Post by Science in Dialogue VU

From strategic science communication planning to...improv exercises? Session 3 of the SciCom Lab might look a bit different to your imagined science communication workshop. We spent the afternoon doing theatre exercises; creating frozen scenes (tableau vivant) of researchers’ communication breakdowns, practicing mindfulness in the space, playing the "gift game" where you have to genuinely accept what someone offers instead of redirecting to your own idea. A theoretical anchor for this session was the “tentative axioms of communication” from Watzlawick et al. (1967). "You cannot not communicate"; silence is communication, body language is communication, how you arrange chairs in a room is communication. These relational aspects are laden with meaning you may not intend. Science communication often focuses solely on content - what the audience "should" understand. But without reflexivity about our own positionality, without awareness of the relational and non-verbal dynamics at play, our strategic plans can fall apart in actual conversation. As Frank Kupper said "Relate before you communicate." Theory → strategy → embodied practice. Nicola Case, PhD Lars de Graaff Joyce Burger Loeka Jongejans Stella Verkijk Wieneke Mokkink Miranda Houtman Dr. Sofia Gil-Clavel Sem Barendse Kaelin DeLong Frank Kupper Pam Kaspers Femke Lammertink, PhD Joep van Dijk Video: Amy Moses

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