Article archive / February 1, 2010
Originally published: . Volume 1, No. 6. Source pages: 14.
Are you multilingual in psychology? Do you use simple statements that can reach the public as well as you do the scientific jargon of your area of expertise? If you are interested in communicating your knowledge and expertise through the public media, you will need to prepare yourself for a new way of talking.
You need to speak coherently about concepts, findings, and practices, using the terminology of our field, to communicate effectively with colleagues. Your credibility in speaking at conferences and writing for journals requires this first sophisticated language base.
Talking with students in class and with clients in therapy are similar in that both involve an educational process of illuminating the principles and practices of our field. We interact in ways that yield first understanding and then application of relevant aspects of what we know. In these settings, we need to use our second language style, with a more accessible vocabulary.
Reaching the public audience through a media format entails the ability to retrieve complex data from your wealth of psychological knowledge, and quickly translate that information into easily digestible nuggets. Knowing how to speak succinctly, promptly, accurately, and clearly indicates skill in this third language mode, that of using “common denominator” words.
For example, you are ready for your radio, television, and print media interviews if you are adept at adhering to three main points, each of which you can describe initially in eight second sound bites. You must resist indulging in extensive explanations and limit yourself to carefully phrased, helpful, and memorable comments. To do so while remaining true to the integrity of our profession requires discipline and training.
That third language, the simple one the public relies on, may be the hardest of all to acquire!
If you would like to reach the public through the media, please email MediaServices@DrSusanDardard.com, or call 225-635-4555.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.