The Communicating Scientist

– a practical handbook by Olle Bergman, Sarang Park and Joanna Bagniewska

Publisher: Springer Nature
Publication date: spring 2024

This handbook is aimed at STEMM people — i.e. scientists, R&D staff, medical personnel, science students etc – who want to communicate more effectively to reach their professional and personal goals. The book  will help them become more target-oriented, structured, and more convincing during different communication activities. It is helpful for scientific peer-to-peer communication, as well as for science dissemination among the general public and different stakeholders.

Rather than being restrained by the communication culture of academia, The communicating scientist is written from a general perspective, bringing knowledge, experience, and “tricks of the trade” from professional communicators. Thus, it takes on the modern information landscape and the opportunities it creates for researchers and science students. As it also explores the roots and the development of interhuman communication, the reader gets an eclectic mix of advice, stretching from ancient rhetoric to piping hot generative AI.

The parts of the book

Part 1: Forming the right mindset

The book starts with a free exploration of communication theory, building on some selected theoretical models, the ancient art of rhetoric, and cognitive psychology

Part 2: Acquiring core skills

In the middle section of the book, you will be presented with a set of core skills and techniques that will help you address a set of communication tasks essential for science and tech people. 

Part 3: Approaching different tasks and situations

The final part of this book is a task-related catalog of communication activities and situations, encompassing various modes, channels, and tools. This includes everything from oral presentation techniques, scientific poster production and slide design to news writing, social media strategies and networking activities.

The authors

• Olle Bergman is a Swedish communication trainer and freelance writer with a background in engineering and science. In addition, he is the author of a dozen book titles—mainly history- and language-oriented non-fiction—in Swedish. 
• Sarang Park is a Korean biochemist, educator, and medical student. She has also been the manager of @IAmSciComm—one of the foremost X (formerly Twitter) forums for science communicators.
• Joanna Bagniewska is a Polish-British zoologist and science communicator. She splits her time between academia and the real world, and is an award-winning speaker, a popular science author, and, at times, a stand-up comedian.