Last month, as part of the Trusted Scientists Project, I challenged you to craft an introduction to use in your local group or event. This month, your task is simple: practice listening & keeping an ear out for how science comes up in your community.
We all learn the basics of how to write something persuasive, or give a lecture or make small talk, but rarely are we trained on how to listen. It wasn't until I was an undergraduate at Cornell and was training to be a peer counselor that I came to realize that listening is a skill like any other and can be developed with practice. So this month, your challenge is to listen in and take the pulse on what topics matter locally.
While taking on this challenge, if you find a conversation where you can shift the narrative I encourage you to go for it! I've found the LARA (Listen, Affirm, Respond, Add) method very useful when I'm striking up a conversation about science with community members.
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Camille Ledoux PhD
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