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Review: Getting to the Heart of Science Communication

by Geoffrey Hart

Previously published as: Hart, G. 2022. Book review: Getting to the Heart of Science Communication: A Guide to Effective Engagement. Technical Communication 69(1):93.

Getting to the Heart of Science Communication: A Guide to Effective Engagement
Faith Kearns. 2021. Island Press. [ISBN 978-1-64283-074-3. 258 pages. US$30.00 (softcover).]

The traditional notion that science communication depends solely on clear explanation of an objectively correct message to a homogeneous “general public” never made much sense. Nonetheless, it became dogma because scientists primarily spoke to members of their own discourse community and rarely looked beyond its bounds. But increasingly, as scientific communication has become its own discipline, repeated and serious communication failures have come under the microscope. This analysis has led practitioners to increasingly embrace a model in which dialogue replaces monologue, since only two-way communication can create the relationships required to persuade an often-adversarial audience to listen to what we’re trying to say.

In Getting to the Heart of Science Communication: A Guide to Effective Engagement, Faith Kearns reminds us of just how important relationships are in supporting that dialogue. Indeed, “community is foundational” (p. 185), and without a sense of trust and shared purpose (without community), many factors can undermine the dialogue required to ensure that communication happens. Writing from the perspective of a scientist who’s also deeply involved in public outreach, Kearns provides a practitioner’s perspective, supplemented by dozens of examples from working scientific communicators that reveal the pleasures, challenges, and stresses of their work. These human-centered stories are those of communicators from diverse ethnic, cultural, and gender backgrounds. They both reinforce the humanity of scientific communication and its practitioners, and represent concise case studies of how communication succeeds or fails.

An essential insight is that communication is both conscious/rational and subconscious/emotional. Focusing solely on objective facts and how to present them clearly, as most of us have been trained to do, neglects the critical role an audience’s emotions play in shaping their perceptions of our message. This is doubly true when information is filtered through a listener’s preconceptions. Careful listening and a willingness to change or broaden our own beliefs will be required when our goal is to establish a mutually respectful relationship that supports acceptance of our message and motivates change. We must strive to connect, empathize, and support rather than to challenge, contradict, and exert pressure. Outsiders always face resistance, hostility, and skepticism, particularly if they represent a group that has traditionally neglected, exploited, or even abused the audience. Differences in the power available to speaker and audience raise additional barriers.

Although Kearns focuses on scientific communication, she offers many lessons for communicators in other disciplines who are willing to challenge their worldview. She invites us to “get off the stage and wade into the “mess” along with everyone else” (p. 227) and provides the tools we need to accept that invitation. What improvements might be possible in our ongoing efforts to communicate technical information if we began moving from one-way dictation to two-way dialogue?