{"id":1200,"date":"2025-01-30T19:31:44","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T19:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/?p=1200"},"modified":"2025-01-30T20:07:36","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T20:07:36","slug":"storytelling-in-biological-engineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/2025\/01\/30\/storytelling-in-biological-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"Storytelling in Biological Engineering"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When sharing our research with others, we are expected to provide context, explain our findings, and assist in interpretation of data, all while carefully considering the audience, goals, and progress of projects. On top of that, we want to choose the right presentation to deliver the message in a compelling, engaging, and credible manner. This blog post is a guide to help you determine the appropriate strategy to accomplish all of these goals. While we mainly focus on presentations, the same framework of developing a clear narrative supported by evidence can be generally applied to any of your communication needs in BE and science in general.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_71 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #333333;color:#333333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #333333;color:#333333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/2025\/01\/30\/storytelling-in-biological-engineering\/#Why_is_storytelling_important\" title=\"Why is storytelling important?\">Why is storytelling important?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/2025\/01\/30\/storytelling-in-biological-engineering\/#General_structure_of_your_narrative\" title=\"General structure of your narrative\">General structure of your narrative<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/2025\/01\/30\/storytelling-in-biological-engineering\/#Choosing_your_specific_narrative\" title=\"Choosing your specific narrative\">Choosing your specific narrative<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/2025\/01\/30\/storytelling-in-biological-engineering\/#Adjusting_your_layout_based_on_audience_and_format\" title=\"Adjusting your layout based on audience and format\">Adjusting your layout based on audience and format<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/2025\/01\/30\/storytelling-in-biological-engineering\/#Common_hurdles_in_storytelling\" title=\"Common hurdles in storytelling\u00a0\">Common hurdles in storytelling\u00a0<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/2025\/01\/30\/storytelling-in-biological-engineering\/#Incomplete_or_New_Stories\" title=\"Incomplete or New Stories\">Incomplete or New Stories<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/2025\/01\/30\/storytelling-in-biological-engineering\/#Choosing_what_data_to_present\" title=\"Choosing what data to present\">Choosing what data to present<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/2025\/01\/30\/storytelling-in-biological-engineering\/#Final_stages_feedback_and_iteration\" title=\"Final stages: feedback and iteration\">Final stages: feedback and iteration<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_is_storytelling_important\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why is storytelling important?<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Storytelling is the act of creating and sharing a narrative. Narratives help guide the audience through the work and provide a memorable framework. Compared to a spattering of data and figures, which causes confusion from hard-to-synthesize information, an effective narrative clearly communicates the big ideas and supporting evidence. Furthermore, it aids in keeping the audience focused by providing an interesting and understandable story. As the author or presenter,, you\u00a0 benefit from storytelling by receiving more thoughtful questions and useful feedback.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"General_structure_of_your_narrative\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">General structure of your narrative<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All effective scientific communication has largely the same general structure. This structure mirrors the common story arc of Problem, Challenge, and Resolution. Remember, your aim is to effectively characterize the problem, communicate your findings, and illuminate the impact. A useful exercise is to summarize your presentation in three sentences. This challenges you to focus your message and ensures your presentation matches your goals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Below is a general narrative structure to follow:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1201 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-1_hourglass-250x131.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"596\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-1_hourglass-250x131.png 250w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-1_hourglass-700x366.png 700w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-1_hourglass-120x63.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 596px) 100vw, 596px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">From poster to thesis defense, this structure holds true for most communications. For multi-faceted projects with distinct stories, you may cycle through this structure a few times. A faculty talk or a thesis defense will likely have a few nested storylines within their overarching narrative. Each nested storyline communicates a\u00a0 \u2018sub-problem\u2019 within their larger \u2018problem\u2019. Next time you listen to a talk you really enjoy, keep an eye out for these storyline arcs.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Choosing_your_specific_narrative\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Choosing your specific narrative<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now that you understand the general structure, identifying the type of project can help decide the type of narrative you will employ. In BE, projects commonly engage one of the following narratives: <\/span><b>testing a hypothesis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><b>improving\/validating known outcomes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, or <\/span><b>developing a new methodology or system<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 1px solid\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\"><b>Testing a hypothesis<\/b><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\"><b>Improving known outcomes<\/b><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\"><b>Developing a new methodology or system<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\"><b>Theme<\/b><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Biology-centric<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"83\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1204\" src=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Biology_centric_icon-250x83.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Biology_centric_icon-250x83.png 250w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Biology_centric_icon-700x232.png 700w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Biology_centric_icon-768x254.png 768w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Biology_centric_icon-120x40.png 120w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Biology_centric_icon.png 845w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Balanced<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"83\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1203\" src=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/balanced_icon-250x83.