How can you effectively communicate the results of your research to a wider audience?

1 Know your audience

Before you start writing or presenting your research results, you need to identify who your audience is and what they want to know. Are they students, professionals, policymakers, journalists, or general readers? What is their level of familiarity with your topic and terminology? What are their interests, needs, and expectations? How will they access and use your information? Answering these questions will help you tailor your message, tone, format, and style to suit your audience.

2 Simplify your language

One of the most common challenges in communicating research results is to avoid jargon, technical terms, and complex sentences. These can confuse, bore, or alienate your audience, especially if they are not experts in your field. To simplify your language, you can use plain words, active voice, short sentences, and concrete examples. You can also define any acronyms or abbreviations you use, and explain any concepts or methods that are essential for understanding your results. Remember, simplicity does not mean dumbing down your content, but making it clear and accessible.

3 Highlight your main points

Another challenge in communicating research results is to avoid overwhelming your audience with too much detail, data, or background information. Instead, you should focus on the main points that you want your audience to remember and act on. You can use headings, subheadings, summaries, and bullet points to organize your content and emphasize your key messages. You can also use visual aids, such as graphs, charts, tables, images, or videos, to illustrate your results and make them more appealing and memorable.

4 Relate to your audience

To make your research results more relevant and engaging for your audience, you need to show them how your findings relate to their lives, problems, or interests. You can do this by providing context, background, or motivation for your research question, and by explaining the implications, applications, or recommendations of your results. You can also use stories, anecdotes, or quotes to connect with your audience on an emotional level, and to show the human side of your research.

5 Invite feedback

Finally, to communicate your research results effectively, you need to invite feedback from your audience. Feedback can help you improve your communication skills, assess the impact of your research, and generate new ideas or questions for further research. You can invite feedback by asking open-ended questions, encouraging comments or questions, providing contact details or links, or creating surveys or polls. You can also respond to feedback by acknowledging, thanking, or clarifying any points raised by your audience.