Welcome!

Video transcript

Through your KT project, you'll develop a communication product to share some aspect of your current research with an Impact Audience (a specific community you want to influence) outside your scholarly peer group.  There is no set length, but the product you create should be substantial enough to achieve its communication goals. For example, you might create a blog article, a three-minute slide presentation, a three-minute video, or a script for a podcast episode.  Use your ingenuity to choose a form that will appeal to your Impact Audience. Leverage your strengths while stretching outside the comfort zone of producing academic articles. Your project should NOT merely explain a topic. It should persuade the audience to adopt your point of view on the topic and/or take a particular action. For instance, let's say you're researching the relationship between climate change and public health and are studying the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by food that decomposes in garbage dumps. Your KT project shouldn't simply explain how the food produces GHG or document the seriousness of the problem. It should target a specific audience and convince them to help solve the problem. For example, you might target a municipal council with the goal of persuading them to pilot a compost pick-up program for city residents. Project presentations On February 9-10, we'll meet (virtually) in small groups so you can present your KT project and get feedback on it. You'll need to register in advance for one of the groups: Feb 9, 10:00-11:30 a.m. Register here. Feb 9, 1:00-2:30 p.m. Register here. Feb 10, 1:00-2:30 p.m. Register here. Presentation expectations To make sure everyone has time to present, we will stick closely to the three-minute limit for each presentation. On Zoom, you'll see me hold up a sign when you have 30 seconds left and another sign when you have 10 seconds left. During your presentation, please tell us: Your target audience. Your goal for your communication product. (Try to narrow this to the next step you want your audience to take after interacting with your communication product.) Why you chose the form you chose (e.g., report, video, infographic). Your key message and how you've conveyed it. Outstanding questions you have. This is your opportunity to get feedback on aspects of your work that you'd like to improve. As you prepare your communication product, keep an eye on the assessment criteria in the KT Communication Scorecard. I'll use this tool as part of the written feedback you'll receive following your presentation. (You can download a copy below.) Feedback on your project Following your presentation on February 9 or 10, you'll receive detailed written feedback by email. The assessment should arrive in your inbox by the end of February.

Over four weeks, you’ll participate in live sessions, explore online resources, and complete a KT project. We’ll start with a live kick-off session in Saint John. (Attendance at the live kick-off is a prerequisite for completing the rest of the program. If you indicated in the registration form that you’ll be attending virtually, then you’ll receive a Zoom link by email the day before the session.) Following the kick-off, you’ll have access to a wealth of online resources, which you’ll refer to as you work on your KT project. Your project task is to create an authentic communication product suitable for the nonexpert audience you want to impact. Partway through the program, we’ll meet virtually for an optional group coaching session. This will give you an opportunity to ask questions related to your KT project. At the end of the program, we’ll meet online for KT project presentations. We’ll gather in small groups, and you must register for a presentation session in advance. (See the table below for registration links.) About two weeks after your presentation, you’ll receive personalized written feedback via email.   The table below lists important dates and location details.   EVENT DATE & TIME LOCATION Live kick-off Jan 12, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Saint John, Delta Hotel 39 King St, Saint John, NB E2L 4W3 Online content unlocked Jan 12, 4:00 p.m. Group coaching session (optional) Jan 26, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Register here. KT project presentations, Group 1 Feb 9, 10:00-11:30 a.m. Register here. KT project presentations, Group 2 Feb 9, 1:00-2:30 p.m. Register here. KT project presentations, Group 3 Feb 10, 1:00-2:30 p.m. Register here.

Hi! I’m Dawn. I started my career as a professor of 19th-century American literature, and now I help researchers translate academic knowledge into communication for the “real world.” How does a girl go from rooting around rare-book libraries to facilitating knowledge translation across a wide range of disciplines? The path from researching a dissertation on a nineteenth-century fiction writer to specializing in innovation communication may not seem obvious. But as I look back, the title of my thesis seems prophetic: "Voice from the Borderland: Rebecca Harding Davis and the Southern Roots of American Social Protest Fiction." The borderland is where I love to play. I've spent my career zigzagging between the academy and the world beyond the Ivory Tower, and now I help others bridge the gap between those two radically different domains. And what is "social protest" but an old-fashioned word for "change-making"? I believe that each of us is here to make a positive difference in the world, and I gravitate to collaborating with innovators who share my strong sense of mission. I've had the privilege of serving clients  from a wide variety of fields, including engineering, IT, and health care. Today, I teach, coach, and write across a range of sectors, but my favorite zone is the space where academic knowledge meets the possibility of real-world transformation. During my career, I've written, and taught others how to write, just about every kind of business document you can name. I've also authored two books on writing and more than a dozen writing courses. I look forward to working with you as you learn how to translate your knowledge into clear, compelling communication that makes an impact.  

