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\nDid you have a break over Christmas \/ New Years? I hope so.<\/p>\n
\nDid you have a break over Christmas \/ New Years? I hope so.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s summer here in Australia, so we are rolling into the quiet month of January. For the second year in a row, we have a low fire danger summer, instead of a repeat of\u00a0the horror of 2019<\/a>. In fact, it pretty much rained for most of December and I couldn\u2019t have been happier.<\/p>\n Then Omicron happened. Just in time for Christmas. Which we spent in iso after a positive case in our family. Basically 2021 looked at 2020 and said \u2018hold my beer\u2019. Personally I am still reeling from the end of 2019, so I don\u2019t have much in reserve.<\/p>\n As regular readers know, I adopt a keyword for the new year, rather than a resolution. A keyword is a guide for living \u2013 something you can use to make decisions. I tried\u00a0\u2018Less\u2019<\/a>\u00a0for two years in a row, but I think I need to give it another try in 2022. I was going to write about \u2018Less\u2019 again, but in the spirit of Less, I thought I would adapt a piece of writing from a book I am working on for this first post. Double dipping for the win!<\/p>\n Below is the first version of a chapter from the book I am writing with\u00a0Simon Clews<\/a>\u00a0about influencing people with your research. (We want to call it \u2018Be visible of Vanish\u2019 but the publisher is not keen\u2026 we\u2019ll see!).<\/p>\n In the book we tackle about 20 scenarios where you will be asked to share your research, from conference presentations to interviews on TV. The basic idea behind this book is to surface the hidden rules of these common situations and offer some strategies for success. Each section starts with a TL;DR (too long, didn\u2019t read) synopsis of the key points. Then an \u2018in a nutshell\u2019 description of the specific scenario where you will be asked to talk about your research. Following is a section on how to prepare, then some tips to help you be good at it. Finally, in the spirit of our changed world, we include a section called \u2018notes on remote mode\u2019 where we add twists, techniques or ideas to help you translate this advice to online formats which attempt to replicate these face to face situations.<\/p>\n Basically, in this book, we are are trying to get beyond generic \u2018good communication\u2019 advice which can be applied to any situation. Instead we look at presenting your research as a problem of mastering multiple specific genres, all different expectations and definitions of success. I genuinely think there is nothing like this book on the market at the moment \u2013 and there needs to be something. Simon and I have offered these tips and techniques in countless workshops and master classes in our long-ish careers, but we haven\u2019t taken the time to write them down, other than the odd blog post. Similarly to\u00a0How to fix your academic writing trouble<\/em><\/a>, the motivation to write this book is so people have an alternative to attending face to face workshops \u2013 although I expect to use it as a companion piece for mine.<\/p>\n This section is called \u2018How to talk about your research in tearooms\u2019. It tackles the little explored realm of academic socialising and how to talk about research when you are in large groups of people. I hope you enjoy and keep an eye out for the whole book which will be appearing sometime in the middle of the year. I\u2019ll give you an update when it\u2019s available for purchase and (hopefully) a discount voucher.<\/p>\n PS: there\u2019s\u00a0a couple of episodes of On the Reg<\/a>\u00a0for you to listen to over the holiday period and stay tuned for the new podcast I\u2019ve been working on with Dr Paul Magee:\u00a0\u2018Your Brain on Writing\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n TL;DR<\/strong><\/p>\n In a nutshell: why have \u2018tearoom\u2019 conversations about research?<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite its reputation as a haven for introverts, Academia is a very social profession. It helps your career enormously if you become adept at talking to people in semi-formal professional settings. Our shorthand for this type of social space is \u2018tearooms\u2019 because food and drink is often present. These are definitely professional settings where \u2018business\u2019 is contracted, but it\u2019s mixed in with general social chit chat. Think of the 4pm Friday lab drinks, or the dreaded wine and cheese evenings that seem to pass for fun on campus.<\/p>\n Semi formal spaces like tea rooms are more common than you might think. A variation on the tearoom is the so-called \u2018corridor track\u2019 of conferences. As you know, back in the before Covid times, conferences presentations are usually grouped into a series of \u2018tracks\u2019 dedicated to particular subtopics. \u2018Tracks\u2019 are basically rooms where three or four presentations are given consecutively. Tracks are a good way to navigate a large conference as staying in one room is a good way to get across a particular area of research. You can meet people with similar interests in these rooms, but the \u2018rules\u2019 of engagement don\u2019t permit much opportunity to talk. \u2018The corridor track\u2019 happens outside these formal presentation spaces, where people gather to chat. All sorts of things start in the corridor track: invitations to collaborations, writing projects and even \u2018the job interview you have before the actual job interview\u2019 where people informally sound you out on your skill set and experience.<\/p>\n As the saying goes, you don\u2019t have to be an extrovert to work here, but it helps. Tearoom talk is an opportunity to get to know people socially, which builds the social trust necessary for trading information about people, resources and opportunities. Show us a successful academic and nine times out of ten we will show you a socially confident person, comfortable in a range of settings.<\/p>\n That there are benefits to being socially successful is clear. Therefore the importance of the tea-room in academic life can present a barrier for people who are carers, or uncomfortable with free form social settings where they don\u2019t know people well. This disparity prompted us to write this section.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, we can\u2019t teach you to be more socially adept and comfortable \u2013 it\u2019s a set of skills most of us spend a lifetime learning. If you are finding this aspect of academia difficult, don\u2019t worry too much. Most people need help socialising while academic because, well \u2013 it\u2019s awkward.<\/p>\n When you are an undergraduate, you only encountered academics in the classroom or during brief, awkward moments in the caf\u00e9 coffee line. When you become a research student you are suddenly allowed access to the staff tearoom; a place that becomes more and more familiar as you progress to being a PostDoc and\/or member of teaching staff. The academic tearoom can be a whole new level of awkward, so we thought we would include a short section highlighting the importance of these spaces and some advice on navigating this new social challenge.