initials this alphabet soup behind my
name and what in the world does it mean
my mother doesn’t even know okay
and often this is the look I get fact
many of it the front rows got that look
right now okay what does it mean so I so
wife I go ahead and explain myself I go
ahead and I bring up this and people say
I can’t read that
well good don’t okay don’t it’s just a
show this is what scientists and
academics like to explain well this is
what I do to one another no one can
understand that I’m a double boarded
tenured associate professor I’m a theory
of genealogists that’s the study of
bringing forth the beast who wants to
know that okay you know reproductive
Anatomy you say that you could be asked
to leave a restaurant and if you teach
job junior high sunday-school they will
not ask you back if you mentioned that
been there done that
okay and so what’s the normal response
to that you do what you do what we’re
right in there living in a communication
crisis and a communication question said
hopefully today I can give you a little
bit of an idea of just the first steps
the first steps to take in dealing with
that because is it any wonder with the
way that scientists and people in
academia talk that that people don’t
there’s a there’s a there’s a
polarization in that relationship
between academia and the non-academic
real world if there’s people not
trusting not trusting what scientists
have to say I dare not say it in this
room but climate change could get people
throwing things at me okay
does that mean okay and other types of
things and so so what do you what do you
do in this in this kind of situation it
isn’t important for the real world the
lay public to actually understand what
scientists in people in in the medical
fields in the science technology
engineering and math fields what they
actually do is it important well by no
other expert than Albert Einstein who
this he said and he actually claimed
this there’s a lot of things that Elbert
Einstein was people say he said but he
didn’t actually say but this one if you
can’t explain it simply you don’t
understand it well enough and so one of
the great reasons to be able to go ahead
and explain something simply is to try
to do that as you understand it better
you understand it better and why is it
important that the public understands
because the public is directly making
impact on what type of research is being
financed what type of budgetary
decisions are being made for higher
education okay and here’s the other
thing is that I have people who actually
like me that are in the room that’s a
surprise okay but in the real world and
if I can be the face of science if I can
be that guy that they know and I can
explain something to them so that they
understand and trust what I’m saying
that takes us a long way from the types
of controversies we are experiencing
today each of you in academia each of
you if you’re in a technical field needs
to be able to explain what you do in
simple plain English
okay so elevator statements okay
elevator statements the same type of
simple and concise statements that you
can use in marketing or business
people in the scientists people in
academia can use to be able to explain
what they do and and it’s important and
so hopefully I can give you kind of the
journey that I’ve been on
and then also hopefully how that event
might apply to your situation now of
course we’re going to have a live demo
here this gets a little scary but of
course if you want to explain anything
in the world one must do it with balloon
animals okay so I’m just saying make
sure that everyone has nobody’s gotten
twisted okay that’s good okay so in
cancer no and streetable
careful that’s a little concerning
anyway intentional and strategic
communication okay what does it look
like well first of all what does it not
look like it doesn’t look like this this
is a snake but only a child under the
age of eight is going to think that
thought okay it means a lot of other
things to a lot of other people throw
that out of our lives
okay then of course let’s do a dog okay
which intention I intentionally I go
ahead and I made ears and I made a neck
and they made a leg and but again this
is kind of like what I did the snake
it’s kind of like just using one word
for what I do I’m a professor I’m a
doctor I love that that’s the worst what
vet when people say what war you were
you in well I’m that the Naval Academy
for day and a half true story
okay but that’s not the same thing but
here I’m going ahead and I’m using using
some type of jargon or some type of
techno speak or letters we’d love to use
letters now okay what in the world does
that mean
and we get a dog but is it really a dog
because each and every one of you has a
different opinion of what a dog looks
like okay this could be a rabbit or it
could be oh this is my favorite part it
it’s an anteater all depends on
perspective but if I take a yellow
balloon and I give it short ears
intentionally I’d give it a long neck
now they have horns too but I’ve left
those out okay
that’s the next CD and give it a little
longer legs in the front then to the
back and a little tail have to be
careful with this one it’s a giraffe and
actually if I take a black marker and I
add marks to it it’s a giraffe now the
fact is we now know genomically that
there are three different species of
giraffes but they all look the same
okay they’re giraffe run free find the
anteater okay so if we’re gonna go ahead
and we’re gonna have intentional and
strategic communication and that’s
really important we all know that it’s
okay to work hard but working smart is
really important as we craft our message
so in the three M’s of messaging from