You'll find below the slide deck and handouts from the kick-off as well as the session recording.

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 Video transcript Map your audience's thought-world Video transcript Grab your reader's attention Video transcript 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 Video transcript How to make structure obvious Video transcript 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 Video transcript 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? Video transcript Communicating clearly Video transcript Communicating concisely Video transcript Inspiring confidence Video transcript 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 Video transcript 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.

Grant applications to support health research requires a KT mindset because, in most cases, they must speak to a diverse audience. Some people in that audience may have deep knowledge of your subject, but others won't. Your job is to get everyone excited about your research and what it can do for them. The Three A's of Successful Grant Writing Video transcript Practice acting as a reviewer Some health research grants are reviewed by academics with a background similar to yours. In such cases, it's expected that you'll jump into technical language and details without taking time to prepare the reader for that specialized content. It's important to align with the grant program's mandate and to arrange your content for easy navigation, but you can assume that your readers will find it easy to access your shared scientific language.  As you may have discovered through personal experience, other health research grants get reviewed by people without an academic background in your field. Reviewers could include, for example, academics from outside your field, government employees, business leaders, or staff at a philanthropic foundation. In these instances, readers are coming  to your proposal with a limited understanding of your field and the way you want to contribute to it. A great way to improve your grant writing for non-experts is to put yourself in the shoes of a reviewer who's not intimately familiar with your zone of expertise. So let's walk through a quick exercise together. Imagine you've been asked to review the summary section of a proposal submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF) by geologist Christopher Kim. What writing moves does Kim make that enable you to grasp his ideas and appreciate the value of his work even though you don't specialize in geology?  Proposal from geologist Christopher Kim (summary section) Compare your thoughts with the short video analysis below. Video transcript Not surprisingly, Kim's proposal was successful. Carleton College has a useful list of other Successful NSF Grant Proposals. Downloadable tools Grant Alignment Worksheet Grant Application Checklist Curated resources Sample Healthcare Delivery Research Grant Applications from the National Cancer Institute Sample application to a community foundation from the Community Toolbox at the University of Kansas Sample applications ot the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (example of a grant written for reviewers with deep subject-matter knowledge) Try this! Imagine you're applying for a government grant related to your current research.   Create a one- to two-paragraph version of a project summary, modeled on Kim's proposal. Use these headings to structure your writing: Project Rationale, Research Goals and Methodology, Intellectual Merit, and Impact. 

Video can be a powerful medium for conveying the value of your health research, especially if you want to attract attention on a social media platform. Whether you're creating a video featuring real people or animations, the key is to turn your research into a compelling story that speaks to your Impact Audience. Below you'll find a few tips for crafting succinct, engaging scripts for a variety of formats, whether you're producing the video yourself or working with a creative partner, such as a videographer or animator. You'll also a find a few hints for conducting unscripted interviews with subject matter experts and turning those into short, engaging videos. Pointers for scripting Video transcript How to turn an interview with an expert into a story-driven video Videos offer a great way to bring research to life because they give viewers the chance to meet the human being behind the methodology and data. However, there’s more to storytelling than simply profiling the researcher as a character. Your aim should be to create a drama of discovery. To do that, you’ll need to help the expert share information that they may not necessarily think to provide. (This applies whether you’re interviewing someone else or doing a self-interview.) You’ll need to sharpen your questioning skills to excavate the story beneath the science. Here are some tips to help you prepare for, conduct, and edit an interview with a researcher so that your end result is a compelling story about two to three minutes long. This story will be told by the researcher with your help, but your face and voice will not appear in the video. Note: These tips assume that you’re working with a videographer and/or video editor who will carry out the technical aspects of the interview. Preparing for the interview From the interviewee’s perspective, a great interview flows naturally and easily. But from the interviewer’s perspective, it takes a lot of preparation to make “natural” happen. Gather as much background information as you can Use both academic and general sources to gain insight into both the scholar and the scholarship. Check out as many of the following items as you can find: Official bio on the university website CV LinkedIn profile Teaching dossier or sample syllabi Personal blog Recent academic publications Op-eds Recent conference presentations Media coverage Coverage on university website and in alumni magazine YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram accounts Take some preliminary notes to help you shape your interview script Include: List of key themes and findings from the research Career highlights to date (keep an eye out for interesting or unusual achievements, such as completing a degree in both Finnish and English, earning a prestigious prize, or working with a research team that spans three continents) Interesting personal facts about the researcher. (For example, do they parasail in their spare time? Do they write romance novels under a pseudonym? Were they the first person in their family to travel outside their home town?) Points the researcher has in common with your target audience Hypotheses about what drives the researcher to pursue their research Draft an interview script For a two- to three-minute video, you’ll want to shoot about 20 to 30 minutes of video. Think of that time as divided