Category: Salesmanship
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Interview with Image Consultant Kasey Smith: Part 1
An image consultant for scientists? I only recently got into the habit of tying my shoes and combing my hair in the morning. But some scientists clearly do know how to look sharp—especially when they are giving talks, running meetings, and so on. And from a marketing perspective, the way you look becomes part of…
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The Top Six Science Marketing Hits of 2012
(This article was originally published in Nature.) Scientists, I imagine you’re cuddled up with your loved ones, recounting your favorite moments of the year. To amplify your joy, let me share with you this list of my six top science marketing successes of 2012, compiled with help from the Marketing for Scientists Facebook group. It…
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It Sounds Almost Like Stereo: Elizabeth Bass on Improvisational Acting with Scientists
(This article was originally published in Nature.) Elizabeth Bass’s job title doesn’t sound odd; she is the director of the Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University. But what she does may strike you as challenging to say the least. Founded in 2009 at the urging of Alan Alda, the Center for Communicating Science…
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Bill Nye’s “Don’t Teach Creationism…” Video Dissected by Business Communication Expert
(This article was first published in Scientific American) Have you seen the new video by Bill Nye called “Creationism is not appropriate for children”? The video simply shows Nye standing in front of a white background and speaking, for two minutes, thirty seconds. Yet almost three million people watched it on YouTube, and many discussed…
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Marketing for Scientists: The Book
In 1995, the Endangered Species Act was in deep political trouble. The House of Representatives was considering a bill that would cut sixteeen million dollars from the endangered species activities of the Fish and Wildlife Service and completely abolish the National Biological Service. The speaker of the house, Newt Gingrich, was saying that it made…
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Salesmanship Lessons for Scientists from Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple Computers who died this week, had a reputation as a passionate business leader and a modern folk hero. In 1999 one of Jobs’s friends said, “He is single-minded, almost manic, in his pursuit of excellence.” That’s certainly a character trait we scientists can admire. Let’s take a look at another…
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Interview with Nobel Laureate John Mather
Scientists, John C. Mather won the Nobel prize in physics in 2006 for his work on the COBE satellite measuring the black-body radiation for the cosmic microwave background with startling precision. Time Magazine listed Mather as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2007. As a senior astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard…