Alejandro Gonzalez-Aquines is an Assistant Professor in Public Health at the University of Bradford. He recently attended a Standing up for Science workshop that was offered to Vivensa Academy members, and shares his experience in this blog:
Before attending the Standing up for Science workshop, I had no experience whatsoever in engaging with the media. But I knew it was important.
As a public health academic, I am aware that the way we tell stories and share messages has an immense impact on how the public and those around us understand diseases and engage with health and social care services. While printed materials such as posters or leaflets are useful for conveying messages, traditional media (such as radio and newspapers) and social media (perhaps more so than the former) are powerful tools for sharing important messages about research.
One day, I was scrolling through LinkedIn and came across a post from the Vivensa Foundation about a workshop to engage with the media, organised by Sense about Science. I looked at the description, and what convinced me to register was the list of speakers invited to the event: people with hands-on experience across different sectors. From civil servants to academics, from university communications teams to BBC journalists.
Exceeding my expectations
The workshop exceeded my expectations. I wasn’t prepared for the level of practical insight I gained just by listening to people with experience engaging with the media. The most important learning I took from the training was to use the already available communication services at your institution: they’re there to help you as an academic connect with journalists (they already have a list of contacts) and prepare for any interaction with the media.
Soon after the workshop, I found out who those people were at my university. Since then, I have worked in a couple of media communications promoting early research findings from a project funded by the Vivensa Foundation focusing on stroke secondary prevention.
Putting what I learnt into practice
I spoke on a local radio station in Bradford and was also interviewed by the BBC to talk about my research and promote stroke prevention. For these, I applied key lessons from the workshop, such as asking whether the interview could be pre-recorded to reduce the anxiety of speaking on the radio and asking for questions in advance.
I would recommend the workshop to anyone who anticipates engaging with the public in a meaningful way. Knowing how to prepare to engage with the media and putting this into practice has helped me feel more confident and less anxious when speaking with communications teams or journalists. It is also a great experience as you begin to build your identity as the researcher you want to become.
________________________
Members of Vivensa Academy have access to free priority places to attend Standing up for Science Workshops, and there are a mix of online and in-person events coming up. You can find out more and book here.
You can apply to join Vivensa Academy here.