UCSB's Environmental Media Initiative

Environmental media has really taken off as a "hot topic" in the last few years and environmental media centers are springing up at campuses across the country. As an institution uniquely suited to this interdisciplinary field--with a tradition of excellence in both environmental science and media/communications studies--UCSB has instituted an Environmental Media Initiative (EMI).

The EMI is part of UCSB's Carsey-Wolf Center for Film, Television and New Media and brings together environmental scientists with film, media and communications scholars to collaborate on teaching, research and public programming. Some of their programs include:

• Blue Horizons: a 9-week academic summer program focused on using media to communicate vital stories of the global ocean.
• Green Screen: an environmental media production program that brings together students in the arts, humanities, social sciences and sciences to engage environmental issues in Santa Barbara through artistic production.
• Digital Ocean: a virtual commons that connects people and provides them with resources to advance ocean sustainability and protect earth's ocean ecosystems.

Dr. Ron Rice recently provided the Bren community with an overview of the EMI program and made the following suggestions for ways that Bren students can engage with the EMI:

• Take environmental media courses or apply to Blue Horizons
• Investigate interdisciplinary funding opportunities through the EMI for graduate students: either full funding or quarter-time hourly work on EMI projects (talk to Bren Ph.D. student Julie Robinson)
• Find a way to do a dual project with Bren/EMI as part of your classes or internships or on your own
• For Bren MESM students, think about different ways to distribute your group project results, in addition to your paper report. Collaborate with EMI colleagues on short films, online media or other ideas.
• Contingent upon funding, EMI hopes to complete a biannual survey on environmental knowledge and attitudes. This project could be a good opportunity for Bren students to get involved.

For more information, visit the EMI website or talk to Bren folks who are involved with EMI, like Steve Gaines, John Melack, or Ph.D. student Julie Robinson.

--Audrey Tresham

Fearless Punctuation Tip - Footnoting Without Fear

Upon a request from Bren faculty regarding proper punctuation when using footnotes, the Communications Center staff presents the second tip in our Fearless Punctuation series: Footnoting Without Fear!

Footnotes are a great tool for citing references when you want to avoid fragmenting your text with parenthetical citations. Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page in which a source was referenced, as opposed to endnotes, which appear at the end of the document.

Since formatting footnotes is challenging on a blog, please click here to download the full Footnoting Without Fear tip.

--Sara Solis

Fearless Punctuation Tip - Parentheses, Slashes and Dashes.

Are you in a writing rut? It is easiest to write using the methods we are already familiar with, but this may limit our creativity. Getting comfortable with punctuation can add variety to your writing. We have put together a short “Fearless Punctuation” series so that you can dust the cobwebs off of that grade school English knowledge, and hopefully to help you start having fun using punctuation.

Parentheses, and Dashes and Slashes. Oh My!

These three types of punctuation are very useful for including supplementary information or creating emphasis in your writing. Each mark is appropriate to specific scenarios. Keep in mind that they should be used sparingly, as they may create a choppy effect.

1) Parentheses are used to:

• insert information including: supplemental material, changes in subject or afterthoughts
• order items in a list or series

Parentheses are especially useful in draft revisions, allowing you to add in new information as you read. Generally, parenthesis should be avoided in finished work. In subsequent edits, the information they contain can usually be integrated in your piece without the use of parentheses.

Example 1
Proper use of parentheses:
The permit stipulates that: (1) work may only take place during daylight hours; (2) no work may take place within 500 feet of active raptor or songbird nests; (3) daily clearance survey must be conducted by a qualified biologist prior to any ground disturbing activities; (4) a monitoring biologist must be present during all work activities to ensure compliance with the permit and (5) monthly monitoring reports will be submitted to the Department of Fish and Game for review.
--This example shows proper use of parentheses in a list. The parentheses help the reader to note each of the important requirements in the series.

Example 2
Incorrect use of parentheses:
Each year almost two million people (of which 90% are children under 5 years of age) die due to waterborne diseases.
Correction:
Each year almost two million people die due to waterborne diseases; 90 percent of those affected are children under five years of age.
--In this example, information that may be very important for the reader is presented as an afterthought in parentheses. The sentence is also informal. The correction, using a semicolon, is more professional and gives more importance to the statistic. Also note that in professional writing, numerals from one to nine should be fully written out, as well as “percent,” rather than “%.”