into thirds: A third of the time to help the interviewee relax into the conversation A third of the time to ask pre-scripted questions A third of the time to ask unscripted questions With these guidelines in mind, draft a script consisting of five to seven questions, plus notes to help you open and close the conversation. (Download a sample interview script.) The ideal script has a clear structure, working from general opening questions to more specific closing questions. Because you’re trying to uncover the story in the research, a chronological approach can work well; you can start with questions about the history of the research and close with a forward-looking view. Focus your questions on the real-world problem the research attempts to solve and the journey toward findings that will make an impact outside the library or lab. (The questions in the sample interview script can be adapted to many different situations.) Despite its logical structure, the ideal script also allows for flexibility. That’s why it includes only five to seven questions. Once the researcher has responded to a question, you’ll probably think of a follow-up, or probing, question you’d like to explore. Keep your script loose enough to allow you to follow your curiosity. At the time of the interview, you may feel a bit nervous. (Lights and cameras can have that effect on a person.) So you may also want to include in your script any opening and closing comments you want to share with the interviewee. For example: Opening comments to put the researcher at ease and explain the interview process (see sample script for an example) Closing comments to thank the researcher and explain next steps (the editing and review process) Many interviewees appreciate receiving the script beforehand so they too can prepare for the conversation. If possible, give the researcher the chance to familiarize themselves with the questions and suggest other or alternative questions they’d like to discuss. Touch base with the interviewee Even if the researcher has given other interviews, it’s important to orient them to the way you do things. That way, there are no surprises on the set! A week or so before the interview, send the researcher an email in which you: Thank the researcher for participating in the interview Confirm the date, time, and location of the interview Provide wardrobe tips (e.g., indicate whether formal or business casual dress is suitable, recommend a solid-color top, warn against wearing stripes or plaids) Share the interview script In some cases, you may also need to ask the researcher to sign a media release form, granting you permission to record and publish the video. Your university or employer should have a standard form you can use. Conducting the interview On the day of the interview, your number one job is to help the researcher relax. Most people find it disorienting to find themselves staring into a camera lens, so your role is to help your interview subject forget all about the camera. Setting the stage Position yourself behind or close to the camera, but outside the video frame, so that the interviewee can look at you and feel like they’re simply engaging in a friendly conversation. (Don’t worry if the researcher is looking directly into the lens; in many situations, the video looks more natural if the camera captures the subject from a slightly indirect angle.) Allow plenty of time for the interviewee to settle into position, adjust their wardrobe, and do a sound test. Again, your number one concern is to help them feel comfortable. Guiding the conversation Once everyone is ready, start working your way through the interview script. When the researcher responds to a question, provide positive nonverbal feedback: smile, nod, lean forward. But repress your urge to vocalize any kind of response. A well-intended “mmm-hmmm” or “I see” can spoil an otherwise good clip. Here are a few tips to help you handle specific situations and ask probing questions: If the researcher stumbles a bit during a response, that’s OK—small hitches in delivery make them appear human and relatable. But if they ramble or deliver a response that’s hard to follow, invite them to try re-expressing their idea. (You might say something like this: “What an intriguing idea! I think our audience would be really interested in that thought. Do you think you could try saying it again in a way that’s a little tighter?”) If the researcher veers off track in answering a question, feel free to gently guide them back to the topic. Also feel free to gently prompt them to express an idea in a way that you think will appeal to the target audience. For example, you might paraphrase something the researcher has said, using an analogy your audience can easily relate to. The researcher can then reject the analogy and offer one of their own, or they might grab hold of the analogy and express it in their own way. If the researcher is sticking to impersonal “facts,” ask probing questions to engage them and invite an emotional response. You might, for example, ask how they felt when they reached an impasse in their research or make a certain breakthrough. You might also ask “why” questions that get them reflecting on what motivates them to pursue their research and the potential positive impact it can have on the world outside the academy. If the researcher is nervous and delivering stiff responses, try some gentle humor—even if it takes you slightly off-topic—to bring out their humanity. Amp up the nonverbal feedback you’re providing; smile and they will likely smile back. Try paraphrasing what they’ve just said, using casual language. That might cue them to relax their language too. If the researcher is relaying abstract concepts, give them some help finding more concrete language. Invite them to imagine themselves having a conversation with someone from their target audience. (“So, if you were explaining this new therapy to the mother of a child with Down’s Syndrome, how would you explain its benefits?”) You might also ask them if they can think of an example or a story to illustrate a certain concept. As you conduct the interview, keep one eye on your script and one eye on the clock. Pace yourself so that you have time to get to all the questions, especially the questions toward the end of the script, which are meant to elicit in-depth responses. Be sure to open and close the interview with a genuine thank-you. And let the researcher know what to expect from the editing and review process. Editing the interview You’ve collected the raw ingredients for a research story. Now, it’s time to sift through them, choose the most interesting elements, and compose the drama. Review the raw footage. (If you have access to a tool for generating transcripts, you might also work from the transcript.) Identify short clips that, together, create a cohesive narrative about why the research matters to