Dr. Jana Wilbricht is the Head of Communications of the Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting in Health (BCEPS), a Norwegian Centre of Excellence at the University of Bergen, Norway, and founder of Bergen Communications. She earned her PhD in Communication and Media at the University of Michigan (USA, 2020), where she also worked as an award-winning university lecturer on communication and media topics. Her bachelor's (Cornell University, USA, 2014) is in Communication and Global Development
Many times, in science communication and public engagement, we find ourselves talking about issues that most people find scary, overwhelming, and complicated. The people we need to reach most with this information may shut down, stop reading, not click on our links to learn more. What can we learn from research in psychology and communication to keep audiences engaged? How can we structure a message to inspire someone to learn more about an issue, change their habits, and take action in an appropriate way rather than become overwhelmed and shut down? Academic research in communication and media studies offers insight into the psychology of information processing that we can apply in our science communication work.
The presentation will discuss important questions to ask about one's audiences in order to understand them better and tailor messaging most effectively, present academic research on how people can be reached when the information is complex and on a possibly fear-evoking topic, like climate change or health issues, and give practical examples and suggestions for science communication practice.