Telling Good Stories About Science
By Rhonda Moore
July 8, 2025
On 13 June, 2025 the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council announced the winners of the 12th annual Storytellers’ Challenge. Through this program, postsecondary students compete to demonstrate how SSHRC-funded research is making a difference in the lives of Canadians. It also provides a great deal of hands on experience to help students understand how to effectively communicate their research in plain language, and to do so in ways that demonstrate meaningful impact. The 2025 competition took place in Fredericton, New Brunswick as part of the annual conference of the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada; 2025 marks the second consecutive year that SSHRC and the SWCC have partnered to co-deliver this event. As the president of the SWCC, and someone who began their career as a research communicator, it was an honor to judge at this year’s competition. The competition was fierce and the presentations were sharp and thought-provoking.
A wise person once said that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. It may also be said that most scientists and researchers love what they do. The pursuit of knowledge can be intoxicating when one finds a specific subject that interests us and a complex challenge to which we may invest years attempting to solve. Thousands of Canadians achieve rewarding careers by pursuing knowledge and achieving excellence in that pursuit and or transferring those skills and knowledge to the next generation.
But loving science is not the same as being able to effectively communicate the impact of science. In Canada, the allocation of public (tax) dollars for research is part of a social contract where science is funded in exchange for the benefits – the results and methodologies – that arise from it. When science only focuses on the pursuit of knowledge without consideration for communicating its use in ways that are meaningful for the intended end user, the social contract is not upheld, society is not benefitting. This is where programs like the Storytellers Challenge come in: they provide members of the scientific community with the skills to communicate their findings for societal impact. Because knowing a subject intimately and the ability to communicate effectively about that subject are two different skillsets altogether. Effective communication requires – among many things – understanding our audience, what they need from us, and how to use a combination of words, tone, emotion, body language and imagery to create messages that are meaningful and relevant for our audience.
For our part, the IOG has developed three training programs for scientists and researchers at different levels of experience to explore how government works, how to better integrate science and innovation for policy impact, how to communicate science in plain language, and how to leverage the training that makes great scientists to also become great leaders. For more information, please consult our science and innovation programming or drop me a line with your questions.