2) Dashes are used to:

• give emphasis to supplementary information
• introduce a list, to show a paraphrase, or
  
• indicate a shift in the tone or topic of your writing

Example 1
Incorrect use of dashes:
There are numerous examples of firms—with superior corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs—that have done well, as well as firms—with poor CSR reputations—that have performed poorly. However, for most firms, most of the time, financial performance is unrelated to corporate social responsibility.
Correction:
There are numerous examples of firms with superior corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that have done well—as well as firms with poor CSR reputations that have performed poorly. However, for most firms—most of the time—financial performance is unrelated to corporate social responsibility.
--Dashes in this example do not emphasize the most important information to further understanding. In the correction, dashes draw attention to supplementary information that supports the argument.

Example 2
Incorrect use of dashes:
There are numerous measurements: satellite data, radiosondes, borehole analysis, glacial melt observations, sea ice melt, sea level rise and permafrost melt—that indicate the general trend and magnitude of climate change.
Correction:
There are numerous measurements—satellite data, radiosondes, borehole analysis, glacial melt observations, sea ice melt, sea level rise and permafrost melt—that indicate the general trend and magnitude of climate change on Earth.
--In this example, a dash is used incorrectly after a colon. To use a dash to offset items in a list, bookend the list by beginning and ending with dashes, as shown in the corrected version.

3) Slashes are most often used to distinguish paired terms such as “he/she”. They are usually read as “or” or “and.” They are also used in abbreviations (i.e., w/, w/out, and/or). Slashes are useful for notes and brainstorming, but are generally not appropriate in academic or professional writing.

Example 1
Incorrect use of slashes:
The budget proposal would increase fees for inactive oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters to $4/acre.
Correction:
The budget proposal would increase fees for inactive oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters to four dollars per acre.
--The use of slashes and other shorthand in this example is informal. In the more professional correction the unnecessary slash is replaced with “per,” and “four dollars” is written out rather than “$4.”

Example 2
Incorrect use of slashes:
The environmentalists/scientists assert that preserving coastal sage scrub and/or chaparral habitats in the vicinity is crucial to the survival of local coastal California gnatcatcher populations.
Correction:
Scientists and environmentalists assert that preserving coastal sage scrub and chaparral habitats in the vicinity is crucial to the survival of the local coastal California gnatcatcher populations.
--In this example, the slash is unnecessary. The paired terms can be separated, as shown in the correction.

References:
Hacker, D. (1999). A Writer’s Reference, 4th Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

--Danica Schaffer-Smith

Tough Topics, Tough Audiences. Part IV: Meet the Audience Where They Are

As environmental professionals, Bren students and alumni are often tasked with communicating complex environmental problems and solutions to "non-environmental" audiences. These audiences can sometimes be unreceptive or even hostile, and speaking to them can be quite a challenge. On February 26th, the 2010 Doris Duke Fellows hosted a workshop entitled "Tough Topics, Tough Audiences" where public speaking coach Lisa Braithwaite helped Bren students prepare for these difficult situations. The following is an excerpt from her informative presentation. For more on Coach Lisa B., visit her website or blog. You should also check out the excellent resources page she has set up for Bren students.

Meet the Audience Where They Are
If you're doing all the other things we've discussed (knowing your objective and audience, preparing, and engaging your audience) then you're laying the groundwork and will likely have fewer of the "tough audience" situations. But, if you do expect a tough audience, it's important to understand people's motivations for being there and their barriers to learning from you.

Remember that everybody has a lifetime of skills and knowledge to contribute; they're not a blank slate or empty vessel waiting to be filled with your knowledge! Think of your audience as people who have lots of knowledge, experiences and things that they can share and contribute if you're open-minded about it.

Start by checking your assumptions. Before tough presentations, we frequently make assumptions that the audience will disagree with us, but in reality, most of your audiences are supportive. For the most part, people are on your side. Keep that in mind and re-frame mentally. Don't assume they're going to be hostile, think, "They're here to support me; they want to learn from me."

Secondly, try to avoid assumptions you might make during your presentation about how people are acting or responding to you. Don't extrapolate out one person who may look a certain way to the whole audience. And realize that everybody is different: that nasty look someone is giving you may just be his face!

