Training to improve science communications

Workshops to support teams and conferences

Our communications, presentation and media training is for all science professionals including those at the early to mid phase of their career, all the way to research leaders.

We work with a large number of organisations across Australia including universities, government, non-profits and the private sector. We specialise in training at conferences, offsites and to support team development.

Our training will help you to simplify and amplify your research - improving your ability to generate new funding, attract major donors, and develop new partnerships.

Our workshops are highly interactive, and we also offer training that is lecture-format.

These workshops and lectures can be off-the-shelf or bespoke for your exact requirements. Workshops range from 60-minute sessions to multi-day activities.

We also offer 1:1 training for university students, professionals, managers and more.

Contact us now for more information or to book in a quick discovery call.

Courses and training for scientists & academics

  • Storytelling techniques to win over audiences

  • Public speaking with impact

  • Managing nerves and reducing impostor syndrome

  • Media interview training and pitching your stories to the media

  • Generating support from funding bodies and corporate clients

  • Communicating to public audiences

  • Adding humour to your presentations and lectures

Improving science communications & media engagement

  • Storytelling techniques: we will help you to find the story in your research that will excite funding bodies, generate media coverage and help you to advance in your career. Improving your storytelling ability will help you to be a more confident public speaker, more effective lecturer and help you to make a strong impression when working with peers, government and industry.

  • Public speaking with impact: improving both what you say and how you say it will improve you ability to win over others and generate support for your research and ideas. We can help you to deliver presentations that are highly effective and well structured. We will also help you to improve your body language, which will help your audience to be more engaged when you are discussing your findings with them.

  • Managing nerves and reducing impostor syndrome: we have simple and easy-to-implement techniques that will help you to overcome nerves when you are on stage, in meetings, pitching your research, or asking for funding. We will help you to reduce the negative impacts of impostor syndrome, which will enable you to be more confident when you are communicating with others.

  • Media interview training and pitching your stories to the media: our simple methodologies for pitching stories to the media will help you to gain more traction and interest in your findings. Our team will help you practice for interviews, develop key messages, and prepare for tricky questions. You will learn techniques that will help you overcome questions from journalists that would normally throw you off, and help you to ensure your research is reported accurately.

  • Generating support from funding bodies and corporate clients: we are experts in helping scientists ‘shine’ and will help you to weave a compelling narrative and to position your research as solving pinch points for funding bodies and corporate clients. This will help you to win over key stakeholders, improving your grant success rate, ability to generate new partnerships - such as with major donors or industry groups - and be top of mind when new opportunities arise.

  • Communicating to public audiences: improving your ability to communicate with varied audiences will help you to be more time-efficient and confident when speaking to a wide array of stakeholders. We will help you to learn simple techniques that will enable you to convert complex presentations into easily-digestible stories for public consumption. Our expertise is both within and outside of scientific circles, and we are highly skilled in modifying information so that it can be presented to new audiences without needing to dumb content down or reduce accuracy.

  • Adding humour to your presentations and lectures: we run Australia’s only national and federally-funded Science Comedy Program. We will help you to learn techniques that can help you to engage your audience straight away and to leave a memorable impression. Humour can help you to cut through and stand apart from other scientists or academics. It is a game changer that will help you in discussions with funding bodies and major donors.

1:1 training

Our 1:1 training can help you to quickly improve your communications ability.

We are specialised in helping scientists and academics prepare for conferences, media interviews and discussions with potential funders - such as government agencies or major donors.

We can provide one-off sessions, or you can book in for our bespoke 5-workshop course, during which we will develop individualised training for you to cover a range of elements including:

  • Your personal story and narrative

  • Developing a compelling story about your research findings, including a call to action (such as requesting additional funding or a new partnership)

  • Enhancing your body language, vocal range, pacing, and facial expressions

  • Improving your ability to think quickly on your feet and respond to questions

Director - David Crisante

The Director of Future Science Talks is David Crisante, who has been working in communications for over 20 years. He runs public speaking and science communication courses. Connect with him on LinkedIn here.

David’s experience includes:

Head of media, communications and marketing in science, health and environmental organisations including Neuroscience Research Australia, WWF-Australia, the Rural Doctors Network and icare.

Political speechwriting and ministerial media officer (Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Trade Minister Andrew Robb, Minister for International Development & the Pacific Concetta Fierravanti-Wells).

Crisis communications for the Australian Government (DFAT), including diplomatic deployments throughout the Pacific and managing Australia’s communications for the search of MH370.

Journalist and foreign correspondent (SBS, ABC, Tokyo - multiple agencies).

Combining science & the arts

Throughout his career, David has been active in the arts - almost as if it was a double life. He taught English as a second language to Japanese and Italian school children while a foreign correspondent, co-ran a latin dance studio while working in Parliament, and for the past five years has been producing comedy shows.

Since 2022, David has combined the storytelling techniques of the arts with his experience in strategic communications to give scientists additional public speaking tools and skills. Most importantly, his workshops combine the serious and fun to create a learning environment that is effective and engaging.

David has worked in every aspect of communications - he has been a spokesperson, MC, media adviser, videographer, photographer, podcaster, speechwriter, social media manager and more. His deep experience enables him to generate the best results for you with the least amount of investment.

He draws from his experience winning over crowds of hundreds of people, managing politicians, working with Australia’s most reputable scientists, being deployed with medics following international disasters and even surviving a Somali pirate attack.

Our other specialisations

  • We will guide you through our introductory and advanced public speaking skills, including writing an effective presentation, mastering body language, winning over a crowd, and responding to challenging questions.

  • Do you have an important presentation coming up? We can help you to improve it’s effectiveness, strengthen your stage presence, and reduce nerves.

  • Are you writing a speech or presentation and you aren’t sure what to say? We can help you to be more concise, effective and impactful.

  • Interested in how you can quickly win over a crowd? We can work with you to strengthen your ability to generate a laugh and build rapport with crowds.

  • Do you ever feel like you freeze or aren’t quite sure what to say? We will work with you to give you techniques that will help you to think more quickly and be more confident.

  • Do you ever find yourself responding to a difficult question - but you don’t quite know what to say? Do you ever find yourself thrown off from what you were about to say because of an unexpected question? We can work with you to give you practical and simple techniques that will help you respond succinctly and stay on track.

  • Would you like to improve your ability to connect with others in the workplaces, in conferences and at networking events? Our step-by-step approach will help you to make new connections and propel your career.

  • Do you dread giving someone an elevator pitch about who you are or what you do? We can work with you to develop an elevator pitch that is simple and effective.