<\/p>\n How to prepare<\/strong><\/p>\n We could have made this chapter all about listening. The more you listen to people, the more they tend to like you, but good listening needs to be active. Most of us believe we are better listeners than we actually are. Here\u2019s a (non-exhaustive) list of listening tips:<\/p>\n If you meet a lot of people, consider investing in a contacts database (used in a non-creepy way of course). Inger has a file of notes about her extended professional network, especially their research interests and specialities, so she knows who to ask if she has a specific problem. In our experience, people almost always appreciate being consulted about their research expertise as long as this is done without being demanding.<\/p>\n How to be good at it<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhat is your research about?\u201d is the most common conversational opener when you meet someone for the first time in a tearoom setting. This conversational gambit is small talk, not an invitation to give a lecture. Have a one sentence answer handy for this situation \u2013 preferably one that makes people want to talk to you more. This kind of sentence is called in the movie business a \u2018log line\u2019. Here\u2019s the logline for the movie Jaws:<\/p>\n When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community, a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer must hunt the beast down before it kills again.<\/em><\/p>\n A movie logline has both the characters and the plot line: these two ingredients can be redrawn in research terms. For instance, Inger\u2019s PhD log line was: \u201cI\u2019m studying how architects talk with their hands so I can work out what gesture is doing in the classroom\u201d. The character was architects and the plot was \u2018what is gesture doing?\u2019.<\/p>\n Your logline will probably change from time to time. For the last five years Inger has been studying post PhD employability \u2013 but this is a topic, not a log line. The PostAc research involves using machine learning and natural language processing (ML-NLP) to make algorithms, but that is a mouthful. Inger noticed the \u00a0computer scientists called the algorithms \u2018machines\u2019, so she weaved that more colourful language into her log line. When asked about her research she now says: \u201cI\u2019m trying to teach machines how to read job advertisements so we can find out how many jobs there for researchers outside universities\u201d.<\/p>\n The log line is a tease \u2013 you are not trying to explain exactly what you are doing but give people an easy opening to ask questions if they want to. The log line is just a tool to show people you are an interesting person doing interesting research. Being interesting is an important, but little recognised, cultural asset for a researcher.<\/p>\n Freeform conversations about research can be difficult, even if you are a confident extrovert like Inger. Tearooms do not have well defined \u2018interaction structures\u2019, like lectures or presentations, so unpacking the \u2018hidden rules\u2019 is a bit trickier.<\/p>\n A big room full of people you don\u2019t know all that well can be confronting, but there\u2019s a trick to inserting yourself. Generally, people can sustain a conversation in groups of up to four. If more than four people are standing in a cluster, one person is usually \u2018holding the floor\u2019, probably by telling a story of some kind.<\/p>\n To avoid finding yourself standing awkwardly on the margins of an existing group, use simple math. Approach someone standing on their own first \u2013 they are probably keen to have someone to talk to. If people are in groups, approach the groups of two \u2013 they are the most likely to be open to extra conversational partner. If you go up to a group of four it\u2019s highly likely you will \u2018break\u2019 the group up, which might be welcome, you never know!<\/p>\n While there is a surprising amount of conversation analysis research, there is precious little about conversations between academics in these informal settings (Inger published one of the very few academic papers on the topic<\/a>). However, between us we\u2019ve had more than 45 years of immersion in academic life. (We also did some \u2018research\u2019 by asking people on Twitter, which confirmed many of our assumptions!).<\/p>\n There is a certain amount of predictability in these conversations, at least in terms of topic and structure. It\u2019s possible to identify a few conversational gambits and develop \u2018repertoires\u2019 for responding in the moment. In fact, we advise making a study of these situations and practising your \u2018tea room game\u2019 whenever you can.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s some conversational repertoires we have noticed and some ideas for dealing with each one:<\/p>\n Variations:<\/p>\n People complain to each other in academic tearooms. All. The. Time. The complaints range from bitching about paperwork to slanderous attacks on the characters of other colleagues. It can be a bit shocking to the first timer how much bitching and whining goes on in tearooms and difficult to know how to respond.<\/p>\n It\u2019s tempting to see this kind of \u2018troubles talk\u2019 as a sign of low morale or a sick research culture, but the research on troubles talk tells a more interesting, nuanced story of human bonding in action. Sharing troubles is a way of demonstrating trust and envelops us in a warm glow of shared experience. There are ways to leverage troubles talk for these benefits, rather than descend in a spiral of negativity and gossip.\u00a0In her seminal paper on the topic of troubles talk<\/a><\/a>,\u00a0<\/a>Gail Jefferson catalogued three standard reactions to troubles talk: 1) diagnose the trouble and 2) offer advice and 3) share a similar trouble. The safest of these strategies, in our opinion, is 3) share a similar trouble. Always trying to \u2018fix\u2019 people\u2019s troubles is annoying when what they really want is to be heard.<\/p>\n Or just change the subject!<\/p>\n Notes on Remote mode<\/strong><\/p>\n There is no doubt that the best virtual replacement of the casual academic tea room encounter is social media. Sure, social media can be a toxic slew of algorithmically poisoned content and screaming trolls, but it can also be a place to create your own tearoom vibe.<\/p>\n The conversational \u2018rules\u2019 that work in social media are surprisingly similar to the ones we have offered above. Listen more than you talk and make sure you reflect the content of other people\u2019s talk in your response. The key difference between the two modes is the way you start conversations. There is no space here to do justice to the huge topic of interacting on social media, so here are a few tips:<\/p>\n
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