Communications Skills For Environmental Professionals
Emily Moskal Communications Director [email protected]
Communications
Successfully conveying the desired message to the right audience
Lifecycle of a message
Intent Composition Encoding Transmission Reception Interpretation
Interactions are based on communications
• Credibility • Authority • Every avenue of your life
Communications in conservation
• Education • Outreach • Advocacy • Influence
Reduce barriers to reception
• Ambiguity • Culture • Big words
Knowing your audience
Sex – Love – Health – Happiness – Money Fears – Hopes – Dreams
Fun fact: sensory exploitation • Find preferences of audience, fine tune your song
Measure of success
#1 conservation priority, ranked by the average American
• SAFETY AND HEALTH: natural disaster, drinking, fitness, recreation
You've been drinking Atrazine - now help get it banned
Don't
Terms not to use: Landscape Ecosystem services Global warming Green jobs
Do
• Remain optimistic • Local politicians’ positions • Seek federal support • Rural life • Recreational • Historic value
Stay people-oriented
• Generations • Our, we • Pride of place • Responsibility
Connecting your audience
• Testimonials & social proof
• Emotion • Photos
"I really appreciate everything you do to raise awareness and protect our amphibian populations!" — Mr. Froggie, Sacramento, CA IUCN Amphibian Specialist
Be a storyteller • Problem • Hero • Solution
Stand out
• Information overload • Short attention span • Scanning vs. reading • Quick decision • Shares
Don't lose your reader
Flow
• Mix short & long sentences
Transitions
• So, • First, second, third • Then, • Also, • Similarly,
Rhetorical Questions
• So, you want to save the frogs? Here’s how you can get started…
Connect paragraphs
As we begin to reshape the dry wetland we find a nonnative bullfrog hibernating.
Finding a bullfrog is a sure sign that when
the wetland is full of water, it will support native frogs.
TL;DR
• Headlines • Subheads • Bold • Links • Captions • Photos
Headlines • Bait • The Effects of Kernel Feeding by Halyomorpha
halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) on Commercial Hazelnuts. Four Ways Stink Bugs Will Shrivel Your Nuts.
https://entomologytoday.org/2014/11/25/5-ways-to-improve-your-science-writing/
Viral Headlines
https://blog.bufferapp.com/the-most-popular-words-in-most-viral-headlines
Headlines
• Thousands of frogs are threatened with extinction
Better
• 8 ways to start saving endangered frogs right now
BAD GOOD
First paragraph
• Hook • Anticipation • It was a dark and stormy night • Call-to-action
Section headers
• History of the deadly fungus • Infectious spread of chytrid • Tropics in threat • Species on the verge
of extinction
Photo Captions
• John shows Ted a bullfrog
BAD
GOOD
• In Amphibian Conservation 101 at the Elementary of Nepal, students John Smith and Ted Rose learn about a deadly chytrid fungus killing frogs, like this Indian bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus tigerinus), found in our area.
Don't be such a scientist
• Academic/technical journals ≠ writing for popular media
2 ways to make someone think you're smart
• Confuse them with big words • Or, teach them, and add value to their lives
Facts
• Don’t list
• “The bullfrog is native to the eastern U.S. The bullfrog measures between six- to 12-inches long. Bullfrogs mate in the spring. They lay 1,000 eggs per clutch.”
• Every spring, a female bullfrog will hop from her burrow and lay around 1,000 eggs at a time. Her large size enables her to lay many eggs.
No jargon
• Jargon: words used inside social or work circles, not known outside
• Clutch: mass of eggs laid at once
Too many words
• Mechanism of reproductive behavior reproduction
• Rates of speed speed • “Brain injury incidence shows two peak
periods in almost all reports: rates are the highest in young people and the elderly.” More punch “Brain injury incidence peaks in the young and the elderly.”
Reputation
• “This is academic writing at its finest: boring, unreadable, written to obscure rather than to inform!” –Stanford Writing Course
• Be inclusive, don’t isolate
What makes a good writer?
• Having a new perspective • Logical and clear thinking • A few simple, learnable rules of style
Stanford University’s Science Writing
Advocacy • "In science, the credit
goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurs."
--Sir William Osler
Must-have resources
• Strunk & White • AP Stylebook
Fun fact: punctuation helps sp. ID
via Purgatory Project
Common Mistakes
Species names
• Common names: American bullfrog • Kingdom down to family: Ranidae • Latin names: Lithobates catesbeianus,
or L. catesbeianus • AmphibiaWeb
Organization names • SAVE THE FROGS!
not Save the Frogs or Save The Frogs But, Save The Frogs Day not SAVE THE FROGS! Day
Quotes • Outside punctuation
BAD “Frogs are cool. I hope they don’t go extinct”, said Margot.
• GOOD “Frogs are cool,” Margot said, “I hope they don’t go extinct.”
Numbers
• Spell out units • Zero through nine,
number 10 + • among vs. between • less vs. fewer • more than vs. over • 1980s not 1980’s
Capitalization
• Places: West Texas vs. western United States
• Diseases: Zika vs. malaria
How to read better
• Underline • Notes • Unknown words • Creative use of word • Punctuation:
semicolon (;), colon (:), dash (-)
Communication Styles
• Fundraising • Copywriting • Journalism
Fundraising
• Conversational • YOU • Donor is a super
hero • Numbers • Personal story • Fund you or
another’s project
Copywriting
• Marketing, sales • Business, nonprofit, community
Journalism • Objective, balanced • Op-ed, feature,
news • Professor, lobbyist,
activist
Become a SAVE THE FROGS! Contributor
• Receive personal edits of your work • Reach a lot of environmentalists • Receive a writing guide • If you’re interested,
send me an email! emily@savethefrogs
Additional Resources • The Best American Science and Nature Writing • A Field Guide for Science Writers • Join National Association of Science Writers or follow email forums • Tips for writing an Op/Ed by David Jarmul for Duke’s Office of News
and Communications • Using Social Media to Promote Environmental Action • For a good example of science writing, read Ed Yong’s blog • Stanford’s Science Writing course slides • Gail Perry e-newsletter for fundraising tips • Copyblogger e-newsletter for copywriting tips • National Geographic Style Guide • Pitch story to helpareporter.com
EDIT IN ACTION
• https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/biraj/154fd1ce7cea8181?projector=1
Homework • Spend 15 minutes looking through Nature Conservancy’s Language
of Conservation memo. Results of survey of average U.S. conservation priorities.
• Spend 15 minutes reading Ghana Expedition summary as example of environmental communication
• Spend 30 minutes looking these SAVE THE FROGS! magazine issues and find three articles that catch your eye. For 30 minutes, a brief report (<1 page) about 3 things: 1) Why you picked that article, 2) what effectively communicated the SAVE THE FROGS! mission to a particular audience, and 3) what didn’t.
• Keep in mind: audience, mission, reader motivation, headlines, layout. Bonus points if you find typos! Every publication has them!
• Watch this effective advocacy and tabling video and come to next week’s meeting with any comments or questions
Next Week Week 3: How To Organize, Promote & Hold
Successful Events
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