"I'm happy to talk to different audiences, but I don't want to dumb down my research."

It's a phrase Jen and Michael both quietly dread and in this short episode, they dig into why it rubs them the wrong way. The problem isn't wanting to stay accurate; it's the assumption baked into "dumbing down" that your audience isn't intelligent. Jen and Michael reframe the whole challenge: it's not about simplifying your ideas, it's about simplifying your language while keeping every bit of nuance intact. Along the way they share why getting your audience to care comes first, how "clarifying" beats "simplifying," and why explaining your work simply is one of the best ways to understand it more deeply yourself.

You can find more great advice here: 

• Tim Radford, A Manifesto for the Simple Scribe - the source of the fantastic quote we talk about: "Don't overestimate your reader's knowledge and don't underestimate their intelligence."

• Ed Yong, On jargon, and why it matters in science writing - a lovely case for replacing jargon rather than dumbing down.

• Don't dumb it down: the effects of jargon in COVID-19 crisis communication - research on why audiences engage with complexity.

Have you ever met an astrometallurgist? Neither had we, until we had the great pleasure of chatting with Dr Matt Shaw on this week's episode!

Matt's career genuinely sounds like it was pulled straight from the pages of a sci-fi novel, but it's very much grounded in real, cutting-edge science. He began as a metallurgist in the mining industry - extracting metals like gold from rocks, or as he describes it, "basically Minecraft, but in real life" - working everywhere from the Australian desert to the Canadian Arctic. Having mastered some of the most extreme environments on Earth, Matt decided to tackle the ultimate hostile environment: space. He completed a PhD in astrometallurgy at Swinburne University, exploring how we might one day extract and process materials on the Moon, and worked with CSIRO's space in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) team developing technologies to produce water, oxygen and metals beyond Earth.

These days, Matt continues his space research while working predominantly with the Green Steel and Critical Minerals teams at CSIRO Clayton, investigating innovative ways to reduce emissions and tackle one of the biggest challenges facing our planet: how to make green steel.

But what makes Matt especially exciting to talk with isn't just the very cool science. It's his passion for communication and collaboration. Whether he's talking with school students, appearing in the media or engaging with the public, Matt has a real knack for making complex ideas feel both exciting and accessible - and he's got the track record to prove it:

• Winner, Asia-Pacific Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition 2021 – watch Matt's winning talk

• Judge, Asia-Pacific 3MT Final 2022

• Runner-up, FameLab Australia 2023 – watch Matt's presentation

• STEMPals Curiosity Communicator Award 2024

You can follow Matt and learn more about his work here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-shaw-001/

Ever feel like you don't quite belong, or that everyone around you knows what they're doing while you're just hoping no one finds out that you don’t? In this season’s first Listen To This Episode, Jen and Michael talk honestly about the imposter experience at work: why feeling like a bit of a fraud is more normal (and more useful) than you might think, and how to keep showing up anyway.

Sharing how you feel with friends, colleagues, family, or supervisors helps you realise how normal the imposter experience really is, and that it's a sign you're challenging yourself in all the right ways.

You can find more great advice here: 

https://www.nyas.org/ideas-insights/blog/confronting-imposter-syndrome-in-stem/

https://jobs.sciencecareers.org/article/how-to-banish-impostor-syndrome

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02408-z

https://www.une.edu.au/current-students/support/student-support/une-wellness-centre/mental-health-resources/imposter-syndrome

⁠In this TEDx talk, Mike Cannon-Brookes offers a funny and reassuring take on how impostor syndrome can sometimes be used as fuel rather than treated only as a flaw.⁠ https://www.ted.com/talks/mike_cannon_brookes_how_you_can_use_impostor_syndrome_to_your_benefit⁠

⁠This short Science careers piece offers practical advice for researchers who feel like frauds, starting from the useful reminder that “you are not a fraud.” https://www.science.org/content/article/how-banish-impostor-syndrome⁠

Welcome to a new season of Let’s Talk Scicomm - we’re thrilled to be back with you for Season 19! 

We can’t imagine a better way to launch the season than a chat with the brilliant Kirsty Costa, host and creator of the Weekend Birder Podcast. 

Weekend Birder is one of Australia’s most-loved science and nature podcasts, opening birdwatching up to anyone who’s curious. Kirsty works at the intersection of conservation, storytelling and community engagement, helping people notice birds, understand ecology and feel more connected to the living world around them. Through conversations and bird walks, Kirsty translates everyday encounters with nature into stories and ideas that inspire curiosity and care. She appears regularly in national media as a trusted voice on birds, wildlife and everyday science.

We hope you love listening to this conversation as much as we loved having it. 

You can learn more about Weekend Birder here: 

• https://weekendbirder.com

• https://www.facebook.com/weekend.birder

• https://www.instagram.com/weekend.birder/

Email is essential, but it can also suck the life out of you. In this episode, Jen and Michael share their best advice for taming the inbox: write clear subject lines, put your call to action up front, and keep emails short so you reduce the cognitive load on the person reading.

They also discuss a brilliant piece of counterintuitive advice from Dr Jonathan O'Donnell: take longer to reply. Slowing down your responses to non-urgent emails breaks the cycle of constant back-and-forth, and gives everyone a bit of time back in their day.

