SELL YOUR RESEARCH: Public Speaking for Scientists
3400: this is the number of scientists who were successfully trained in public speaking by Agent Majeur. Which is why Alexia Youknovsky and James Bowers wanted to share the company’s approach to preparing an oral presentation. In their book, « SELL YOUR RESEARCH: Public Speaking for Scientists », they unveil the SELL method, consisting in 3 steps: Skeleton, Envelope, Life & Logistics. Whether you are a novice or an experienced speaker, whether you need to prepare a 3-minute pitch or a 2-hour oral presentation, in these pages you will find advice and exercises to help you improve your public speaking skills.
Recipe
Learn a tried and tested 3-step method for preparing engaging presentations.
Skills
Adapt to your context and audience: pitches, conferences, thesis defences and more.
Experience
Discover tonnes of examples of successful science presentations.
Reviews
“Public speaking is one of the most intimidating but crucial tasks in a scientist’s career. This book provides a welcoming, clear, step-by-step guide to improving your presentations at every level. Reading it and following its advice will make your science talks less frightening and more enjoyable.”
Dr. Laura Helmuth
Editor-in-chief
Scientific American
“Solidly researched and immaculately written, SELL YOUR RESEARCH: Public Speaking for Scientists is a goldmine of useful advice. Whether you are brimming with confidence or just setting out, this gem of a guidebook will improve every presentation and nurture every budding science communicator.”
Dr. Stephen Webster
Director of Science Communication Unit
Imperial College London
About the authors
Alexia Youknovsky
Founder and CEO, Agent Majeur.
A chemical engineer by training, with experience in both research and consulting, Alexia was also an actress for six years. Sixteen years ago, she created Agent Majeur, a science communication agency to provide specific services for stakeholders in research and innovation. She related to the constant pressure on scientists to communicate their activities and felt her combination of skills were a valuable asset. Now, she leads a team of science communication professionals with the objective of helping researchers promote their work through training, strategic planning, event production, graphic design, and various other activities.
James Bowers, PhD
Chief editor, consultant and trainer.
Passionate about science and media, British-born James obtained his PhD in Molecular Biology and Physiology in 2014. Upon completion, he was quickly swept up with the wave of young scientists choosing to devote themselves to research dissemination over the lab life. After experience presenting science to the general public in museums and events, he earned an MSc in Science Media Production from Imperial College London. He then worked in factual TV production and as a science presenter, before working at Agent Majeur for three years as a trainer and consultant. For the past four years, he has been chief editor at the online media Polytechnique Insights, launched in 2020.
In the press
L’Express
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, science is influencing politics more than ever. What about its communication? In this interview, Alexia Youknovsky explains how our leaders could benefit from the fundamentals of research communication (available in French only).
Times Higher Education
The ability to present clearly, concisely and memorably is crucial for academics’ careers. Alexia Youknovsky was interviewed by Jack Grove, from Times Higher Education, and talked about how scholars can improve their public speaking skills.
Science magazine webinar
Each week, Science magazine organises a webinar aimed at scientists. On the 29th May 2019, the topic of discussion was science communication. Alexia Youknovsky, founder and CEO of Agent Majeur, was invited amongst a panel of experts to discuss how to communicate research successfully. In this webinar, supported by the Fondation IPSEN, Alexia shared her expertise and talked a little about the SELL Method.
MyScienceWork webinar
Alexia and James hosted a live webinar in collaboration with MyScienceWork on the topic of science presentations. In it, they presented the three-step SELL Method and for each step they were joined by a guest to talk more about putting it into practise. Guests include Elodie Chabrol, Renaud Pourpre and Aduragbemi Banke-Thomas.
The National UAE
Alexia Youknovsky was interviewed by the National UAE about the use of social media in Sci Comm. In particular the subject of the up and coming social network TikTok, currently used by NGOs to spread science messages to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic
Other SciComm advice
Our science communication blog
You have a science talk coming up? Research you want to share with the world? Experts in science communication, we have been contributing to our blog for over a decade. We provide public speaking tips for how to make a good science presentation. If you wish to find out more, feel free to contact us for a chat.