That being said, there are occasionally some people who might make things more difficult for you. What do you think makes these people uncomfortable? Maybe . . .

• They don't understand what you're saying
• You're contradicting something they believe (especially anything related to values or personal issues)
• They have false assumptions about your topic
• They feel judged or blamed about something
• You're asking them to change
• They're afraid that you will make them talk!
• They have a different perspective
• They've been forced to be there
• They don't know what to believe
• They are confused and a confused mind always says no

Thinking about and preparing for these possibilities in advance can help prevent or defuse tough situations. For example, if you're going into a situation where you expect the audience to have a different perspective, try to address it right up front. Use some humor, let them know that even with differing perspectives, what they have to say is important and you do want to hear it. In any tough situation, be human, be upfront, be forthright. Be 100% honest all the time, and don't break the trust with your audience because it is hard to get it back.

Even if you work hard to avoid it, you may sometimes encounter a heckler. Hecklers can be challenging, but the first step in dealing with them is to take what they're saying at face value: don't read into it, don't over-analyze it. Just remember to always be respectful and never assume that it's you personally that someone is bothered by; it's something going on with them. Let that person feel heard because, a lot of times, that's all they want. It's OK to say, "I'm not prepared to talk about that today, but I'd be happy to discuss it. I'll give you my card and maybe we can talk about it later."

In general, however, the less you say to hecklers, the better, because the more you say, the more you're likely to get into something. For more on dealing with hecklers, see the Bren resources page on Coach Lisa B's website. There is a short presentation on dealing with hecklers by fellow speaking coach Olivia Mitchell, as well as a handout.

In conclusion, try to understand where your audience is coming from. Remember, it's not all about you! Put the focus back on your audience: who are they, what do they need? Then you'll be doing them a service, giving them some value. Do the research, think about it and you'll feel less hostile about them. When you get tough questions, remember, "This person just wants some information." Keep that sense of confidence in your message and if you've done all the prep and legwork, you'll be prepared for these kinds of issues.

Most importantly, remember that tough topics + tough audiences = a tough speaker! The more you speak to these tough audiences, the better speaker you will become. Good luck!

--Audrey Tresham

Tough Topics, Tough Audiences. Part III: Engage the Audience

As environmental professionals, Bren students and alumni are often tasked with communicating complex environmental problems and solutions to "non-environmental" audiences. These audiences can sometimes be unreceptive or even hostile, and speakinng to them can be quite a challenge. On February 26th, the 2010 Doris Duke Fellows hosted a workshop entitled "Tough Topics, Tough Audiences" where public speaking coach Lisa Braithwaite helped Bren students prepare for these difficult situations. The following is an excerpt from her informative presentation. For more on Coach Lisa B., visit her website or blog. You should also check out the excellent resources page she has set up for Bren students.

Engage the Audience

It is very important to engage your audience, to keep them interested in what you're saying. One way to do this is to use relevant stories, examples and analogies. A good analogy can really get your message across; it takes a concept that might not be easy for people to understand, and relates it to something that they know in their lives. Think of Simon Cowell's colorful analogies on American Idol: "that sounded like a nightmare I had" or "like a cat jumping off the empire state building!" Sometimes his analogies aren't that helpful because they're NOT relevant to everyone, but they ARE vivid!

Coach Lisa B. talks to Bren students about engaging their audience.

You can also use emotion to connect and use humor to diffuse tense situations. Self-deprecating humor is always good. Making fun of yourself breaks down audience barriers and makes you look human (but don't to it too much or you look insecure). It is NEVER a good ideas to do humor at an audience member's expense.

Research shows that people are different types of learners: auditory, kinesthetic, visual, etc. In an effort to engage all types of learners, try to get your audience moving and/or doing at least once in your presentation. When you ask a question to a room, you often get silence. But if you ask it and then say, "Discuss it among yourselves," then the room is buzzing and when you come back, people are more willing to talk--partly just because that silence barrier has been broken.

This format also provides a safe space where people can talk who aren't comfortable raising their hand in front of the room. Additionally, it takes the focus off you, gives you a break, and gives them a break from you! When breaking people into groups, however, be aware of the room. You don't want to take up too much time with people moving or climbing over aisles, chairs, etc. If moving is too difficult, you can alwasy say, "Talk about it with your neighbor."