your target audience. (The best way to keep track of the clips is to record the timestamp for the start and end of each clip.) Look for answers to “why” questions and for examples (short stories in themselves). You may or may not find that these titdbits appear in sequence or in each section of the interview. Feel free to rearrange the video content to tell a compelling story. As you consider how best to choose and arrange your video content, consider how you can showcase the following elements of a strong research story: People—Look for clips that show the researcher relaxed, smiling, and enthusiastic. Also look for clips that address the people the research will help. Problem—Look for a clear statement of the problem the researcher set out to solve. This should be a problem relating to the “real world” of the target audience (e.g., finding new treatments for anxiety in adolescents, not redefining the medical diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorders). Eureka moment—Look for a clear, succinct statement of a key research finding. A significant failure in the research journey can also qualify as a Eureka moment. Examples—Look for clips that start with “For example…,” “In one situation…,” or similar expressions pointing to a specific illustration. Potential impact—Look for content that shows the potential of the research to solve the identified problem as well as its potential to address other problems. Whet the audience’s appetite for a sequel research story. A skilled video editor will take your suggested clips and weave them together, adding their own artistic flair. Depending on the budget, they may also integrate some B-roll footage, supplemental footage they have shot on site or taken from stock footage. (Examples of B-roll could include the researcher studying at their desk, working in the lab, or working with the community, or it could include stock footage to emphasize a certain theme.) Once the video has been edited, it’s common courtesy to share it with the researcher and get their approval before releasing the content publicly. Download the sample video script Video tour of a creative brief for an animated video If you're working with an animator, the best way to start your collaboration is to give them a rough outline of your vision for the video, through a document called a creative brief. An agency may ask you to work with a briefing template they provide, but in most situations, the simple format shown in the video below is all you need to kickstart the creative process. Video transcript Curated Resources Building the perfect interview script A Beginner's Guide to Script Writing for Animated Videos KT Stories: Knowledge translation on a global video (video of a nurse talking about her experience in KT) Downloadable tools Template for Scripting an Animated Video Sample Script for Interviewing a Researcher Try this! Pick one aspect of your current research that you'd like your Impact Audience to understand and value. Create a script for a three-minute video that grabs their attention and persuades them to adopt your point of view and/or take action.

Once upon a time, health researchers interested in knowledge translation tried to “spread the word” about their findings. Now, we spread visuals, especially those compilations of visuals and text we call infographics. Thanks to advances in technology, you no longer have to be a graphic designer to create an infographic. Tools such as PowerPoint and Canva can turn out attractive, professional-grade products. However, you do have to bring a designer's eye to the task of creating an infographic. That means not simply catching the eye of your Impact Audience but also creating a visual story that engages and persuades them. Two misperceptions to avoid Video transcript Are you using data visualization to explore data or to declare a message? Download video transcript Three different approaches to building an infographic There's no "right" way to create an infographic, but here are three possible starting points. When you're clear on the message you want to convey, start by brainstorming headlines. Aim to come up with at least 10 different options; it can take several false starts to find a strong heading. Once you've decided on your headline, then create headings for each section of your infographic. The result will be a rough outline that you can populate with visuals and explanatory text. When you have an abundance of charts and tables, start by identifying the most important data visualization. Use that as the core of your infographic and build out from there. Consider such questions as these: What can you do to simplify the data visualization and make it suitable for an infographic? Will you feature the data visualization as a single graphic or break it up into multiple, smaller graphics? What other charts and tables will you use to explain or develop the message of your central graphic? When you have a compelling story to tell, map that out visually into sections. Consider how you'll create an obvious visual path to guide the audience through the story. Here are some other questions to think about: What problem lies behind the story? Who is the hero of the story? Whom does the story impact? What are the key events in the narrative? (It may help to think of key discoveries or results.) What potential has been unlocked? What "happy ending" could now be possible? Whatever your creative process, make sure you take a critical step back from your finished infographic so you can assess and refine it. The Infographic Dashboard can help with that. Video tours of three exemplary health research infographics Download the Infographic Dashboard so you can follow along with the videos below. Introduction Infographic for mental health education View the infographic online Infographic summarizing an academic article View the infographic online Infographic from the CDC View the infographic online Curated resources The Secret Language of Maps: How to Tell Visual Stories with Data (book) Examples of visual knowledge translation projectsfrom graphic facilitator Sam Bradd of Drawing Change How to create an infographic (step-by-step instructions on how to build a simple infographic using Canva) How to create infographics with AdobeSpark (good advice regardless of which software you're using) Why storytelling is more trustworthy than presenting data (TedX talk) 20 best data visualizations of 2020 (might be some items here for your swipe file) The Ultimate Infographic Design Guide (from Venngage, an online graphic design app with a  freemium plan) Downloadable tools Infographic Checklist Infographic Dashboard Storytelling Through Data Cheat Sheet Try this! Using Canva or another free online tool, create a simple infographic presenting to your Impact Audience what you've learned through your health research over the past month or so. Create a story of discovery!

