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Introduction
Science has a global footprint, and its relentless quest to answer the pressing questions facing not just science, but
individual communities and the world, is leading to previously untapped connections. These connections bridge
countries, continents, scientific disciplines, and increasingly transdisciplinary frontiers. Once segregated fields of
endeavor have found unity in purpose, coming together to tackle society’s and Earth’s greatest challenges. Today’s
cutting-edge researchers, for example, are delving into nanotechnology to cure disease, quantum physics to create
faster computers, information processing to manipulate massive stores of biological data, and are assuming key
roles in areas as diverse as sustainability, emergency management, and arts education.
Successfully navigating this evolving, inter- and transdisciplinary, global landscape imposes new requirements for
established professionals and young scientists alike to communicate even more skillfully, influentially, and
comprehensibly. Productively sharing ideas, successfully transferring knowledge, establishing fruitful collaborations,
and effectively informing decision making, to name only a few, hinge on one’s ability to concisely and influentially
communicate. And connecting the public, policymakers, and governments with science means reaching out to
effectually report results, signal value and convincingly convey significance.
In the end, it’s not just science, but society writ large, that reaps the rich rewards when scientists possess robust
communication skills. And helping to achieve this crucial goal defines the mission of Science: Becoming the
Messenger.
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About Science: Becoming the Messenger
Commissioned in 2010 by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), and developed in collaboration with NSF and the
scientific community, Ninja Communications’ Science: Becoming the Messenger workshops combine scientificallyinformed, highly-relevant mentoring with experience-based, practical coaching in the discipline and skills of effective,
influential communication. Its proven approach equips participants with the same tested, real-world skills and techniques
that professional communicators use to win support, influence thinking, and alter attitudes. It has received glowing
evaluations at every one of the dozens of workshops conducted to date, and has equipped some 5,000 working
scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, and educators from academic institutions, research centers, professional
organizations, associations, and government agencies—including the senior leadership of NSF—with the skills and selfassurance needed to communicate more confidently, charismatically, influentially, and effectually.
Science: Becoming the Messenger’s flexible, modular design enables the content to be calibrated for a wide range of time
and coaching requirements, and for large or more intimate gatherings of participants. Whatever the case and setting,
though, attendees come away with techniques and skills they can use everyday to plan, create, and implement impactful,
convincing communications. Through this fast-paced, interactive, engaging, and eye-opening experience, participants
discover—and apply—the approaches, tips, techniques and secrets that expert communicators use to communicate
concisely and persuasively, from strategy and design to creation and delivery. Far more than merely “how-to,” Science:
Becoming the Messenger reveals the “whys” and the “what’s” of effective communications. Most importantly, attendees
gain hands-on experience with techniques and tools they can apply immediately and continue to use and value long after
the training ends.
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Available Content Modules
Masterful
Messaging
Every Ninja workshop starts with intensive coaching that lays the foundation for all effective, purposeful communication: how
to create, refine, and concentrate persuasive messages. This session—a roughly 2-½ hour (and sometimes longer depending
on the length of the working sessions) module—helps participants understand the complexities and nuance of communicating
and equips participants with the knowledge and skills needed to develop, calibrate, and distill crisp, influential messages. It
consists of three distinct components:
1. Strategy—audience definition, audience disposition, framing (context setting), and objective;
2. Case-building—claims and assertions, substantiation, and the call to action
3. Distillation—message concentration and the message triangle
PowerPoint
Alchemy
How to transform leaden talk-and-slides presentations into communication gold (90 minutes)
Media Interview
Magic
How to master journalistic interviews and turn them from communication ordeals into opportunities (75 minutes)
Commanding
Branding
What is a brand, 10 brand strategies, and creating brand value (1 hour)
Paralanguage
Advantage
What is paralanguage (nonverbal communication), how does it affect communication, the 7 dimensions of paralanguage (1
hour)
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Available Content Modules
Anatomy of a
Science Video
How to mix sights and sounds to convincingly communicate science through video (75 minutes)
Video Boot
Camp
A hands-on session that gets attendees on their feet and on camera to record messages (requires participants use a cellphone
or tablet for recording) (90 minutes)
Tractive Active
Listening
What is active listening, how is it used to gain traction during media interviews and Q&A sessions, what are active listening
techniques (45 minutes)
Social Media
Savvy
How to leverage the inner power of social media to advance a scientific message (1 hour)
Bewitching
Pitching
How to create memorable pitches that get results (1 hour)
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Applause for Science: Becoming the Messenger
“Most useful training of my life.”
