What is your work about? Why are you doing it?
If you have ever had trouble answering those questions—whether they are asked by a colleague, a friend, a mentor, a journalist, or your mother—you may need some help with your messaging. The next installment of our Build Your Bandwidth webinar series, to be held April 10, 2012, 12-1:15 PM Eastern time, may be just what you need. Entitled “Message What You Preach,” this webinar, designed for all grantees, scholars, and fellows in the Hartford network, will help researchers of all types craft and unify their message across typical communications media: presentations, media interviews, abstracts, and more.
“Message What You Preach” is the second in our webinar series. The first tackled one of the most daunting communications challenges: the scientific poster. Held on March 6, this well-attended webinar covered defining your objectives and key audiences, honing your message, and creating an effective layout. Attendees commented that session was “very useful” and noted, “The session was practical and informative. I’ll recommend it to colleagues.”
Webinars are limited to 25 attendees, so if you would like to attend “Message What You Preach,” click here to sign up today. Registration is linked from Bandwidth, our online communications resource. If you haven’t yet had an opportunity, take a moment to explore Bandwidth. It’s a great place to learn how to improve your communications skills, including how to create more effective posters and presentations, talk to the media, and make the case for geriatrics/gerontology. It is also a great place to find photographs to visually support your message. We have recently added 67 original photographs by Julie Turkewitz to our collection. These photos are password protected and are available to grantees and friends for non-profit, educational use. For a password contact Chris Gherst at cgherst@aboutscp.com.
Why is communicating so important to the John A. Hartford Foundation? Because we believe that if we can’t explain what we want to do, then we won’t be able to do it. We, and all of our grantees, need to be able to articulate why our work matters, and how it is going to help older adults obtain better health care and lead healthier lives.