Partnering with journalists to disseminate your science

Freelance journalist, Meredith Lindemon, reached out to me for my first Virginia Living feature about the Blue Zones—places where the highest proportion of people 100+ years of age live—the article is taking off and bringing new opportunities with numerous organizations. I thought you might want to hear some tips for this dissemination option, too.

• Know yourself: Are you funny? Be funny! If you’re not funny, don’t be.... But definitely don’t talk like you’re giving a lecture
• Know who you’re talking to: What you’re doing is a dinner party conversation with their whole audience, but talk directly to the journalist
• Answer the question: Avoid jargon, skip the sound bite, don’t think “how can I give a great quote”
• Do your homework: What do they write? How do they address subject matter?
• Important conversion rate ~20-30% do what they read!
• Speak conversationally and the quote will emerge
• How do you know yourself?
• Grow where you’re planted- know your purpose- you can do this wherever you end up because you have it within you already
• Financial stability: Need to be able to do the work, but you also need to be able to be a human being
• Imagine your box of existence: Horizontal line = baseline (things need to be above this) and another horizontal line on top = limits (nothing above this) Boundaries within which you can exist: "I have to find another solution to this"
• How do you explore your baseline needs? Many of us are experiencing this through breakdowns
• Seek workshops, have fun, share your passions!

More at:  https://meredithlindemon.com/