Sharing Your Research: How to Get Started
Do you have new research you want to share with the wider public? U of T professors Norman Farb and Zindel Segal knew they had a lot of helpful information that had the potential to change people’s lives, but that academic jargon likely wouldn’t get through.
They wrote their book, Better in Every Sense in an approachable way that would reach diverse audiences — and then they got to work sharing it. (You can learn more about their research in our recent Q&A with Prof. Farb.)
Here are Farb’s top tips for getting started.
- Determine your plan early on and build it into your schedule.
Farb says they first had to figure out how active they wanted to be and still be able to balance competing priorities. They knew they wouldn’t have the capacity to run social media accounts but still sought out opportunities which would help them to get out their ideas but wouldn't require people to read the entire book.
Farb and Segal still meet weekly to discuss future research plans, practical applications like workshops or courses, and media outreach. “If you’re not putting in any time and hoping things are going to happen, it won’t happen,” he says.
- Look to your own network.
Though their publisher’s marketing team had access to all the popular outlets, Farb and Segal were advised early on that a high percentage of hit rates come from people with whom you already have a relationship or who are working in the same area. Farb advises to start there and build momentum.
- Students can help.
Have a student working with you? You never know what skills or interests they may have, so ask how they can help you to share your research. “We’ll invest some time to explain our work and then ask how they think they can convey our ideas,” says Farb. “One of our students really likes drawing, so she created a series of infographics that helped bring the ideas in the book to life.”
- Seek out interviewers with established audiences.
Sure, everyone wants to go on the top podcasts, but you don’t want to go on the biggest stage for your first concert, Farb points out. Start small.
Anyone who has a platform needs content, so start by looking at local creators who already have a listener base. Farb says it’s helpful to speak with different people and see what lands, where you tend to lose your train of thought, and at what points you lose the interviewer.
And if you find yourself working with an outlet where it’s not a perfect match?
“Think about how what you work on may intersect with what someone else cares about,” he says. “Try to do a bit of extra work to meet people where their interests are. You can acknowledge where your knowledge in that area is limited but still point to those principles which will be useful.”
- Pitch, pitch, pitch. (And be patient.)
Farb’s formula for a good pitch? I discovered something + this is new and novel + could I send you XX words written for the public.
When it comes to Better in Every Sense, the co-authors have a pretty impressive list of successful media activities. And Farb says he’s been pitching since grad school, reaching out to university press offices asking them to interview him, sending one-pagers to newspapers, or writing to editors publishing in his area.
You may hear crickets. You may get a polite ‘no thanks.’ You will need to write many. But there are tens of thousands of people with ideas and products to sell, says Farb, and you need to put yourself out there.
“It’s very much like being in academia, but sometimes you get hits,” he adds. “And before you know it, people will come out of the woodwork and ask you to write something for them. An interview with a university press office can lead to a nibble from an interested science writer who found you through a press release — they, too, are looking for content in all sorts of places — and it’s a small investment of your time.”
