Posts in: Tools & Resources
Tools & Resources
FAQ: How can I prepare to communicate with multiple audiences simultaneously?
The COMPASS team has led a lot of workshops over the years—600 and counting! And as you might expect, during those workshops we get plenty of questions, including some that come up over and over. One of those regularly repeating questions: how to handle needing to communicate with multiple audiences, at the same time.
Like a lot of questions about communicatio...
Tools & Resources
Giving Better Feedback
It is a truth universally acknowledged that constructive feedback is valuable for learning and improving. At COMPASS, we think it’s so important that it’s a core part of our workshops. But like a lot of things, it's not always easy to know how to give good feedback.
That’s why, before we ask people to give each other feedback, we take some time to talk a...
Tools & Resources
Laying the Groundwork: 5 Tips to Prepare for a Difficult Conversation
Imagine that you start a conversation with a new person at an outreach event. They ask about the work that you do, and you share that you’re a scientist studying the impacts of climate change on coastal wetlands.
*Eyeroll* “Oh great, you’re one of THOSE people.”
Caught off-guard, you ask what they mean.
“I’m so tired of hearing about the ...
Tools & Resources
How to reduce friction in virtual events
Many challenges with virtual engagement come back to one thing—friction. Friction is that draggy, slow feeling when people talk over each other, or no one speaks at all, or everyone feels lost, and our brains take a vacation. Most folks are exhausted by endless Zoom meetings and (very reasonably) check out.
The good news is that friction isn’t a foregone con...
Policy Tips
Meet the Rapid Response Network
At COMPASS, we believe science can have the greatest impact when scientists work in partnership with community leaders and policymakers. We are always eager to share new opportunities that support and strengthen these partnerships. This week, we are highlighting the work of our colleagues at Research-to-Policy Collaboration (RPC), a non-partisan model for bridging ...
Policy Tips
Which state policymakers are reading your science communication emails, really?
Jessica Pugel is a Research Associate at the Research-to-Policy Collaboration. She studies how to improve relationships between researchers and policymakers with the goal of increasing the use of research in policy, and recently published a paper in Policy & Internet about state legislator email engagement. Jessica holds an M.A. in Psychology (emphasis in Socia...