Abs: To sell science-related content to
various audiences, use
Nature of audience to refine the topic;
Take-home message to select and organize material;
Criticism to hone the presentation.
Refine technical content for intended audience.
A different paper/talk for every audience.
First writing assignment has audience of non-science peers.
Talks and last paper have class as audience.
Use take-home message to select & organize
material
Identify take-home messages meaningful to intended audience;
accordingly, adjust level of science-content.
Narrow subject to match length/time limits; eliminate
all material inessential to take-home message.
A sentence outline (a) lays out presentation logic; (b) is easy to
revise; (c) speeds up writing.
Seek and use criticism to perfect presentation
Drafts will be anonymously evaluated by class members.
To effectively use criticism in improving a draft the author must
assume the criticism accurately reflects how well the reader could
understand the draft as written (not as intended by the author).
Rewriting may mean throwing out the draft and restarting
at either topic refinement or sentence outline stage.
q
Epilogue: Skills stressed are relevant for
persuading a known audience.