View the full show notes, including a summary of practical tips on the Amplifying Research website: https://www.amplifyingresearch.com/podcast/37-phillip-dawson

Imagine having an exceptional talk in your back pocket that you can confidently deliver anywhere, anytime... A talk that consistently wows audiences and builds your reputation as a go-to expert in your field... A talk that might even turn into a book one day. Prof Phillip Dawson shares how developing repeatable talks can transform speaking from a last-minute scramble into a sustainable career-building practice.

Phillip is the co-director of the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning at Deakin University, and he's given talks at nearly every Australian university, as well as countless institutions worldwide. What makes his approach unique is that he's developed a sustainable speaking strategy built around just 1-2 exceptional presentations that he continuously refines and reuses—a stark contrast to the academic norm of creating unique talks for every opportunity.

"If you book me to give a talk, you're going to get something good. And I just don't know if I have it in me to keep on creating brand new good things," Phillip explains. "The badge of honour is quality."

This approach evolved organically from Phillip's research practice. While working on a big project, his team developed a slide deck that kept getting requested at different venues. "Eventually it became part of my strategy on big projects to say to the team, Hey let's collaborate on making one really good slide deck for this thing," Phillip explains.

He now maintains two signature talks — one on assessment security and AI, another on feedback literacy — each refined through dozens of presentations and evolved into career-defining assets.

Whether you're struggling with speaking preparation burnout or looking to transform your occasional talks into career-defining presentations, this episode offers a practical roadmap for developing sustainable speaking practices that build your reputation while saving your sanity.

• The strategic process of developing your signature talk topics

• How to iterate and refine presentations through low-stakes testing

• Balancing customisation with consistency across different audiences

• Structuring talks for maximum impact and audience engagement

• Handling difficult Q&A sessions and challenging audiences

• Negotiating speaking opportunities and setting boundaries

• The unexpected career benefits of repeatable excellence

• https://philldawson.com

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/philldawson

• https://experts.deakin.edu.au/14967-phillip-dawson

View the full show notes, including a summary of practical tips on the Amplifying Research website: https://www.amplifyingresearch.com/podcast/36-sarah-morton

How can we move beyond hoping for impact to systematically creating it? What tools can we use to plan for the impact we want to see in the world, evaluate whether it's happening, and tell compelling stories about the change we're contributing to? Dr Sarah Morton takes us through the Matter of Focus framework and software designed to do just that.

(We’re releasing this ep a little early, between our usual monthly drops, to coincide with the ARMA UK conference. If you’re in Edinburgh, drop by the conference to say hi to Sarah and give OutNav a try in person! We’ll be back to our regular release schedule on July 1st with a new episode featuring returning fan-favourite guest Prof Phillip Dawson — all about his approach to crafting killer academic talks.)

Sarah spent 16 years working in knowledge exchange at the University of Edinburgh before co-founding Matter of Focus. Her team's approach to impact planning and evaluation stands out for its focus on using plain language and breaking things down in ways that are really easy to understand, and they’ve developed the software tool OutNav to help make all this practical..

"I think where the approach works best is if it becomes really part of the way you work. We've got to have more of a feedback mindset because people are doing great things, but they're often not reflecting on them and people are making huge assumptions about engagement, for example, that they're engaging the people who are most important to the change that they see, and quite often they're not." -- Dr Sarah Morton

Sarah walks us through Matter of Focus' four-step process: setting out your theory of change using plain language headings, auditing what evidence you already have, identifying gaps and collecting meaningful data, and building your impact narrative over time. We explore how this cyclical approach transforms impact work from bureaucratic afterthought to strategic advantage.

• Why contribution analysis beats attribution thinking for complex change

• The four-step Matter of Focus process for impact planning and evaluation

• How to map pathways to impact using plain language frameworks

• Practical data collection methods that busy researchers actually use

• Moving from "broadcast mode" to strategic stakeholder engagement

• Embedding impact thinking into daily research practice

• How institutions can better support systematic impact work

• Website: Matter of Focus

• LinkedIn: Dr Sarah Morton

Resources discussed:

• Software: OutNav

• Article: The Matter of Focus framework

• Article: An overview of the Matter of Focus approach

• Article: 3 feedback tools to help you track your outcomes and impact

• Article: How to bring different voices into your evaluation

• Article: 4 simple steps to start evidencing your research impact

• Case Study: Using OutNav to assess the impact of the Global Kids Online research initiative

• Book: How Do You Know If You Are Making a Difference? A Practical Handbook for Public Service Organisations

View the full show notes, including a summary of practical tips on the Amplifying Research website: https://www.amplifyingresearch.com/podcast/35-john-c-besley

Passionate about sharing your research and want to ensure your comms efforts deliver meaningful results? Professor John C. Besley shares insights from his book Strategic Science Communication, and the SCREE framework, to help you move beyond hoping for impact to designing for it. In this conversation, he reveals why many research communication efforts fall short – not because researchers aren't trying, but because they haven't been asked the fundamental question: what specific behaviour do you want to change? John and I discuss how to identify clear goals, understand the beliefs that drive behaviours, and align your communication activities accordingly. Whether you’re the director of research org, working in comms/operations, or an individual researcher, John shares practical tips that can help you start improving the outcomes of your comms and engagement today.

John is a Professor at Michigan State University's College of Communication, Arts, and Sciences, where he's spent more than 20 years researching public views about science and scientists' views about the public. His mission is to help science communicators be more effective by encouraging evidence-based and strategic communication choices.

"Often the scientists I'm talking about, if they have research that maybe they think somebody could use, they want people to use it. They want people to consider that science when making decisions. And if you want that to happen, you can just hope that it happens. Just hope for it. Or you can start making the choices that increase the likelihood that people will consider that research." — John C. Besley

The SCRREE framework emerged from John and his colleagues' recognition that while many researchers are committed to communication, few have ever been asked what they hope to achieve from their efforts. SCRREE stands for Strategic, Cumulative, Reflexive, Reciprocal, Equitable, and Evidence-based — principles that transform ad-hoc outreach into sustained impact. Through their consulting work with research organisations, they've developed a practical process that helps teams move from vague aspirations like "increasing awe and wonder" to specific behavioural goals like "getting policymakers to consider evidence in environmental decisions."

• Why strategic communication matters for researchers in today's funding and impact landscape

• How to identify “audience-specific behavioural goals” that actually matter for your research

• The practical process of asset mapping: aligning your existing activities with your goals

• Why "engagement" really means giving people time to stop, think, and form beliefs

• Common mistakes like focusing only on risks while ignoring benefits, norms, and efficacy

• Building trust through demonstrating expertise, caring, integrity, shared values, and openness

• The importance of cumulative thinking: why one-off activities rarely create lasting change

• Practical tips for researchers at any level to start being more strategic today

• How organisations can better support strategic communication through hiring and infrastructure

• Website — strategicsciencecommunication.com

• Resources — http://strategicsciencecommunication.com/resources

• LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/john-besley