Course overview

Most scientists are brilliant at doing research. Fewer are trained to communicate it effectively.

If your work deserves a wider audience — and it does — this course is for you. Over four weeks, at roughly two hours a week, you'll learn to find the narrative inside your research, write with a human voice, and structure your ideas for readers who aren't specialists in your field.

These aren't just public engagement skills. Researchers who communicate well get funded, get cited, and get heard. The clarity you develop for a general audience feeds directly back into your grant applications, your abstracts, and your papers. And in a world where misleading science narratives spread faster than corrections, scientists who understand how stories work are increasingly essential.

This introductory course is taught by Claire Ainsworth, a science journalist with 25 years of experience writing for publications ranging from New Scientist to Nature. It includes two live Q&A sessions, self-paced video lessons, and practical exercises you can apply to your own research immediately.

It's free. It takes two hours a week. And it could transform you into a scientist whose narrative skills engage, inform, and persuade any audience.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Why stories matter and how they work

    • Why should scientists use storytelling?

    • Reconciling narrative and logical-scientific thinking

    • Exercise: storytelling audit

    • Live session 1: Why stories matter - lecture and Q&A
  • 2

    Finding and crafting your narrative

    • Finding the story in your research

    • How to structure a science story

    • Exercise: Topic to story
  • 3

    Storytelling craft — Hooks, Structure, Voice

    • The anatomy of a feature article

    • Protagonists, voice, and choosing the best points-of-view

    • Exercise: Hook, nutgraf, kicker
  • 4

    Complexity, Uncertainty, and Misinformation

    • Communicating uncertainty and complexity without misrepresenting science

    • Narrative as a tool against misinformation

    • Exercise: Counter-narrative
  • 5

    Next steps

    • Live Session 2: Reaching your audience and getting published — lecture, Q&A, and what comes next

    • Course resources and further reading

Special offer

Sign up by 31st March to take this course free of charge

  • 00 Days
  • 00 Hours
  • 00 Minutes
  • 00 Seconds
Click to enroll