A blog about your health research gives you a KT laboratory. It allows you to experiment with different forms and different voices, as you interact with your audience and figure out how to engage them. Blogging tips to get you started Video transcript Seven key practices for creating compelling posts Have you ever read a blog post that left you nodding hard and saying "Yes!" to whatever the writer said? You can create something just as compelling by adopting the following practices. #1. Obsess over your headlines Most of the people of the people who visit your blog (perhaps as many as 80% of them) won't read any further than your headline. So your greatest opportunity to make an impact lies in those 10 to 12 critical words that sum up your post's key message. Experienced copywriters rely on tried-and-true formulas to craft their headlines, so you can do the same. Here are a few formulas you might play with: A list – 5 Tips, 3 Reasons, 10 Ways (people love a few ways to do something) A shocking fact or number – 90% of university graduates can’t spell How to achieve X  The Ultimate Guide to ... (meaning you don’t need another source) An Easy Way to… (your audience feels like they’re getting a cheat sheet)    [Famous person] Taught Me… (referring to a respected industry guru can get people reading) A contradictory statement – Forget showering, the new answer to hygiene is… Try to brainstorm at least 10 headlines for a given blog post. Sometimes, you need to spit out a lot of mediocre ideas in order to get to a truly great one. #2. Create Visual Appeal An attractive or thought-provoking image adds emotional oomph to your key message.Short on budget? Check out Pixabay, Pexels and Unsplash for free high-resolution stock images. #3. Hook your audience--and keep hooking them Great headline? Check. Awesome visuals? Check. Don't assume your reader is now firmly hooked. You must continue to hook them by making your first paragraph intriguing. Show them how well you understand their situation and how you can help. Use your first paragraph to sell readers on the value of continuing to read. #4. Vary the format of your posts If your audience keeps seeing the same kinds of posts over and over, they may get bored. Keep them engaged by varying how you present your posts. Here are some ideas to consider: How-to article Op-ed piece on an issue affecting your field, industry, or community Listicle (article in the form of a list) Book review Article by a guest blogger Challenge of a popular assumption or myth Case study Insider secrets #5. Include examples and stories Stories pack a powerful punch because they make abstract concepts real. Like VR (virtual reality), they make your audience feel as if they're "right there," living out whatever dramatic situation you present. If you have trouble dreaming up stories, make it a habit to start "catching" them--listen closely to customer interactions and note down success stories whenever you come across them. #6. Chunk and label Make it easy for your readers to skim and scroll through your content. “Chunk” your content into brief paragraphs, lists and visuals, separated by generous amounts of white space. Make frequent use of headings and sub-headings to make the meaning of your post obvious even at a glance. #7. Emulate models Find popular blogs related to your field so you can analyze their content and imitate the elements of their approach that resonate with you. Here are some questions to help you identify aspects of your model blogs you might copy in your posts: How long is the average post? (This can vary widely, and there’s no best practice that fits all situations. Keep in mind, though, that Google will pick up on your content only if your post runs to at least 300 words.) What kinds of articles does the blog include most often? What other kinds of articles does it feature? What headline formulas do posts use? How would you describe the voice of the blog? What style choices do you notice? How is graphic design applied to the blog (e.g., layout, font variations, color, visuals)? How do posts encourage the audience to engage with the writer? Curated resources Getting Started as a Health Blogger: The Beginner's Guide Downloadable tools The PAVE method for creating a thought-provoking blog Writing shapes for blog posts drawing on personal experience Blog idea generator 74 Clever Blog Post Title Templates That Work (from TwelveSkip.com) Try this! Targeting your Impact Audience, write a blog post that draws on your personal experience as well as findings from your research. Aim for 1,000 to 1,500 words (Google's algorithms prefer longer posts.)

