Public Engagement

What is public engagement?

“Public engagement describes the myriad of ways in which the activity and benefits of higher education and research can be shared with the public. Engagement is by definition a two-way process, involving interaction and listening, with the goal of generating mutual benefit.”

National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement

How effectively are you engaging with the public?

We support you to develop engaging activities which communicate complexity effectively, capture attention, maintain interest and leave a lasting message We understand the barriers which may prevent successful engagement such as: nerves, discomfort in performance, complexity of ideas, differing knowledge levels, negative or incorrect perceptions and opinions etc and can help you overcome these to engage successfully.

Would you like to share your research more widely?

Eloquential often teams up with the University of Cambridge public engagement team to ensure that you benefit from all the relevant advice and experience. We also run the Rising Stars programme together and have been running this every year since we set it up in 2006. Rising Stars is open to postgraduates, post-docs and early career academics at the University of Cambridge. The programme consists of six half-day sessions which take participants through the steps involved in planning, organising and delivering an interactive public engagement activity, and includes participation in a Festival to practice skills learned with a real public audience.

Apply here for your place on the next programme https://www.cam.ac.uk/public-engagement/rising-stars-public-engagement-training Or contact us to discuss setting up a Rising Stars programme in your organisation.

good public engagement comes from coaching communication skills

Eloquential has been coaching public engagement skills since 2006

We can guide you through the key stages of public engagement including how to create, plan, market, organise, deliver and evaluate an activity as well as exploring the benefits of public engagement for the researchers themselves in terms of developing skills, raising profile and enhancing research. We provide workshops for academic researchers at different stages of their career and with different levels of experience in communicating to public audiences. We also provide individual coaching and evidence based development.

Learn more about us and our services.

How can we help you?

All our work is tailored towards your needs.

Contact us to discuss how we might support your public engagement.

Thank you both very much for delivering a superb workshop this morning. I am sure that the participants benefited enormously from your experience, knowledge and enthusiasm.

Dr. Sam Byers, Researcher Developer (Life Sciences) University of Cambridge

Sarah’s session on effective communication was lively and engaging. She certainly practices what she preaches! Our group of University of Cambridge early career researchers learnt and practised techniques that will serve them well in their future career development. They had the opportunity to put their new skills into practice in the form of 2-minute pitches in front of an audience of industry professionals at a subsequent careers event. They showed a noticeable improvement in clearly communicating the key messages of their research.

Jacqueline Garnet, Coordinator, Cambridge Global Food Security

Brilliantly rounded workshop. Talks, case studies and exercises! And so many colours of post it notes! I sang the praises of the Rising Stars scheme as by far the most enjoyable and engaging thing I’ve done in terms of group work/training opportunities. Long may it continue 🙂 Thank you so much for all your help and encouragement on the course – the Rising Stars course has been the single most positive step I have taken forward.

Rising Stars Participants

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