Kill a detail
You have five minutes, a general audience, and everything you know about your research. What do you cut?
Kill a Detail is an interactive exercise that walks you through one of the hardest skills in science communication: deciding what's worth saying out loud. You'll brain-dump every idea you think your audience needs, score each one by how much it actually serves their understanding, and then — guided by the numbers — let some of it go.
It's not about dumbing things down. It's about finding out which details you're holding onto for yourself.
Try it below. It takes about 10 minutes.
Kill a Detail is an interactive exercise that walks you through one of the hardest skills in science communication: deciding what's worth saying out loud. You'll brain-dump every idea you think your audience needs, score each one by how much it actually serves their understanding, and then — guided by the numbers — let some of it go.
It's not about dumbing things down. It's about finding out which details you're holding onto for yourself.
Try it below. It takes about 10 minutes.
Creative Science Alliance
Kill a Detail
You have five minutes, a general audience, and everything you know about your research. What do you cut? This exercise walks you through one of the hardest skills in science communication: deciding what's worth saying out loud.
1
Setup
2
Brain dump
3
Score
4
Results
What are you communicating?
Set the scene. The more specific you are, the more useful this exercise will be.
Your topic or research area
Your audience
Your format and time limit
What do you want them to walk away thinking or feeling?
Brain dump — get it all out
List every piece of information you think your audience might need to know. Don't filter yet — just get it all out. Aim for at least 6 ideas. You can type a phrase, a concept, a fact, a finding, a definition, or a story.
0 ideas added
Score each idea
For each idea, answer two questions. Be honest — the discomfort is the point.
Idea 1 of 1