Web copy is a valuable tool in your KT toolkit because it enables you to share health research findings with a diverse audience. Designed well, a single site can speak effectively to a wide range of stakeholders, including researchers, industry partners, and patients or end users. The key is to let go of everything you know about creating traditional documents and embrace a new set of practices for reaching an online audience. You want to take your Impact Audience on a persuasion journey so that they don't just passively absorb content but actively engage with you or your organization. To lead them along that path, you'll need to rethink how you frame the knowledge you have to share and how you use a writing style that's much leaner than the style you're used to using in academic contexts. To create effective web copy, you need a Swiss Army knife of skill sets. You must be able to analyze a diverse audience, write in an ultra-lean style, and arrange content so it's visually appealing. And that's without even touching technical concerns, such as SEO (search engine optimization) and site analytics. Let your audience be your guide as you tackle these challenges. The first step is to create fictional representations of your Impact Audience, called personas. Then articulate the persuasion journey you want to guide your personas along. Take your audience on a persuasion journey Video Transcript Step-by-step process for creating a KT website How to adapt to writing for the web Video transcript Five Surprising Practices to Make Your Web Copy Sing Too many home pages read like damp doormats. Instead of inviting web visitors into the site, they push them away by using a writing style that’s impersonal and indistinct. Your website should attract your audience to you with a unique, powerful voice. The words shouldn’t just lie on the page—they should sing out with the personality and strengths that define you and/or your organization. Why do so many websites, especially those produced by academic experts, fall flat? The reasons might surprise you. Lack of writing skill isn’t usually to blame since academics get plenty of practice writing. When a website projects a feeble voice, the writer is probably missing one or both of two key requirements for success: (1) a genuine emotional connection with the target audience and (2) self-confidence. Here are five practices to help you achieve both of those success factors. You may be surprised to discover just how simple and easy they are to implement. #1. Involve your Impact Audience The worst thing you can do is to create your web copy in an isolation chamber. As you draft or revise web pages, invite members of your Impact Audience to respond to the emerging content. Explain to your target user that you are trying to increase awareness about your research so it can help more people like them. Get them excited about the prospect of contributing to your mission. And be sure to thank them heartily once they’ve provided their feedback. #2. Get to know your Impact Audience by what they read Developing emotional intelligence requires a certain kind of imagination. To recognize what someone else is feeling, we must be able to envision ourselves in their situation, seeing the world through their mind. Want to deepen your emotional connection with your audience without taking the time to hold a focus group or series of interviews? Here’s a shortcut: read what they’re reading. The Internet offers a treasure trove of articles that can give you penetrating insight into what your audience is thinking and feeling. Consider, for example: Blogs by reputable consultants Blogs by community groups or individual consumers of health care News stories Stories in consumer magazines Reports by reputable consulting firms on trends related to your audience’s sector Websites of professional and industry associations Websites of community or advocacy groups Social media discussions  Websites of past and upcoming conferences As you consider such resources, keep an eye out for accuracy--but you're not just reading for facts. You're reading to get a sense of your audience's beliefs and emotions. If they are holding false beliefs, and responding emotionally to them, that's important to know! #3. Role-play your Impact Audience interacting with your site Notice we didn’t say “reading your site.” A website differs from a document in that it’s meant to be interactive. It should provide multiple pathways for users, nudging them deeper and deeper into the content, closer and closer to engaging with you directly. To role-play your audience reacting to your site, give yourself no more than a minute or two to explore the whole site (no more than 30 seconds for the home page). In other words, mimic the hurried behavior of most web visitors, whose limited attention darts from heading to heading, stopping occasionally on a key word or image that grabs their eye. Notice the parts of the copy that stand out to you. Are they the most important bits you want to arrest your audience’s attention? Also notice the links you click. Does your browsing lead you deeper into the site, to second- and third-level pages? Does it guide you to a compelling call to action that encourages you to take some kind of action, such as downloading a fact sheet or tip sheet? #4. Draft your web copy as speaking notes Writing should feel as natural as speaking, but for many people the act of putting thoughts into print causes anxiety. Worried about the kind of impression they’re creating in their readers’ minds, they turn out sentences that come across as stiff and pallid. There’s an easy cure for this rigor writis: craft your web copy as notes for a presentation. Doing this will force you to picture yourself speaking to, and interacting with, a real audience. As you form the words on the page, imagine your audience reacting to them. At what point do they lean