How do you draw stories out of faculty?
Why should faculty care about communication, content, social metrics, etc. And not only why should they care but how to entice them to pay attention? Why does the emotion behind their research matter? And how do I tease that out of them?
Short answer: They shouldn’t. That’s your job.
And I’m not saying that because communication is beneath them. It’s not. And some faculty genuinely do care about storytelling and public impact.
I’m saying it because if faculty start publishing or shaping research based on how much attention they may get, the integrity of research is at risk.
When attention becomes the incentive, they may be more likely to exaggerate or misrepresent their results. We’ve seen it happen.
But, don’t worry, I get your point. How do you get them to sit with you so you can translate their research into something the public can actually understand and care about?
Here’s what works (straight from my husband a professor).
Start with goals they care about.
Tie your ask to outcomes that matter to them, like enrollment in their program or funding for future research. Draw a clear line between sharing their work and advancing those goals.
Go through department leadership when possible.
Faculty are far more likely to respond to a department chair or peer than to someone in comms.
Lower the barrier to participation.
Give them options:
A recorded Zoom conversation
An in-person meeting (pay for their coffee out of your department’s budget)
Asynchronous responses in a shared doc
Come prepared, but don’t perform expertise.
Know their general area of work. Show respect for the field. But do not explain it back to them. Even if you get it right, you won’t get it right. Ask questions instead and let them teach you.
Question do’s and don’ts.
✅ Ask about their big-picture motivation.
What drew them to the research. What question they keep coming back to. What still excites them.❌ Don’t assume immediate real-world impact.
Not all research is designed to have one, and forcing that frame can put them off. As one faculty friend put it: “Only ask if it’s clearly the case that the answer is yes, it has one, and that it actually motivates me.”
Let them review.
Faculty spend weeks thinking about one sentence. They are very careful about what they say and how they say it. Show them what you wrote about them, and let them correct the nuance.
Flattery works.
This applies to every human ever. But especially to people who have devoted their entire lives to making new discoveries in a very specific area of study.
After the story is captured, close the loop.
This part is critical.
Show them where and how their research was shared. Send the article. Share the post. Let them see the results.
If faculty feel their time went into a black hole, they will not participate again. If they see their work being used thoughtfully, they are far more likely to say yes next time.
One more thing: This is important. Keep at it.
The public sees research as the most important contribution colleges and universities make to society beyond educating students.
But, if they can’t access it, understand it, or see why it matters, that value gets lost.
So keep at it. This isn’t a futile pursuit.
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