The evolution of the professor and scholar in the academic community continues to adapt to the growing expectations and changes we are seeing presently. We have to conduct research in our areas of expertise, teaching various courses within our discipline, and mentor the future generation of young scholars.
I had the chance to attend KCHC 2012 this past week, and Glenn Cameron (Professor at the University of Missouri) mentioned that professors need to not only focus on publishing their work in academic publications, but also branch out to the popular press. This got me thinking about how professors should focus on this particular arena to expand their presence and reputation with their work.
How do professors do this exactly? Well, there are some ways you can accomplish this:
- Establish personal blog: The best way to practice translating your writing from academic to popular press is to create and establish your blog. Not only does this help in your writing skills overall, but it also is a platform for you to build a following based on your insights, expertise, and posts related to your research.
- Reach out to your social media network with key findings and implications of research: Reach out to your community and let them know about your research and the application that it has to them. I had the opportunity to talk with some great professionals about the research I did a few years ago focusing on SMIs – Ryu Yamaguchi of Cision and Neicole Crepeau both wrote very nice blog posts about my research.
- Research on topics that are timely and relevant: Professors have to look at what is happening in their current environment not only in the scholar community, but also in the workplace. Keeping up with the latest trends from multiple perspectives will help generate current research ideas that would be of interest not only to fellow colleagues, but to professionals as well.
- Ask yourself the “so what” question about your research: What does it mean? How would this be applied into the workplace? It is great to have theory in your research – but professors can’t rely only on this for their research or get stuck in a bubble where they research the same thing over and over again. You also have to know your audience in terms of the press – what they are looking for, what are they interested in, and craft your research pitch piece to them to say why this is relevant and would be of an interest to their readers.
- Walk the walk and talk the talk in communicating research with audiences: Professionals and others in the media really want to see you know your research and have the skills to communicate these findings to a range of audiences. We have to put ourselves into the shoes of scientific writers. They have to take complex scientific terms and concepts and translate them for the popular press. Why can’t we do this in the social sciences as well?
In summary, for professors who want to reach out and expand their presence with their research, there is a great opportunity to establish a professional relationship with key influencers in the popular press and social media. Professors have to not only establish their reputation in academic circles, but also in the professional field as well – which translates to the hybrid PR professional of the 21st century – who is able to balance both research and practitioner perspectives effectively.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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