On a related note, people do learn in a lot of different ways. Be aware of that and don't pre-judge your audience. Just because someone is playing games on their phone, it doesn't mean they're not listening to you. Perhaps they are a kinesthetic learner and having something to do with their hands might actually help them absorb your information.

For more tips on engaging your audience, check out Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath (listed uner "Recommended Reading" on Lisa's Bren resources page). It's a marketing book about making ideas sticky and memorable, but is very applicable to public speaking.

Check back soon for Tough Topics, Tough Audiences Part IV: Meet the Audience Where They Are.

--Audrey Tresham

Tough Topics, Tough Audiences. Part II: Prepare, prepare, prepare!

As environmental professionals, Bren students and alumni are often tasked with communicating complex environmental problems and solutions to "non-environmental" audiences. These audiences can sometimes be unreceptive or even hostile, and speaking to them can be quite a challenge. On February 26th, the 2010 Doris Duke Fellows hosted a workshop entitled 'Tough Topics, Tough Audiences' where public speaking coach Lisa Braithwaite helped Bren students prepare for these difficult situations. The following is an excerpt from her informative presentation. For more on Coach Lisa B., visit her website or blog. You should also check out the excellent resources page she set up for Bren students.

Prepare, prepare, prepare!
Preparation is the number one thing that people don’t spend enough time on. Start by thinking about how you will you open and close your presentation. Openings and closings are an area that are highly neglected by speakers and are the only part of your presentation that you should memorize. While memorizing your whole presentation word-for-word can make you sound stiff or canned, your opening is important and memorizing it helps make you less nervous and lets you get started.

Openings
About 99% of all speakers begin with “Hi, my name is so and so, and I do this.” Don’t start by talking about yourself, because your audience probably doesn’t care that much—or they’ve already read your bio in a handout or on a website. Try to jump right in with something that is more engaging. You want to get the audience on your side immediately and the way you do that is by coming across as a human being immediately. Make a connection with the people in the room. When you start out being human, using humor or trying to lighten environment, people start connecting with you right away. Potential starter ideas: use a question, quiz, story or shocking statistic.

Closings
How many of you have gotten to the end of a presentation, and then you just didn’t know what to say? So you just say “Oh OK, thanks, that’s it!” or you talk in circles because you don’t know how to end. That’s not a great last impression for your audience! Try to plan a strong closing that emphasizes your main point or your take-home message. Leave your audience with a sense of closure and a good impression!

More specifically, DON’T end with Q&A! The energy in the room dies during questions and you could also end on some random question that had nothing to do with your presentation. You need to be in control of the room, and when you end on Q&A, that is not the case. If possible, take Q&A before your closing. Say something like, “I have about five minutes for Q&A, and then after that, I’m going to wrap up.” At end of the Q&A say, “I’d like to take a few minutes to wrap up or recap.” Using this technique will make your presentation so much cleaner—what sticks in the audience members’ minds is your big idea or call to action; not the last random question.

If you have a strict format for your talk, avoiding the ending Q&A can be difficult, but at least ask the organizer beforehand, “Can I just say a few words after the Q&A to conclude and to wrap everything up that we’ve been talking about?” It’s hard to imagine someone saying no to that.

Determine your main points
Don’t put everything you know into your presentation! Showing everything you did or know on the slides isn’t about the audience—it’s about you and your presentation isn’t about you! The audience doesn’t want or need everything you know. Three to four main points are ideal. That number depends a little on the amount of time you have to present, but for longer presentations, think about how you can flush out you main points more, rather than adding more points. Your audience will only retain so much.

How will you organize your ideas?
There are lots of ways to structure and organize your ideas (chronologically, big picture to small picture) but have a structure of some kind and think of what’s going to work best for your audience.

Practice!
How much time do you typically give to practicing your presentations? How many of you only practice the night before? You put so much time into creating your presentation, when it comes to delivering it, do you really want to wing it? Do you want it to be just OK? Your audience is giving up their time and sometimes their money to come see you; make it worth it for them.

Bren students practice giving mini-presentations to their peers during the workshop.

What to do if you have limited time to prepare
Determine the three critical points you want to make and think about how you can open/close it with a bang. In addition, being prepared in your work—even if not for a specific presentation—will make it easier to do a presentation on short notice: read your journals, your blogs—be up on that stuff. Don’t slack off on the homework part of work. The more you keep up on your professional development, the more you’re prepared to speak.