the American Association for the
Advancement of science we’ve got
memorable meaningful in minimal they use
hair-trigger here Mark Twain if you had
a memorable who’s more memorable than
Mark Twain and if you’re from Missouri
you’re not allowed to remember anybody
else okay it’s Mark Twain and Mark Twain
once said let us endeavor to live in
such a way that even the Undertaker is
sad when we die yeah oh we’ve got people
crying in the second row it’s amazing
and the other thing is is that and again
being enthusiastic whoa you know Ralph
Waldo Emerson said nothing great could
be accomplished without enthusiasm and I
think that’s important meaningful ok
meaningful well clarity clarity what’s
what’s more clear than than a diamond so
something that’s cleared somebody that
understands what’s the signal
thinking something okay what’s new about
it okay what what what is what were the
information gaps then what’s the impact
it could be as monumental as curing
cancer okay or it could be as simple as
just gaining dis getting gainful
employment how many of you want to get
gainful employment
oh well lot of you’re going to be on
your parents sub paycheck still so
that’s good okay not great goals there
okay what can I say so at this point at
this point as you take the memorable
what’s memorable what’s meaningful and
try to craft your message and again
what’s the intended message must be
intentional strategic research interests
what’s the audience okay let’s just say
research students okay initially I do a
lot of teaching as well I do a lot of
clinical work significance okay so we’re
talking about chemical exposures there
are a lot of chemicals that traditional
experimental models have told us are
potentially toxic to reproductive
functions the new people are cringing
okay but but the information gaps what
are the risks posed to pregnancies
by by the levels typical levels of
exposure okay
and so novelty I work with pigs which
are a lot like humans and I have a
teenage son and there’s nothing Eve’s no
doubt in my mind that pigs are very
similar to humans okay I just I’m just
letting you know that and the
confirmation the impact is that I can
use this I can work with this model to
demonstrate or confirm what chemicals
pose a risk at very low levels of
exposure that’s really important okay so
minimal minimal Leonardo da Vinci I have
enriched myself so much by working on
this presentation Leonardo da Vinci said
that simplicity is the ultimate form of
the
education and then of course there’s the
kiss on his cheek to keep it simple and
straightforward principle okay simple
and concise that is the key for an for
an elevator a pitch statement now
minimal okay this is a hundred words
okay
hundred words I can I can recite this in
about 45 45 seconds to a minute but
based on its an in-depth research that
I’ve done with students at the
University of Missouri this particular
hundred word presentation which is
perfect for student doing a poster
presentation okay and if you’ve done
poster presentation that’s short but if
you’re talking to somebody this will
take you with a group of students in an
elevator will take you from the will
take you from the basement at the Life
Sciences Building at the University of
Missouri all the way up to the fifth
floor back from the fifth floor down to
the basement and back up to the third
floor not very many people stay on the
elevator that long okay
there’s something wrong if they are okay
be it be alert
they have people on elevators yeah
anyway but again how everyone feels so
secure now then the other thing is we’ve
got sometimes people are running late
okay people are running late or they’re
just some things you can’t talk about in
public like most of what I do okay you
can’t reproduction it gotta be a little
careful on that
so here’s really minimal okay there are
some common chemicals that can prevent
the birth of normal children healthy
children whether it’s because of an
effect on the mother the father or the
child itself at typical levels of
exposure I work with pigs that are a lot
like humans to identify those chemicals
that’s pretty straightforward in that
that I can get somebody if they’re
running away from me I can say hey hey
there you go
so how does this apply to you well here
is the typical Furman University senior
with her father the significance is okay
you’ve you’ve gone ahead and been here
for years
what are you going to do are you gonna
be able to support yourself and she says
dad because I’ve gone to Furman because
I’ve got deferment I’m gonna have
gainful employment I’m gonna change the
world
whoa okay maybe she’s got to talk to
Grandma and grandmas got a different
life why don’t I see you anymore why
don’t know why don’t why don’t you come
to my house why aren’t you there for
Sunday dinner well grandma I’m a
political science major or I’m a prebend
major and you know everyone’s getting
older and we need to have good lawyers
and good doctors for older people and
she said oh great I’ll just send a pie
in the mail okay and then there’s the
prospective boss significance you
finished your four years at Furman but
the impact he wants to know is what are
you gonna do for me what is your
education going to do for my my company
that’s that’s his that’s his emphasis so
the next time you’re talking about what
you do and you get this look okay and I
get it again and again I’m getting again
in the third bro think about different
versions of your elevator statement
think about the fact that we need to
communicate in an intentional and
strategic manner and to do that we need
a memorable meaningful and minimal
message so we can have a simple and
[Music] you