Engagement skills
Introduction
On this page you can find advice and guides on how to engage people through different formats, both online and in person.
-
Things to be aware of when planning for digital engagement
Resources and guides to help you with:
Some things to be aware of when planning for digital engagement
The key starting point when planning any engagement activity is identifying your audience. This should be the first thing you think about, before you come up with what type of engagement activity you're going to run. When planning for digital engagement it's important to think about the following points:
- Does your audience have the internet access/ digital skills necessary to engage with what you're developing? In the West Midlands 1 in 5 people don't use the internet (West Midlands Digital Roadmap 2021Link opens in a new window). The Good Things Foundation produces an annual Digital Nation infographicLink opens in a new window that gathers together the facts and stats about digital inclusion and exclusion in the UK - this is a helpful tool to begin to understand which audiences might not have internet access.
- For other people accessing online events and content is far easier than coming to an in person event. In some cases you might want to explore a hybrid approach to make it as easy as possible for people to take part in your activity - but these come with their own challenges.
- How are people going to access your activity? Can they engage via a mobile device or only via a laptop/desktop or other specialist device? Are you relying on people to have multiple devices - for example taking part in polls and quizzes on a separate mobile device whilst taking part in an event via Zoom? Is there an alternative option?
- Is your content accessible to people with different needs? For example can someone engage with your content if they're using a screen reader? Have you alt text to images you're using? Have you added (accurate) subtitles to video content? IT services provide some useful adviceLink opens in a new window on this.
- Its important to build engagement into your digital plans. Engagement is about connecting with people so it's key to build two way communication into your plans. It's also important to ensure you're working to tell your audiences about the digital activities you're producing - it's not enough to record a video and put it onto YouTube without also doing some work to let your audience know it's there and they can access it.
- Can you build your evaluation into your digital engagement? What does success look like for you? How can you measure this and is there data you can be automatically gathering from an online tool? Check out our evaluation pages for more advice on this.
- Have you considered online safeguarding - especially if you're working with children or vulnerable adults?
Resources and guides
Blogging for engagement
Dr Anna Ploszajski
Learn how to plan, write and produce a blog to inspire, entertain and disseminate your work at the University of Warwick. By the end, you’ll have all the skills, tools and information you need to get started… and keep going!
Creating accessible activities
Dr Sarah Bearchell
How can you design high quality events and interactive activities that work for everyone? Sarah talks through how you can use the five senses to help you think through activities that work for people with additional needs - but also help enhance your activity for anyone's enjoyment.
Creating research animations
The Engagement Associates
Animation is a fantastic medium for conveying information and sharing stories about research - the only limit is your imagination. This guide takes you through the key steps common to most animation productions when working with creative professionals.
Elevator pitches
Create an elevator pitch about your work to help develop your ability to portray your offer (your skills, services or experience) in a convincing and succinct manner. A good pitch should be around 20-30 seconds which tells your audience exactly what they need to know to see if they want to take it further.
How to make a podcast
Anna Ploszajski
Understand how to produce your own podcast to inspire, entertain and disseminate your work at the University of Warwick. By the end you’ll have all the skills, tools and information you need to get started… and keep going!
Available as a written guide and in audio.
Online engagement
Dr Jamie Gallagher
In this series of videos Jamie takes you through:
- Getting the best set up
- Choosing the best format for an online events
- Using YouTube for engagement
- Evaluating your online activity
- The future of online engagement
Posters for a public audience
Hana Ayoob
Do you want to make an engaging poster for a public audience? Then this guide is for you.
Presenting data
Duncan Yellowlees
Power Point presentations are a useful tool for communicating complicated ideas to your audiences. But how do you avoid overwhelming your audience and the dreaded "death by Power Point" - Duncan has the answers!
Social media for engagement
Sam Langford
In this video Sam talks about the benefits of using social media for engagement with research, what makes good content and how you can get started. He'll also discuss the top four social media platforms (Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook) and what each of their strengths are.
Arianwen Herbert
On this pageLink opens in a new window, Arianwen describes how she used TikTok to engage the public with her URSS project, and how she has increased her public engagement since then through Instagram, building a following of more than 30,000 during her Masters year.
Storytelling for research
Duncan Yellowlees
How can Storytelling make people care about your research? What tips, tricks and techniques for powerful storytelling can you apply to your engagement practice - no matter what type of interaction you're planning.
Zines for Engagement
Hana Ayoob
Check out this guide to zines by Hana Ayoob. Find out what a zine is, make a simple zine yourself and discover ideas for using zines and zine-making in your Engagement activities.
Hannah Kahn, URSS student
Read about what student Hannah Kahn did for her URSS projectLink opens in a new window and check out the zine she made. Scroll down to the second section on the page for Hannah's entry.
Effective Communication of Scientific Research
Warwick Medical School
This is a short, self-paced course on Moodle that introduces you to key topics around effective communication of scientific research with a variety of audiences, in particular with patients and members of the public.
Each lesson includes resources such as videos, articles templates and resources to support your learning.