A lot of advice about general research communication strategies is backwards. We’re told to “make research accessible to everyone” and “communicate after you publish.” But the researchers I see having real impact? They’re doing something completely different. They’re being strategic about who they’re talking to and when they start the conversation.
If you’re a researcher feeling like your communication efforts aren’t as effective or strategic as they could be, you’re probably operating under one (or all) of these misconceptions. The good news is tcomhese research communication strategies are all fixable.
Mistake #1: Waiting Until Research Is “Done” to Start Communicating
Many researchers treat communication as the final step—something that happens after the paper is published, the conference presentation is over, or the project is complete. This approach severely limits your strategic options and engagement potential.
When you wait until the end, you’re essentially starting from zero every time you want to share your work.
Related Post: Finding Your Approach to Sharing Research Beyond Academia
The Reality
The most effective research communicators integrate sharing throughout their entire research process, building interest, momentum, and engagement along the way. Think of it like compound interest—each communication touchpoint builds on the previous ones, creating exponential rather than linear growth in your research’s visibility. This does not mean sharing every single step or all your insider information!
When you communicate throughout your research process, you’re building relationships, establishing your expertise in the field, and creating anticipation for your findings. This approach also gives you valuable feedback that may improve your research as it develops.
The Fix
Start communicating early and strategically by identifying key moments in your research journey:
- Planning phase: Share tidbits of your research, methodology choices, and why this work matters in your field
- Data collection phase: Discuss challenges you’re encountering, interesting patterns emerging, or methodological insights
- Analysis phase: Share preliminary findings, unexpected discoveries, or how your thinking is evolving
- Completion phase: Your final results land with an audience that’s already invested in your journey
This approach creates sustained engagement with your work and gives you multiple touchpoints to connect with interested audiences. Plus, you’ll have a ready-made communication strategy and engaged audience by the time your research is complete.
Mistake #2: Thinking Research Communication Is About “The General Public”
I shudder when I hear researchers say they want to “share their work with the general public.” Here’s the problem: the general public doesn’t exist as a meaningful audience for research communication.
When you aim for everyone, you connect with no one.
The Reality
Your research has specific audiences who engage with information differently—industry practitioners, policymakers, students, niche communities, etc. Each group has different interests, knowledge levels, preferred communication channels, and decision-making processes. Even a research communication output like an op-ed should have a specific audience in mind.
The “general public” approach dilutes your message and wastes your energy. Instead of creating one mediocre piece of communication that sort of works for everyone, you could create targeted communication that can really resonate with specific groups who are genuinely interested in your topic.
Successful research communicators understand that specificity creates connection. When someone feels like you’re speaking directly to their world, their challenges, and their interests, they pay attention.
Related Post: Want Better Research Impact? Stop Thinking About “The General Public”
The Fix
Replace “general public” with specific audience segments by conducting a strategic audience analysis:
- Identify professional groups and communities: Which practitioners, professionals, or industries work in areas related to your research?
- Map decision-makers: Who makes policies, funding decisions, or strategic choices that your research could inform?
- Find learning communities: What groups of students, early-career professionals, or continuing education participants would find your work relevant?
- Locate engaged communities: Which organizations, forums, or networks already discuss topics related to your research?
For example, instead of “sharing education research with the public,” target “elementary school administrators developing reading curricula,” “education policy researchers focusing on literacy outcomes,” or “parent advocacy groups working on educational equity.”
Each audience gets messaging tailored to their priorities, vocabulary, and preferred formats.
Mistake #3: Using the Same Message for Every Audience
This mistake connects with Mistake #2: a lack of specifics. Many researchers develop one explanation of their work and use it everywhere—in academic presentations, media interviews, social media posts, and conversations with industry partners.
Related Post: How to Explain Your Research: From Blank Stares to “That’s Amazing!”
But your research means different things to different people.
The Reality
Effective research communication strategies include repackaging your findings for each audience while maintaining accuracy and integrity. This isn’t about “dumbing down” your work—it’s about strategic emphasis and relevant framing.
It’s this simple: an academic colleague wants to understand how your work contributes to theoretical frameworks and what methodological innovations you’ve introduced. A practitioner wants to know what they can implement tomorrow. A policymaker needs to understand potential implications and recommendations they can act on.
The same research findings can simultaneously advance academic knowledge, improve professional practice, and inform policy decisions—but only if you communicate the relevant aspects to each audience in ways that resonate with their priorities and constraints.
The Fix
Research communication strategies include audience-specific messaging frameworks that emphasize what matters most to each group while maintaining your research’s integrity for:
- Academics: Focus on methodology, theoretical contributions, implications for future research, and how your work fits into or challenges existing scholarship
- Practitioners: Emphasize actionable insights, real-world applications, implementation strategies, and practical constraints they should consider
- Policymakers: Highlight evidence-based recommendations, potential policy implications, cost-benefit considerations, and scalability factors
- Students: Connect findings to broader concepts, career applications, and learning objectives relevant to their educational journey
- Media: Lead with newsworthiness, human impact, broader significance, and clear, jargon-free explanations
The core research remains the same, but your emphasis, language, examples, and format should shift strategically based on who you’re talking to and what they care about most.
Moving Beyond These Common Research Communication Mistakes
These mistakes are incredibly common because they seem logical on the surface. Of course you want to reach lots of people. Of course you should wait until your research is polished. And of course one clear explanation should work for everyone.
But research communication strategies are more than that.
When you get specific about your audiences, integrate communication throughout your research process, and tailor your messaging appropriately, something powerful happens. Your research starts connecting with people who can actually engage with it, discuss it, and build upon it in meaningful ways.
That’s when research communication moves from being a nice-to-have addition to being a driver of sustained engagement and impact.
What’s Next?
If you recognize yourself in any of these mistakes, don’t worry—you’re in good company. The key is choosing one area to focus on first.
Schedule a free strategy session to discuss how to better position yourself by developing sound research communication strategies.
