Audiences of the New Science
Scientists are involved in many research projects. After the research projects, they are needed to come up with a detailed report. This report is to be presented to a certain audience. It can be done either in public or in private. This point divides the audience into two diverse groups, the public and the private audience.
These two types of audiences are mainly affected by speech and writing. Moreover, like all other professions, science must at one time need to rely on communication. To start with, public communication is an aspect that calls for willingness to speak and to listen, (Colin, 34). It calls for much participation in the side of the audience and the side of the speakers. To make the communication worth listening to, the scientists should ensure that they are familiar with the topic of discussion. In the side of private communication, the audience participates more compared to the public audience.
This is due to the number. Compared to the public audience, according to (Bowler & Morus, 21), the private audience has less audience and hence there is enough time for participation. The audience can participate through asking question, making comments or answering some questions. Scientists can make wonderful presentation by bearing in mind that the public and private audience can never receive the same treatment. They need to note that the audience, the occasion or incidence and the effects of the speech should determine the speeches made. They should ensure that they are more audible when making public speeches.
For more understanding, they can use non-verbal communication skills. They may involve they use of gesture and body movements. They should avoid some verbal disturbance such as “its like”, “I was like” among others. The private audience would require the scientist to play the role of another person. The goal during private communication, is not to know or interact with the audience, it is to entertain them with what you have. It can almost be termed or considered acting.
However, in public speaking, although entertaining is expected, passing of the message is much prioritized. They need to be able to persuade the audience and effectively inform them. Public speaking involves indulging the audience in whatever the discussion. The scientist has the gal to catch their attention and make them believe in what he is saying. Obviously, he does this with an aim of convincing them to agree with him.
Speaking to the public is as if you were having a normal conversation. The scientist is not reading any script neither is he delivering a memorized speech. The public and private speaking have a common field in the response part. Whatever the content a scientist will have prepared, he must receive a response. Scientists should be ready to react to any response that the audience may show. Even is the audience is made up of a thousand or one person, they must smile, clap, frown or disagree with whatever the scientist is saying.
Negative response is expected in a speech with poor grammar and slang words.Looking at the structure, the scientist should note that public is highly structured. It is strict with time and the speaker must stick n the assigned time. The situation gives less space for interruption by comments or questions by the audience. Public speaking has become of the modern powerful tool in communicating science facts. The speaker scientist does almost all the speaking.
The scientist should make sure that the purpose of the speech is met. He should think of any possible questions that the audience might have, during the speech he should try to answer these questions. The content should also be more detailed than the one meant for private speaking. It also calls for language that is more respectable. The scientist should choose their words well for the better. A scientist meant to face a target audience of women, either in as a public audience or as a public audience has to be ultimately prepared to listen, he must be generally knowledgeable to the health matters that women face and must be equipped with a powerful gist.
The purposes of addressing a public audience of women would be to be primarily to meet the knowledge pertaining to health matters that involve women only, or those well discussed on a pure women audience. For example, menstruation imbalances, cancer affecting organs specific to females like cancer of the cervix, vagina etc. As (Chapin, 75) states, women play major roles in the society and concerning health matters, both for their men and children, expert opinions derived from data assessed from reseearch reviews and knowledge based on scientific evidence. Several women from the public audience can be brought forward to represent the others for a one on one conversation, this helps create confidence and trust in the information passed by the expert practitioner. For a private women audience, the issues discussed are not from the general health problems that women face but those that are specific to the women present. There is a pure one on one interaction with the women, therefore the practitioner must be well groomed and have good public relations skill as well as expert knowledge to the health matters at hand.
The royal society is a distinct group placed in a special class in the society. Lectures addressed to this audience must be provided by practitioners aged in the specific fields that they deal in, (Chapin, 45). A royal society is specifically a private audience therefore the kind of interaction between the practitioner and his audience will be a one on one interaction. The health information given to the royal society is provided only by the Royal Doctors. These doctors have been well trained and have both vast experience in the health field and satisfactory discipline to be endorsed by the Royal kinship.
The disabled people in the world take up about 17% of the total world population. Health knowledge given to this group of audience both private and public must be specific to the disability suffered by the subject. A term ‘privileged’ is a term referred to the disabled not to mock them but to remind them that they are supported. The practitioners giving this knowledge on how to manage their disability must be equipped with good interpersonal skills. The channels of communication with this audience group are common both for the public and the private audience. Modes of interaction depend on the kind of disability being addressed and the age of the subjects.
To conclude, practitioners playing a teaching role to all kinds of audiences on health matters must have gathered enough knowledge based on scientific research facts. They also need to be well groomed and have good interpersonal skills and communication skills. The basic principle is to gain trust from the audience and providing relevant factual information on the health matters being addressed.
