General Meeting, 12 November 2002

Kevin began by asking volunteers to assist him in holding up a long rope, which he wrapped around the entire audience before threading it through the centre aisle and back again to the front. When the process was complete he explained that the length of rope represented the history of our planet and that humans had only existed for the final two inches, which he held up for all to see. The point of the exercise was to give the audience a different perspective about time and our history. More importantly for our purposes though, it demonstrated the Ontario Science Centre approach to presenting scientific knowledge. The centre aims to create exhibits that engage multiple senses and feelings, and in doing so create 'unique experiences'.

In this illustration, the people involved experience the tactile feeling of the rope, curiosity as to what Kevin is doing, and possibly embarrassment about standing up in front of everyone. All of these things make the experience unique and memorable, and this helps people to accept and understand the message.

Kevin them presented some statistics to show why they need to go to such lengths. The general public is being deluged by commercial messages at a far greater rate than was the case even thirty years ago. Luckily the human mind is naturally resistant to change and so has a defense against getting overwhelmed. However, this means that the scientific community faces a challenge in getting its message across; it has to find a way to cut through the clutter so it can overcome old beliefs and fallacies. While this is difficult, it is not impossible and Kevin cited the increasing concern about global warming as a sign that the scientific community can successfully make a case to the public.

Kevin then presented the Science Centre's ten step approach to creating an exhibit. These points can be applied to almost any work of technical communication.

• Know who your audience is, know what you want to say and know how you want to say it.
• Marry your message to the context.
• Find an interesting angle to attract and keep your audience. (For example, the rope representing time.)
• Lead your audience, but don't get bogged down.
• Anticipate and address questions.
• Make connections between your subject and life outside.
• Pretend you are talking to a friend. Try putting "Hey Joe..." in front of every sentence you've written and change it if it sounds silly.
• Be consistent, but don't fall into a rigid design which affects your content.
• Lighten up... don't be afraid to use word play and humour.
• Test your writing and approach. Kevin admitted they don't always get it right!

A pair of illustrations concluded the presentation.

• In the first Kevin showed the difficulty of one way communication by having a hapless volunteer instruct people on putting on a tie, without being able to see the people he was instructing.
• In the final presentation he demonstrated the difference between 'taste' and 'flavour' by asking the audience to hold their nose and then chew on an orange jelly bean; although the audience could detect the sweetness of the jelly bean they could not identify its flavour (root beer) until their noses were unplugged. As with the rope exercise, both of these illustrations used multiple sensations and emotions to get their message across.

The Ontario Science Centre has been presenting science to the general public for nearly forty years, and the approach they have developed is a useful guide for all technical communicators. Kevin both described this approach and illustrated it, resulting in some unique experiences and a worthwhile evening for STC members.