in? When do they get restless or look up at you with glazed eyes? To take this practice to the next level, practice giving your presentation. As you vocalize the words you’ve written, you may find opportunities to make the language simpler and more engaging. #5. Read your copy to your best friend, your partner, or your mom  Find yourself a no-BS audience, someone who will instantly call you on any posturing. Choose a friend or family member who knows and loves the real you so they can point out places where the writing sounds overly formal, too technical, or impersonal. So much web copy goes wrong because the writer believes they have to “fake it”--they have to sound more clever, more intelligent, or more blustery than they are in real life. Express yourself in your own professional but personable voice, and you'll encourage web visitors to trust you. Five simple practices, each promising a big payoff. The more you engage with them, the easier you’ll find it to craft seamless web copy that resonates with your Impact Audience and makes them want to hum along with your tune. You’ll soon find that producing singing web copy is as easy and enjoyable as singing in the shower! Curated Resources Sites offering royalty-free stock photos: unsplash.com, pixabay.com, pexels.com Top 10 design mistakes in 2021 with Jakob Nielsen (Nielsen is a leading thinker in web usability, a pioneer in the field of user experience, or UX) Designing for web accessibility Downloadable tool Guide to Creating Copy for a KT Website Try this! Using the Guide to Creating Copy for a KT Website, create three personas representing your Impact Audience. Then reflect on what the personas have taught you about ideas and key words that will resonate with your Impact Audience.

Presentations play a strong role in translating health research into language and visuals take resonate with nonexperts. Change occurs one conversation at a time, and when you can speak with multiple stakeholders at once, that’s when movement on an issue really happens. Outside the academy, presentations may be formal or informal, delivered in range of venues. You may be asked to “present” in a board room, and auditorium, a coffee shop, or a corner of the production floor. Consequently, flexibility is the name of the game. Although it may seem efficient to create a “standard” presentation you can reuse in different contexts, success comes to those presenters who can adapt. It also comes to those who understand the presentation not just as a tool for imparting information but as the means to spark discussion. In many situations, your most important goal as a presenter will be to engage your audience so they will open up to you, share their goals, and explore ways to join you in your mission. Presentations that spark conversations Video Transcript How thinking like a teacher can damage KT presentations As a health researcher, you may have various kinds of teaching experience, from lecturing undergrads to delivering conference presentations to training colleagues. In some ways, thinking like a teacher can help with knowledge translation. When it comes to presentations, however, some of the tactics familiar from your teaching experience can backfire. Here's the key question to ask yourself: Does this presentation mainly need to inform the audience, or does it need to persuade them? Many teaching presentations focus on delivering information. For example, if you're teaching university students about the four areas of specialization within bioengineering, then you might create a slide that looks like this: Such a slide describes a topic, but it doesn't take a position on it. The goal is to help the audience gain knowledge, not develop an opinion on it or take action.  In many KT situations, however, your goal is to shape opinion and influence action. Imagine, for instance, that, as a professor of bioengineering, you've been asked to deliver a presentation to the government department that funds post-secondary education in your province. Your goal is to persuade department officials to increase the amount they've been investing in bioengineering degree programs.  In this case, it's not enough to simply inform your audience what bioengineering is and what specialty areas it includes. You must make--and carry--a point. To that end, you'll need to revise your slide so that it takes a position. This will require you to make two changes to your original slide: Convert the topic headline to a statement (or what engineering professor Michael Alley calls an "assertion" headline) Show how each visual on the slide supports or develops the headline Here's what a revised, persuasive slide might look like: Whenever you want to (a) make a logical argument, and (b) convince your audience to adopt your position, then your slides should make clear, well-supported statements. Professor Michael Alley calls this approach the "assertion-evidence" method, and following it will dramatically change the way you build your slide decks, the way you deliver presentations, and maybe even the way you teach.  Introduction to Michael Alley's method Michael Alley describes his method as suitable for “research talks,” such as conferences. However, it also works well for situations outside of academia, with a few qualifications: Make sure that your headlines resonate with your Impact Audience. Use simple, clear language that engages your audience emotionally. Use the headlines to take your audience on a journey of persuasion. Enable them to grasp the problem your research addresses and envision the positive difference it could make.  Use simple, emotionally resonant visuals that draw the audience into the presentation. (Avoid complex visuals that make them squint and scratch their head.(N) Leverage the power of storytelling. Show the human impact of your research through dramatic examples that people can relate to on an emotional level.  Check out these links, and you'll master the “assertion-evidence” approach in no time: A PowerPoint trick you wish you knew before (overview of Alley’s method) Tutorial by Michael Alley (26 minutes) Avoid these design flaws in your slides Many presentations fail to deliver results because their visuals confuse the audience. Take note of these common pitfalls so you can avoid them! Curated Resources Two thinkers whose work complements Alley's are Nancy Duarte and Garr Reynolds. Duarte's work is most relevant for pitches, presentations that aim to persuade the audience to buy in to a new idea. She does a great job of explaining how to put the audience at the center of your persuasion journey. (The audience should be the hero of the story, not you or your research.) Reynolds challenges the paradigm of dense, data-driven slides in favor of imagistic, emotionally-resonant designs. His classic Presentation Zen will change your perception of how PowerPoint can enrich your ability to engage with a live audience. Resonate by Nancy Duarte (free multimedia version of her book) Why storytelling matters (TedX talk by Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen) 11 ways to use images poorly in slides (Reynolds) Five ways to reduce PowerPoint overload (PDF) TED's secret to great public speaking (by the curator of TED talks, Chris Anderson) How to speak so that people want to listen (TED talk by Julian Treasure) Downloadable tools Assertion-evidence templates provided by Michael Alley (Note: for a nonexpert audience, you may want to simplify, and modernize, some of the layouts.) Canva offers many free presentation templates that you can use as models for PowerPoint or Keynote presentations. Visual Design Checklist Try this! Imagine you have the opportunity to pitch an influential policy-maker or industry leader on implementing some aspect of your research. Develop a 10-slide presentation deck that will persuade them to work with you and turn your research into action.

If you want your health research to impact practitioners or patients, then training materials will play an important role in executing your KT strategy. A simple approach to creating learning materials Five principles for creating learning that sticks Whether you're designing materials for classroom-based or online learning, these basic principles will serve you well. #1. Meet your learners where they are There's no sense creating materials with an “ideal” learner in mind. Be realistic about the attitudes and skills your real audience brings to the learning experience. For example: Most learners are rushed. Even keeners want to get through training as swiftly as possible so they can get down to applying what they've learned. Few people care about theory. Save your theoretical musings for conference presentations and focus instead on straightforward, practical content. In the so-called “real world,” most learners love tips they can put to use right away. Many of us are scared to try new things. Learning can be scary, especially for people who have had negative experiences in the educational system. Acknowledge that, and encourage your audience along their learning journey. #2. Map a clear learning path  The internet makes it easy to access information, but hard to organize it and make sense of it. Your chief task as a learning designer is to structure content so it's easy to access and remember. The better organized your content is, the more likely your learners will remember it.  Here are a few tips to help you structure your learning materials:  Provide an overall description of the training. Let learners know what they'll achieve, the topics they'll cover, and the method the training will follow. Provide learning outcomes. Articulate the practical takeaways learners will get from the training. What will they be able to DO once they've completed it? Break content into small sections, with descriptive headings. Think bite-sized bits of information and baby steps. Use strategic repetition. Repeat key words and themes. At the beginning of a section, give an overview, and at the end, provide a recap.  #3. Make your content memorable Use the power of stories. Stories grab attention and evoke an emotional response, embedding themselves in our memory. Play with mnemonics. Help learners remember processes, methods, or key points by turning them into acronyms or rhymes. Group points into clusters of five or fewer items. More than that, and you'll overload your learner's mental circuits.  Incorporate visuals. We remember content best when it includes both text and visuals.  #4. Provide examples and opportunities to practice To internalize concepts, learners need opportunities to practice applying them and to learn through that practice. Feedback is essential. #5. Support implementation If you want learners to apply the training, then give them the means to do that. Invest less of your time in creating content and more of your time inventing tools. Curated resources Design for the Way People Learn by Julie Dirksen. A short, straightforward primer on instructional design that models the principles it preaches. Light-hearted and easy to follow but jam-packed with solid advice. Mike Taylor's website and newsletter. Mike's weekly newsletter offers a treasure trove of resources on learning design and technology. My fool-proof process for taking live training online (Clarity Studio blog) Downloadable tool Checklist for Training Materials Try this! Imagine an end user of your research, someone who could put your research into practice in a setting outside the university. What simple task could your research enable them to do more effectively or efficiently? Create training materials to facilitate that single, simple application of your research.

Jan 26 session Presentation Session on Feb 9 at 10 a.m.   Presentation Session on Feb 9 at 1 p.m.   Presentation Session on Feb 10