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/balanced_icon-250x83.png 250w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/balanced_icon-700x232.png 700w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/balanced_icon-768x254.png 768w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/balanced_icon-120x40.png 120w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/balanced_icon.png 845w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Engineering\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"83\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1202\" src=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/engineering_centri_icon-250x83.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/engineering_centri_icon-250x83.png 250w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/engineering_centri_icon-700x232.png 700w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/engineering_centri_icon-768x254.png 768w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/engineering_centri_icon-120x40.png 120w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/engineering_centri_icon.png 845w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\"><b>Research Focus<\/b><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fundamental or Mechanistic<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Application or Translational<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Development or Optimization\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\"><b>Key Questions<\/b><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: left\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is the biology + knowledge gap?<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: left\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How does your data support your hypothesis?<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: left\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What are the implications of your findings?<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What have others done + what does it lack?<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How does your approach address the gap?<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How does your work compare to prior literature?<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: left\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is the limitation in the field?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: left\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What are the key strengths of your method?<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: left\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What does this advancement enable?<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although projects can fall in multiple categories, it is important to try and keep your communication focused. Let the status of your project, your audience, or chapter of your thesis be your guide. For example, at an early stage of a project choose to focus on method development, while later in a project you can focus on the applications of that method.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Adjusting_your_layout_based_on_audience_and_format\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adjusting your layout based on audience and format<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The main difference when applying these steps is in structuring them for particular audiences and goals\/applications, such as soliciting feedback on experiments or providing a big picture overview. The plot below shows most of the communication needs we encounter in BE:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1217 \" src=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Figure-2_Communication-in-BE_NEW-250x179.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"602\" height=\"431\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Figure-2_Communication-in-BE_NEW-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Figure-2_Communication-in-BE_NEW-700x501.jpg 700w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Figure-2_Communication-in-BE_NEW-768x550.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Figure-2_Communication-in-BE_NEW-120x86.jpg 120w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Figure-2_Communication-in-BE_NEW.jpg 992w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After deciding on a narrative of <\/span><b>testing a hypothesis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><b>improving\/validating known outcomes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, or <\/span><b>developing a new methodology or system, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0the structure and \u2018key questions\u2019 will be tuned to match your specific communication goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A few main types of communications emerge from the above plot. Below is an example flow chart to tune your presentation from a formal, long conference talk to a formal, short BATS talk and a non-formal, short data meeting. Notice how the structure remains, while the level of detail and focus shifts as the purpose and length of the presentation changes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1207\" src=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-3_Format-250x157.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"704\" height=\"442\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-3_Format-250x157.png 250w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-3_Format-700x438.png 700w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-3_Format-768x481.png 768w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-3_Format-1536x962.png 1536w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-3_Format-2048x1282.png 2048w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-3_Format-120x75.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In addition to considering the length and formality of the communication, the audience\u2019s expectations and expertise are also paramount. For audiences that are not in your specific field (e.g. collaborators, sponsors, etc.), it is generally beneficial to invest in a longer and big-picture introduction with less focus on the technical or esoteric details of the project. Besides highlighting broader visions and objectives to appeal to a wider range of audience backgrounds, it can also be helpful to orient a more na\u00efve audience by providing an overview of progress before diving into data showing new developments, significance, and next steps. On the other hand, when presenting to your research group, they may be already fairly familiar with the research problem and context. If you are seeking technical advice, increase the amount of detail when discussing your data.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Common_hurdles_in_storytelling\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Common hurdles in storytelling\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When faced with the task of communicating our research as a trainee, we often have to deal with difficulties such as incomplete stories and choosing which data to present.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Incomplete_or_New_Stories\"><\/span><b>Incomplete or New Stories<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At an early stage in developing a story, it is essential to hone your understanding of the context and purpose of your project and story. The context and purpose should be well explained and take up more of the presentation than in more complete narratives. Your audience is likely hearing about this project for the first time, thus the context and purpose need to be strongly emphasized and developed in order to solicit feedback on the goals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along these same lines, the methods, results, discussion, and future steps will look a little bit different than in more complete stories, but nonetheless can be compelling and exciting. These sections are an opportunity to present any preliminary data that you have gathered, which does not need to be perfect (see below for the second common hurdle). Preliminary results can still demonstrate what you have done or gained experience with, highlight ongoing avenues of exploration, and serve as a preview of future directions. Even if the results are not yet ready for publication, they may be solid enough to present, as long as you are open and clear with the limitations of the data.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Additionally, think about what challenges you faced and how you overcame them. Gaining experience and learning as a researcher during initial experiments is valuable and can be discussed, especially if the experience gained is directly relevant to the future steps of the project. As such, build in direct logical transitions from any initial experiments to the discussion and future steps sections.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The future steps component of an early-stages storyline should be strong and show the promising prospects of future explorations. The audience is interested in what you will do and the soundness of your plan for the future of the study. To help them evaluate this in the absence of actual data, it can be helpful to mock up the kinds of data you would expect from a given experiment and illustrate how you would interpret them. This makes the future steps more concrete and actionable for you and your audience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In summary, when presenting an incomplete or new project, an effective storyline should emphasize the context and motivation of the project, highlight conflict\/resolution pairs to demonstrate lessons learned, and finish strong with concrete future steps.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Choosing_what_data_to_present\"><\/span><b>Choosing what data to present<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The main part of any presentation is the claims which should connect together like stepping stones. Claims are not ground truth \u2018fact\u2019, but rather reasoned arguments that are supported with evidence and can be countered and debated. For an effective story, all claims need to be supported by evidence: this evidence can consist of positive data that you have already gathered or would like to gather in the future, or data that rules out alternative claims.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counter-evidence is evidence that supports alternative claims contrary to the one you propose. These should not be hidden from your presentation, but rather should be addressed openly in the name of honest presentation of a complex picture. Additionally, evidence that does not clearly support a single claim is often inevitable in scientific research. When dealing with ambiguous evidence, it is good practice to acknowledge its shortcomings as proof for your chosen claim, and highlight it as an area where additional investigation will be needed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another natural outcome from going through this evaluation is realizing that your evidence does not support the claim you propose, but rather supports a different claim. This realization is a useful opportunity to revise your claim (and potentially larger argument) to better fit the available evidence. This new claim may be different in scope or focus\u2014hopefully this new claim fits within your research goals, otherwise those goals may need to be adjusted as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Below is a simple decision tree of this process:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1208\" src=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-4_Decision-Tree-250x365.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"361\" height=\"527\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-4_Decision-Tree-250x365.png 250w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-4_Decision-Tree-700x1021.png 700w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-4_Decision-Tree-768x1120.png 768w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-4_Decision-Tree-120x175.png 120w, https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Figure-4_Decision-Tree.png 942w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 361px) 100vw, 361px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">By following this process, you should be able to map out a landscape of both supporting and contradictory evidence, and likewise identify where your collected data fits (or likely does not fit) into your story. Looking at the overall narrative helps you identify what new evidence you might want to pursue to better support your claims, or alternatively you may realize the claims of your story need to be revised. These are natural parts of the storytelling-science feedback loop. As the research continues, the claims will evolve along with your understanding of the project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Final_stages_feedback_and_iteration\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Final stages: feedback and iteration<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Effective communication is an iterative process of trial and error, writing and rewriting, drafting and revision. Seek out external perspectives and support: one of the most effective ways to evaluate whether your narrative is successful is to solicit feedback and use this additional perspective to refine your story. Trust the feedback, as these perspectives are likely more similar to your audience than you are. Set your expectations reasonably: it is usually hard to get an ideal story written on the first try, so grant yourself the permission for your first draft to be imperfect and try to build the time and mental space to revise and refine your story over multiple drafts. Remember the responsibility that you hold as the storyteller: be intentional and conscientious as you navigate the inevitable tradeoff between realistic detail and narrative simplicity, and exercise your best judgment to develop a story that is honest, clear, and compelling. These are key for a memorable communication. As a closing thought, attempt to write your story in only three sentences. Ensure all members of the audience are able to leave with that memorable story.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Blog post by Brandon Dorr and <span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Jacqueline Gerritsen, Communication Fellows<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Editing help from Jelle van der Hilst, Communication Fellow, and Han Xu, Communication Lab Manager<\/p>\n<p>Posted Jan 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When sharing our research with others, we are expected to provide context, explain our findings, and assist in interpretation of data, all while carefully considering the audience, goals, and progress of projects. On top of that, we want to choose the right presentation to deliver the message in a compelling, engaging, and credible manner. This&#8230; <a class=\"view-article\" href=\"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/2025\/01\/30\/storytelling-in-biological-engineering\/\">View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitcommlab.mit.edu\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}