Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua

Landcare-Research -Manaaki Whenua

How to communicate results

Tui on flax. Image - John Hunt

  1. Main message.

    Review your results in the context of your monitoring goal to identify the main message(s) that you want or need to communicate.

  2. Target audience.

    Know who (the people and organisations) you want to reach. This will inform where and how you publish your results.

  3. Effective media.

    Determine which media will be most effective for reaching your target audience:

      1. Face to face (meetings, conferences)
      2. Audio-visual (TV, radio, video-clips)
      3. Written (websites, emails, leaflets, posters, newsletters, magazines or newspapers) 
      4. Social media (Facebook, Twitter and others as appropriate).

      1. Engaging design.

        Think carefully about how to present your results in a way that will engage your audience. Options to consider include:

        1. Prepare a sound-bite or detailed report.
        2. Summarise using graphs, tables or maps.
        3. Illustrate using photos, illustrations, cartoons or infographics.

      2. Useful and understood.

        Review the material to make sure it is useful for your audience.

        1. Timely. To keep them engaged.
        2. Accurate. To secure their trust.
        3. Clear and concise. To ensure they understand it.