communication products that don't look like “writing” require you to use written language to express your meaning. For example, consider the written aspect of each of the following communication products:
| Communication Product | Written Element |
| Animated video | Script for the animator; summary to introduce the video in a website or on a social media platform |
| Video interview | Script containing introduction, questions, and closing; summary to introduce the video in a website or on social media |
| Infographic or poster | Text introducing and integrating with images |
| Presentation | Headline and body text for each slide; labeling for visuals |
| Online training materials | Text introducing media elements; instructional content; exercises and assessments |
| Podcast episode | Script for introduction; interview questions or script for monologue; show notes (summary to introduce the episode on the podcast platform) |
To paraphrase the American author Mark Twain, the report of writing's death has been an exaggeration. Writing continues to dominate professional communication, and it looks like it will continue to do so for some time.
In this resource bundle, you'll find items to help you build core skills for writing to audiences outside the academy. You'll learn how to approach writing with the intent not to discuss or analyze but to persuade.
Principle #1: Focus on the audience
In academic writing, your subject takes center stage, and your aim is to analyze that subject so you can determine the truth about it.
In writing for knowledge translation, on the other hand, your main concern is usually to persuade your audience to either change their perspective on a topic or to take action.
In most cases, effective KT writing needs to function like effective business writing. Business writing may contain analytical elements, but its primary purpose is transactional. That is, it aims to get things done.
Does the word "business" make you feel a bit squeamish? In this program, we'll use that term in the broadest sense. Think of the world of "business" as including government organizations, social enterprises, and not-for-profits as well as industry. People are engaged in "business" any time they're working together in an organized structure to provide products or services. (Yes, certain parts of the university also function as a business, and it's wise to adapt your communication style when speaking to colleagues on the operational side of an educational institution.)
Switching from analytical to transactional writing requires you to shift your focus. The key to success is to embrace your audience's world view, their “thought-world” and to adapt the form, content, and style of your content accordingly.
Creating reader-centered communication
Map your audience's thought-world
Grab your reader's attention
Curated resources
- How to talk about climate change so people will listen
- Knowledge Translation Strategies for Different Audience (guide from AlbertaHealth)
- Writing for Knowledge Translation: A Self-Coaching Guide for Researchers and Technical Experts Who Want to Build Positive Relationships with Government Funders, Industry Partners, and Investors (eBook by Dawn Henwood)
Downloadable tools
- How Business Writing Differs from Academic Writing
- Audience Outlook Checklist
- Thought-World Inventory
Principle #2: Provide an obvious structure
An audience that lacks your expertise in health research has to work hard to process unfamiliar concepts. So make it easy on them by providing a clear path through your ideas and information. And make sure to organize your content in a way that makes sense to your audience rather than yourself.
Using audience logic
How to make structure obvious
Downloadable tools
Checklist for Structuring Writing
Principle #3: Design for influence
Communication that makes an impact changes minds and behavior. Design your content to influence your audience's thinking, feelings, and actions.
The three threads of persuasion
Downloadable tools
Guide to the Three Ancient Pillars of Persuasion
Principle #4: Simplify your writing style
As someone trained in academic writing, you've learned to create a style that privileges accuracy and assumes that interested readers will be willing to work to interpret long sentences and paragraphs.
When you're writing for an audience outside the academy, assume that your readers will be hurried and impatient.
Streamline your style so that you preserve accuracy while using as few syllables and punctuation marks as possible. Short words, short sentences, and graphical elements (such as tables and bulleted lists) make your writing accessible and easy to skim.
Are you using an influential writing style?
Communicating clearly
Communicating concisely
Inspiring confidence
Downloadable tools
- Intensifiers to Avoid
- Filler Words
- Common Nominalizations
- Plain Language Alternatives
- Ultimate Editing Checklist for Communicating with Nonexperts
Principle #5: Think visually
Thoughtfully designed visuals grab the audience's attention and communicate information in an accessible, economical form. But… poorly designed visuals confuse and frustrate the audience, especially if they lack specialized knowledge about the topic.
Even if you're producing a simple email or report, consider how you can use graphical elements (such as headings and bulleted lists) to make content easier to process. When you're creating data visualizations, such as charts and diagrams, make sure they convey a clear message. Each data set should tell a compelling story.
Think like a graphic designer
You don't have to be an artist to master the principles of graphic design. Check out this Clarity Studio blog post on “three techniques anyone can use to think like a graphic designer.”
Differentiate between playing and telling
Scott Berinato is the senior editor of the Harvard Business Review and an expert on data visualization. He says there are two kinds of data visualizations: those that enable the audience to explore data and those that declare a message.
As a researcher, you're familiar with using visualizations to play with data, but communicating for KT requires you to tell a clear story.
Check out Berinato's article, “Visualizations that really work.”
Downloadable tools
Storytelling Through Data Cheat Sheet
Principle #6: Improve your writing fluency
The knowledge translation process typically requires a lot of relationship-building. In today's world, that means a lot of emails and direct messages to various stakeholders, as well as stacks of project management documents, such as design briefs and reports.
Improving your writing productivity enables you to handle such routine communication tasks quickly and easily. Pay attention to what works for you as your creative process is unique to you. Also polish up your editing skills. Feeling confident that you have the skills to polish the rough edges of your writing makes it easier to produce an imperfect first draft.
How to improve your writing productivity
TAKE THE FREEWRITING CHALLENGE
Freewriting is a simple practice that liberates you from the tyrannical voice of your inner writing critic. If you freewrite regularly, you'll soon find that your writing becomes more fluent and confident.
Many people find that freewriting works best when they write in longhand, but you can also practice it at your computer. Here's how it works:
- Pick a writing topic or a sentence to complete.(E.g., The most valuable thing about my research is...)
- Set a timer for a set amount of time. (Ten minutes is a good amount to start with.)
- Write for 10 minutes--without stopping. If you're writing at a computer, dim your monitor so you can't see what you're writing. DON'T STOP to second-guess your word choices, spelling, or punctuation. Just keep writing. (If you get stuck, try repeating the last word you've written over and over until a new word comes. Or write about the experience of being stuck.)
Try freewriting for 10 minutes a day for the next week and then reflect on how the practice has influenced your attitude toward writing and your writing efficiency. Consider the different ways you might use freewriting to help you conquer writer's block, generate ideas, develop ideas, and refine your drafts.
Downloadable tools
- Tips for Streamlining Your Writing Workflow
- Ultimate Editing Checklist for Communicating with Nonexperts
- Punctuation Cheat Sheet
Try this!
Take a few paragraphs from a recent essay, lab report, or article you've written and translate them into a form that will resonate with your Impact Audience.
If you'd like feedback on your translation, email your revision to Dawn.
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