You can find more great advice here:

• https://hbr.org/2022/08/5-tips-for-writing-professional-emails
• https://www.sunsama.com/blog/how-to-manage-email-overload

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/us72

This week we were lucky enough to have an absolutely fascinating conversation with Dr Hannah Little. Hannah has been researching science communication for nearly 10 years, first as a Senior Lecturer in Science Communication at UWE Bristol and now in the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Liverpool. Previously, she did her PhD in the field of evolutionary linguistics at the Artificial Intelligence Lab at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, and went on to a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands. Throughout her career, she has endeavoured to share her love for evolutionary linguistics as a science communicator herself with well-received appearances at, among others, the British Science Festival, TEDx and on BBC Radio 4. Her work as a science communicator influences her research, especially in terms of exploring how storytelling, comedy and science fiction can influence public perceptions and understanding of science. In her spare time does competitive speed puzzling, stand-up comedy, and is writing a popular science book about linguistics and aliens. She is a member of the UK SETI Research Network and the SETI Post Detection Hub hosted at the University of St Andrews. As you might be able to gather, Hannah is an amazing person to chat about scicomm (and communicating with aliens) with!

You can follow Hannah and find out more about her work here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-little-3709371a2

https://bsky.app/profile/hanachronism.bsky.social

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoeXkCM2wSs

https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/humanities-and-social-sciences/research/blog/2024-posts/researcher-in-focus-hannah-little/

We mentioned this paper on cognitive biases in our conversation: http://doi.org/10.1177/09636625251387445

And here’s the storytelling toolkit for practitioners: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3194747/1/Little_Storytelling%20Toolkit%202025_33MB.pdf

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/5s72

Disagreements are part of life, and science communication. Whether you’re talking about vaccines, climate change, or just what counts as the best breakfast, navigating differing views can be tricky.

In this episode, Jen and Michael explore how to approach disagreement in a way that’s respectful, productive, and human. Rather than trying to “win” or change someone’s mind outright, they suggest focusing on creating space for alternative perspectives, and recognising when agreement may not be possible.

They discuss practical strategies like actively listening, acknowledging the other person’s viewpoint, and asking permission before offering your own. Just as importantly, they reflect on when a disagreement goes beyond ideas and into values or identity and how that shifts what a “good outcome” looks like.

You can find more great advice here:

• https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_stay_open_and_curious_in_hard_conversations

• https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200930-how-to-politely-and-productively-disagree

• https://theconversation.com/agreeing-to-disagree-is-hurting-your-relationships-heres-what-to-do-instead-252687

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/ds72

This week we had the pleasure of chatting with Professor Deb Bower. Deb is a Professor of Zoology in the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England, Australia. Her research focuses on the ecology, behaviour, and conservation of freshwater turtles. She investigates how altered river flows, invasive predators, and habitat modification influence turtle populations and population dynamics. Her work combines spatial ecology, population ecology, and reproductive biology to inform conservation management. Deb collaborates closely with government agencies, conservation organisations, and communities to translate ecological research into practical strategies that support the long-term conservation of Australia’s threatened freshwater turtles. She has authored several children’s stories and she loves rhyming words. 

You can follow Deb and find out more about her work here: 

Instagram handle: @lazer_une

Media:

Turning the tide for turtles - ABC listen

Tracking the health of turtles in the Murray Darling | 7.30

Environmental experts, detection dogs team up to protect native freshwater turtles - ABC News

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/ts72

Question time can feel like the most unpredictable - and nerve-wracking - part of giving a talk. You’ve prepared your slides, rehearsed your key points… but what about the questions you can’t anticipate?

In this episode, Jen and Michael share practical strategies to help you approach Q&A with more confidence (and maybe even enjoyment).

They discuss why it’s okay not to have all the answers, how to respond to challenging or “prickly” questions, and how a little preparation can go a long way. From planning for the questions you’re most worried about to strategically inviting the ones you want, this episode reframes question time as an opportunity rather than a threat.

Ultimately, Q&A isn’t a test, it’s a chance to engage, get feedback, and continue the conversation.

You can find more great advice here:

• https://www.animateyour.science/post/how-to-answer-questions-after-a-research-presentation

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3059906/

• https://patthomson.net/2011/09/03/answering-audience-questions-at-conferences/

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/ms72

In this weeks' episode we had a fascinating chat with Dr Tommy Leung who is a parasitologist interested in the ecological and evolutionary facets of parasitism. Their research covers a range of parasite-related topics including macroecological patterns of parasitism, parasite community composition, parasite-host interactions, and disease ecology. The aim of their research is to shed light on a ubiquitous but often overlooked aspect of biodiversity.

Tommy is also passionate about communicating parasitology and some of the lesser-known aspects of zoology to the general public. They write the Parasite of the Day blog, and has written multiple articles about parasites for The Conversation. They have also appeared on radio segments and podcasts, and is currently the social media editor for the Journal of Helminthology.

 You can follow Tommy and find out more about their work here:

Parasite of the Day blog:

https://dailyparasite.blogspot.com/

Tommy's articles on The Conversation:

https://theconversation.com/profiles/tommy-leung-106786/articles

Tommy's Google Scholar profile:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=TyMT3ggAAAAJ&hl=en

BlueSky account:

https://bsky.app/profile/the-episiarch.bsky.social

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/fs72

Being invited to speak with a journalist is both exciting and a little nerve-wracking. In this episode, Jen and Michael chat about how to approach media interviews with confidence while staying in control of your message.

They emphasise the importance of knowing your key points before you begin, while also being prepared for conversations to take unexpected turns. Michael shares a “walking the dog” analogy to capture this balance: having a clear direction, but knowing how to guide things back when needed.

The episode also explores how interviews are often edited into short grabs, making clarity essential, and highlights the importance of setting boundaries when questions stray beyond your expertise.

If you’re preparing for a media interview, this episode offers practical advice to help you stay focused, flexible, and confident.

You can find more great advice here:

• https://sciencemediasavvy.org/

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2666869625000016

• https://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/wp-content/upload/2014/04/SMC-Desk-Guide-for-Scientists.pdf

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/hs72