Everything you don´t learn in the lab
Storytelling for Scientists: Make Complex Research Understandable
Topic area
Science communication
Format
Online or in-house workshop
Workload
Online: 4 x 2.5 h-webinars plus self-paced work on our learning platform
In-house: 2 workshop days
Trainer
Karin Bodewits or Philipp Gramlich
Target group
All (PhD students to professors)
In brief
Use storytelling techniques to communicate complex science without losing scientific depth.
How storytelling makes science more engaging
Your research is fascinating and worthy of funding. But does your audience think so too? Whether you’re presenting at a conference, writing a grant proposal, or explaining your research to colleagues, keeping your audience engaged can be challenging. Even groundbreaking research can fail to make an impact if your audience gets lost in the details.
This is where scientific storytelling comes in. Storytelling in science isn’t about fabricating stories or oversimplifying research. It’s about using narrative techniques to spark curiosity, connect ideas, and make complex scientific information easier to follow and remember.
Different audiences need different stories. Fellow specialists may want to dive deeply into your methods and data, while researchers from other disciplines or non-experts may first need to understand the bigger picture. Good scientific storytelling helps you decide what to explain, how deeply to go, and how to guide your audience.
In this workshop, you’ll learn about:
The science of storytelling
- Why storytelling works: curiosity, attention, and building frameworks
- How to use storytelling without compromising scientific accuracy
Building a compelling scientific narrative
- Guide your audience from the big picture into technical details
- Connect data and evidence to your central message
- Develop a clear storyline connecting your research question, methods, results, and conclusions
Adapting your story
- Identify what different audiences want and need to know
- Adapt your narrative for specialists, interdisciplinary audiences, and non-experts
Putting storytelling into practice
- Apply storytelling techniques to your own research
- Develop and refine your scientific narrative through exercises and feedback
Where can you use scientific storytelling?
Storytelling techniques can strengthen many forms of scientific communication:
- Within academia: Scientific presentations, conference talks, research papers, grant proposals, and funding applications
- Across disciplines: Interdisciplinary collaboration, networking, and research pitches
- Beyond academia: Public engagement, science festivals, science slams, and communication with policymakers, industry partners, and other stakeholders
Workshop format and materials
Online: Four interactive 2.5-hour webinars, combined with self-paced work on our learning platform. Alongside the webinar phase, participants have three weeks to deepen their learning and can receive individual feedback from the trainers. In-house: All participants receive a PDF script of the course, allowing them to revise the material at their convenience.
More information and next steps
Interested to read more about this topic? You might like Karin´s article in Science Careers: Share your science with a story or Philipp´s career column No scientists please first published in Nachrichten aus der Chemie. Are you interested in the topic, but don´t have enough time for a full workshop? Then you might be interested in our talk Pitch your science.