Remember, the most important thing is to meet the needs of your audience. It’s not about you; it’s about getting your message across to your audience and anyone can do this with proper preparation.

--Audrey Tresham

Tough Topics, Tough Audiences Part I: Know Your Objective & Your Audience

As environmental professionals, Bren students and alumni are often tasked with communicating complex environmental problems and solutions to "non-environmental" audiences. These audiences can sometimes be unreceptive or even hostile, and speaking to them can be quite a challenge. On February 26th, the 2010 Doris Duke Fellows hosted a workshop entitled 'Tough Topics, Tough Audiences' where public speaking coach Lisa Braithwaite helped Bren students prepare for these difficult situations. The following is an excerpt from her informative presentation. For more on Coach Lisa B., visit her website or blog. You should also check out the excellent resources page she set up for Bren students.

Talking about difficult topics takes courage, tact and humor, especially when you go into a situation already knowing there might be antagonism. But it's important to remember that your audience can also be receptive, responsive and grateful--don't forget that! Don't assume with a hostile or difficult audience that there aren't people there whose lives you're going to change.

Even in difficult situations, the presenter is responsible for the audience's understanding and if you, as the speaker, are not able to get your message across, then you need to find a way to improve! What is most important is meeting the needs of your audience. It's not about YOU; it's about getting your message across to your audience and anyone can do this with proper preparation.

Know Your Objective & Your Audience
In order to know the objective of your talk, you have to know your audience. Are they beginners? Do they know absolutely nothing about your topic, or are they experts? Are they contrarian? Knowing the answers to these questions will affect the type of presentation you give.

There are three basic questions you should try to answer about your audience:

1. Why are they there?
2. What are their needs?
3. What do you want them to do as a result of your talk?

There are many ways to find the answers to these questions. If it's a smaller audience or panel, read their backgrounds or CVs. If you're speaking to a group, familiarize yourself with the perspective or mission of the organization. If it's feasible, send out an online questionnaire in advance to find out what the audience wants. Talk to the event organizer to get information about the group. The more you know about your audience, the more you can serve their particular needs. Try to always give your audience something of value and something that is relevant or applicable to their lives.

Think about these issues before you even start creating your presentation: know who you're talking to, why, what they want, and what you want them to do. Then you'll have a real objective, and you can create a presentation for that specific audience.

Check back soon for Tough Topics, Tough Audiences Part II: Prepare, prepare prepare!

--Audrey Tresham

Communications Tip: Preparing a Professional Writing Sample

It’s that time of year at the Bren School, and the search is on for your dream job or internship. Please remember that the Communications Center is here to help you through this process.

Employers recognize strong communication skills as a major asset in their potential employees, regardless of the position. Your writing sample will be an organization’s first impression of your work, so you want to have a polished, appropriate piece ready to submit at a moment’s notice.

We have prepared a few tips to help you select a standout writing sample:

1) Always ask your potential employer for guidelines.

2) Two pages, or 500 words, is usually an acceptable length, if no requirement is provided. You might consider having two writing samples of different lengths available (e.g., a one- to two-page memo, as well as a five- to ten-page essay). Whatever length you choose, make sure to use a complete piece that has a beginning, middle, and conclusion.

3) Regardless of the subject matter, be sure that your piece is well researched and uses intelligent, persuasive arguments.

4) If possible, choose a topic that is relevant to the position. Alternatively, you could match your sample to the type of writing you might be asked to perform on the job. For example, for a policy internship with the EPA it is important to demonstrate the ability to analyze complex data and make strong recommendations. A more traditional scientific report might be appropriate for a role in the research field, whereas a clear, concise synthesis of a body of knowledge would be better-suited to a communications position. Before starting from scratch, review written work from your previous Bren classes to find candidates pieces to be polished. Also, see Career Services for advice on the topic and style of your piece.

5) Proofread your writing and seek outside assistance with editing. The more eyes that have reviewed your piece, the more confident you can be that it is free of errors.

Our Writing Consultants are available for one-on-one appointments. We can help you with organization, style, professionalism of your writing sample. We are also available to assist you with cover letters.

Before making an appointment with us, please be sure to consult Career Services regarding the content of your application materials.

We look forward to working with you!
--Danica Schaffer-Smith