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Center for Communicating Science - teal and orange logo
Center for Communicating Science - teal and orange logo
Applying collaboration & arts practices to help scientists and others learn to tell their stories and connect across differences
Photo courtesy of Alexandra Freeze.
Photo courtesy of Cassandra Hockman.
At Virginia Tech's Center for Communicating Science, we create and support experiences for scientists, engineers, scholars, and health professionals to build muscles of connection, communication, and collaboration. What sets us apart from other approaches and makes our work effective is that we use the powerful tools of the arts, including embodied learning, deep listening, improvisation, role play, and storytelling.
We believe in the power of play, and we believe that we learn through experience and by reflecting on our experiences.
We aim to help researchers make their communication more personal, direct, spontaneous, and responsive.
Communicating Science Mission Words: Personal
Build trust and learn through connection and engagement. Share stories, values, and emotions.
Communicating Science Mission Words: Direct
Drop your field-specific jargon; avoid acronyms; find a language in common with your audience.
Communicating Science Mission Words: Spontaneous
Learn relaxation and rehearsal techniques to build confidence in your ability to explain your research.
Communicating Science Mission Words: Responsive
Who is your audience? What do they need? What can you learn from them? How do you connect?
Join Us for a Pinch of Practice Workshop!
This semester the Center for Communicating Science has scheduled a slate of noontime "Pinch of Practice" (POP!) workshops for busy faculty and graduate students who want to squeeze in some tiny aliquots of communicating science skills development and practice. Still to come: several storytelling workshops in partnership with The Story Collider and others on data visualization and creating engaging slides, offered in partnership with Danielle Hennis of Make It Memorable. Click "more" for full details on dates and registration!
Join us at 5:30 p.m. April 22 for Science on Tap! We'll be hosting a panel discussion, "Asian & Pacific Islander in Academia: Research Stories and Successes," featuring Virginia Tech faculty and graduate students. This event is open to the public free of charge. Register here.
For upcoming workshops, see our feature story just above, "What's happening at the Center?"
Here's some of what we've been up to recently!
4/1/2021 Pinch-of-Practice Workshop (The Story Collider’s Introduction to Storytelling for Scientists)
3/31/2021 Orion Living-Learning Program First-Year Students (Communicating Science workshop)
3/30/2021 Orion Living-Learning Program First-Year Students (Communicating Science workshop)
3/30/2021 Pinch-of-Practice Workshop (The Story Collider’s Introduction to Storytelling for Scientists)
3/25/2021 Science on Tap, New River Valley (Bruce Hull: Leading From Where You Are: Sustaining Hope for a Sustainable Future)
3/25/2021 Pinch-of-Practice Workshop (Open Sessions for Practice Communicating)
3/23/2021 Pinch-of-Practice Workshop (Open Sessions for Practice Communicating)
3/18/2021 Pinch-of-Practice Workshop (Making Your Research Understandable: Bridging the Gap)
3/16/2021 Pinch-of-Practice Workshop (Effective Presentations: Building Confidence and Personal Presence)
3/11/2021 Virginia Tech Roanoke Center (Connecting Across Difference: Skills for Effective Communication in Person and Online)
3/4/2021 Virginia Tech Roanoke Center (Connecting Across Difference: Skills for Effective Communication in Person and Online)
3/4/2021 Pinch-of-Practice Workshop (Learning to Listen: Connecting with Audiences and Collaborators)
3/2/2021 Pinch-of-Practice Workshop (Make It Memorable’s Presenting Better Virtually: Engage Your Audience in a Virtual Setting)
2/25/2021 Science on Tap, New River Valley (Bennett Grooms: A New Age of Conservation: Helping Wildlife by Understanding People)
2/25/2021 Virginia Tech Roanoke Center (Connecting Across Difference: Skills for Effective Communication in Person and Online)
2/18/2021 Pinch-of-Practice Workshop (Distilling Your Message: Succinct and Compelling Interactions)
2/16/2021 Pinch-of-Practice Workshop (Distilling Your Message: Succinct and Compelling Interactions)
1/28/2021 Science on Tap, New River Valley (Daniel Bird Tobin: Embodying Emotional Connections to Science Through Theatre)
1/27/2021 Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences Graduate Student Association (Communicating Your Research Online. . .Is Like Making Your Own Hollywood Blockbuster!)
1/14/2021 Women and Gender in Development Conference (Preparatory workshop: Communicating Your Research)
Center for Communicating Science - teal and orange logo
Center for Communicating Science
230 Grove Lane
Blacksburg, VA 24061
(Campus mail code: 0555)
Director Patty Raun
praun@vt.edu
Associate Director Carrie Kroehler
cjkroehl@vt.edu