Is your team losing opportunities because of how it communicates its research?
How science is communicated is a key part of how researchers create value and have influence.
I teach researchers the scientific communication skills and strategies most never learn in school, so their work can influence the business, funding, and policy decisions that matter.
The challenge
The ability to communicate research and its significance is central to how audiences value that research.
If you lead a research team whose work is solid but isn’t having the impact it deserves, you may experience lost funding, missed collaboration opportunities, or experts being undervalued simply because stakeholders don’t get it.
Good research isn’t valued solely because it is rigorous. It’s valued when the people who need it can understand its significance and use it to make decisions.
When research isn’t framed around the problems and decisions that matter to executives, clients, and funders, they may miss its significance. Your team wastes valuable time clarifying miscommunications, proposals get stalled, and work that should shape strategy gets ignored.
The solution
I teach the skills and strategies professional communicators use but scientists are rarely taught, so they learn how to:
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Distinguish
between academic problems and real-world challenges their research needs to inform.
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Define
a clear audience, purpose, and takeaway.
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Structure
complex ideas using repeatable frameworks.
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Prioritize
information that matters most.
And I show scientists how to apply these principles directly to their own research, using real examples and constraints.
Most communication training for researchers helps them build better slides. I teach them how to become better thinkers.
This isn’t presentation training. Generic tips like “Tell a story” don’t solve the challenge of translating dense, complex scientific data into communications people can understand.
And it isn’t about polished templates. Prettier designs simply put the same underlying communication problems into a nicer format.
Rather, it’s simple, repeatable frameworks scientists can use to learn how to structure and frame their thinking before they ever open PowerPoint.
Meet Sonya Snedecor, PhD
After more than 20 years in research and consulting, I understand both sides of this problem: how researchers are trained to think and how organizations need them to communicate.
I’ve spent my career conducting rigorous technical analyses and translating complex research for clients, decision-makers, and other stakeholders. I’ve seen firsthand what happens when research is difficult to understand—and the benefits of making the significance of your work clear and obvious.
[Sonya gave us] an impactful brainstorming workshop that left us with pragmatic tools and frameworks to ‘simplify’ a scientific story! We can highly recommend reaching out to her; she is absolutely fantastic!
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Ways to work together
The goal isn’t better slides. It’s to make scientific communication as strong and credible as the research itself.
01
Introductory sessions
Short, targeted engagements that introduce teams to audience-focused scientific communication and why it matters.
02
Team training
Interactive, customized workshops that teach your team how to communicate research clearly and persuasively.
03
Communication guidance
Coaching and consulting for teams or individuals who need help applying these principles to important research communications.
Training built around your team
I don’t start with an off-the-shelf presentation course; I start by understanding what your team is trying to communicate, who they’re communicating with, and what challenges are getting in the way.
Then I design a curriculum around your team’s needs and use your own work to address real communication challenges.
Your team practices the new skills, builds new habits, and receives follow-up support from me to help make those behaviors part of the team’s routine.
Your team gets:
Every report, proposal, and executive update your team delivers either builds authority or erodes trust.
If the value of your team’s research isn’t obvious to its stakeholders, email me to talk about what you’re seeing.