As a scientist, you’ve spent your career building expertise. Yet when it comes time to explain your work to others, your ideas don’t always stick the way you want them to.
The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias that arises when you know a subject too well to empathize with your audience. The same depth of knowledge that qualifies you to speak can also make it challenging to anticipate their needs.
Like Cassandra of Greek legend, you can utter true statements and still not break through.
But this curse has a remedy. This audio training gives you the tools to separate evidence from narrative, move dynamically between the big picture and technical detail, and use metaphors and case studies to illustrate sophisticated concepts. We’ll go beyond surface-level strategies for making your work more engaging to get at the deeper questions of how people understand.
You’ll leave with a narrative foundation that you can build on whether you’re giving a TED talk, starting a Substack, or explaining your work to friends.
Each chapter includes a 5-minute audio lesson, reflection questions, and supplemental reading.
By the end of the training, you’ll be able to:
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When you’re done, share a summary of your narrative with me within 30 days for 5 minutes of video feedback. I’ll reflect back to you the narrative I see taking shape and offer questions and new directions for you to consider.
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Chapter 1 (Messages as systems) is freely available. A purchase buys you access to the full training and feedback.
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Click here to buy the training for 50% off ($26) until Sept. 17
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I’m Alex Taylor, a science writer and editorial consultant. After years of interviewing more than a hundred scientists and writing about their work as a journalist, I began helping researchers communicate their own work through essays and talks in venues like Chemical & Engineering News, Scientific American, and TEDxNewEngland.
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