Why Scientists need Storytelling more than ever

I love going to academic conferences.

There's something about being in that learning environment, surrounded by passionate experts, that stimulates the brain into generating new ideas, or allowing one to be able to look at an established subject area with fresh eyes.

But one bugbear I still have not cracked is "How can I ensure that a scientific talk that I attend lives up to the promise of its title?"

Many a time, a great title has been been let down by the presentation delivery, and the conclusion has left me none the wiser as to the significance of the data.  And this just gets me wishing to be able to get back the time I had spent (wasted?) listening in the first place.

In my opinion, this problem can be solved if we, as scientists, study the art of storytelling...

This does not mean we have to dumb down the science, by any means.  But it does mean that we should define a structure up front and then keep our audience with us as we present.  Simply put:

- We start by telling them what we are about to tell them

- We tell them

- Then we conclude by telling them what we've just told them

This is the basis of a simple story arc that has a beginning, a middle and an end.  Without this, we, as scientists, may miss the chance to really hit home the brilliance of our lab results, or we may miss the opportunity to receive further funding if the impact of our work has not been understood by potential investors.

Science does not have to be boring; there is a story in everything.  Stories give our data meaning, and meaning is what people remember.