Be a Model Communicator and Sell Your Models to Anyone

Reviewed by E Leinfuss As a Chief Marketing Officer (and long ago a scientist), I have worked with scientists throughout my career to help them recognize the importance of communications, which is both an art and a science. The first part of the challenge is convincing a scientist that there is value in communicating to an audience of nonscientists. After all, “the science speaks for itself.” Once that hurdle has been crossed, the task of teaching them how to craft the message that aligns with the audience and the situation requires learning new skills. For modelers, who are both scientists and technologists, these processes are doubly hard. But without those skills, without the ability to crisply articulate value, great scientific work can go unrecognized. So it was with great anticipation that I read Dr Bonate’s book, Be a Model Communicator and Sell Your Models to Anyone. With this book, we had an inside champion and wellregarded modeler to show others both the value of, and methodology for, combining science and communications. Dr Bonate effectively delivers that message by translating well-established marketing and communications tenets into a call for action. By opening the book with the statement, “I am not just a modeler. I am a salesman—I sell models,” he lays down the gauntlet. By acknowledging the role of trust and credibility as pivotal to getting your audience to accept your work, he delivers a framework for successful communications. And by teaching modelers to prepare their remarks based on the profile of the audience, he provides the roadmap for his fellow modelers. Chapter 5, “Preparation Is Key to Success,” is, in my view, the heart of Dr Bonate’s book. He starts with the concept of understanding your audience—what is the makeup of the group, how large or small, what level of technical or scientific knowledge, any cultural or language issues, any biases for or against your work? What is the audience expecting? Have they been prepped? How long will you be speaking and in what venue? Next, what is your key message? In communications we talk about the 30-second elevator speech—clear and concise. And unless you are talking to a room full of modelers, share only the results of the model. How did it inform the research and what value did that information provide? I would have liked to see a chapter on storytelling, a key technique used in sales, marketing, and leadership circles. Stories (some call them case studies or narratives) help us make sense of complex situations. By breaking down the elements of a situation, starting with the context and backdrop, and moving piece by piece toward a compelling conclusion, your audience will engage more deeply. Storytelling can help translate dry and abstract data (the raw material of modeling) into a compelling picture. It can be done without the dreaded Powerpoint slides with tiny graphs and software output screens. It allows you to dwell on the experience, draw in any emotional component, and punctuate the outcome of the work you have done in more understandable terms. Coincidentally, as I prepared this book review, I read an article in the NY Times called “New Stage of Progress in Science.” The article described the work that Alan Alda (otherwise known as Hawkeye from M*A*S*H) is doing as a visiting professor at Stony Brook University. Teaching an improvisation class to scientists, his objective is to help scientists talk about science to nonscientists. His early work in this area centered on a group of University of California graduate engineering students. He asked the students to describe their work, then put them through 3 hours of improvisational acting exercises and asked them to talk about their work again. Mr Alda said, “They came to life, and I thought, this is going to work.” At Stony Brook, two science graduate programs now require students to take the classes and all medical students receive 10 hours of training. The benefits of biosimulation in bringing new, safe therapies to Certara, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. Correspondence: E Leinfuss (Ellen.Leinfuss@certara.com)