No. 113/2021

24 HUMBOLDT KOSMOS 113/2021 FOCUS ON GERMANY W hat do researchers have to do to make people listen und understand them?The solution sounds simple. “Just behave as though you were in a pub with a good friend, standing at the bar, and you were telling him a story,” says Alok Jha of the magazine The Economist, a beacon of British journalism. Jha is a guest member of the jury at the Humboldt Communication Lab, a series of events at which research- ers and journalists from the Humboldt Foundation’s net- works and the International Journalists’ Programmes get together to learn from one another. Several days’ work in tandem culminates in journalistic products about the researchers’ work. On the final day, things get serious, and the teams present their projects with Jha offering them his feedback. He likes a lot of what he hears, some of it really impresses him. But he always asks questions, points out what he can’t understand and passes on tips as to how to improve something. THAT’S NOT REALLY THE WAY RESEARCHERS TALK The image of a visit to the pub is a real eye-opener for many researchers. To concentrate on a few statements or even just one, leaving out everything else, narrating your research like a story, ideally with yourself as the main char- acter. That’s not the way researchers usually do it. And vice versa: most of the journalists, of whom very few special- ise in science, discover the special ways researchers’ minds work and how difficult it often is to condense texts about their complex research so that non-specialists find it inter- esting and comprehensible. THE COMMUNICATION BOOM Policy makers, scientists and the media want to improve science communication. New ideas and initiatives are in demand. Text GEORG SCHOLL „ JUST BEHAVE AS THOUGH YOU WERE IN A PUB WITH A GOOD FRIEND, STANDING AT THE BAR, AND YOU WERE TELLING HIM A STORY.”