“This workshop changed my entire outlook.”
Shane Bradt, University of New Hampshire
Evaluation Form Response
“Your workshop is so good, I wish I could take it again.”
“The experts are simply awesome.”
Cecile Marczisnki, Northern Kentucky University
Evaluation Form Response
“I recently was interviewed and they picked up on 2 of my 3 main talking points!
Before the workshop, I had always struggled to get my main points across...it was
incredibly gratifying to see such a rapid improvement after the workshop.”
“This was a superb workshop. Extremely valuable.”
Evaluation Form Response
Leidy Klotz, Clemson University
“The workshop was an excellent source of clear strategies and readily applicable
communication resources for conveying scientific information.”
“Having a well thought-out, organized strategy that I can have in my back pocket to
whip out anywhere, anytime, on an elevator, with a reporter, or wherever I am, is
really useful.”
Evaluation Form Response
Mary Albert, Dartmouth University
Evaluation Form Response
“This was transformative...”
“This was so unbelievably helpful.”
Evaluation Form Response
Evaluation Form Response
“The best workshop— ever.”
“Incredibly valuable.”
Evaluation Form Response
© 2010-2015 Ninja Communications LLC
“I don’t have one, single, negative comment about this workshop! I have learned
things that I will use every day of work.”
Evaluation Form Response
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About Ninja Communications
Ninja Communications brings together the skills, talents, and impressive expertise of accomplished, professional
communicators Dan Agan and Joe Schreiber. Together, they possess more than seven decades of combined
experience in influencing attitudes, affecting thinking, and changing minds through the full spectrum of public
communications—from talk-and-slides to media interviews, online media, writing, and video. Their in-depth
knowledge, their amazing range of personal experience, and their unyielding passion for fueling success, are the
hallmarks of the unique portfolio of services, capabilities and insights that Ninja Communications’ clients draw upon
to effectively address and meet their communications challenges.
The insights and information, real-world examples, abundant good humor, and passion for transforming everyday
communicators into influential science champions that characterize Ninja Communications workshops, coaching
assignments, and mentoring engagements, have earned Ninja trainings rave reviews and a legion of converts to the
“Ninja Way.”
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The Ninjas
Dan Agan helps create high-performance organizations as a respected business consultant, communications
counselor and coach, marketer, and brand strategist. He co-created the Emmy award-winning series The Science
Of…, is an award-winning writer, and an accomplished television programmer. Formerly, he was Sr. VP of
Programming and Marketing for the PBS television network, and Chief Marketing Officer for publicly-traded
software companies Excalibur Technologies and Convera Corporation. He has lectured on media, marketing,
branding, entrepreneurship, and communications at leading universities, among them the Harvard University
Graduate School of Business, M.I.T. Enterprise Forum, George Washington University, and University of
Wisconsin-Madison. Dan is co-founder and a principal of Ninja Communications, CEO of Panthera Group strategy
consultants, and co-founder of Spacetime Creative Labs, the first creative agency for science.
Joe Schreiber is a 30-year veteran of network TV production and the art of telling stories. He helped launch and
produce NBC’s George Michael Sports Machine, which aired for 23 years, making it the longest running locallyproduced, nationally-syndicated sports program in television history. Along the way, Joe landed 11 Emmys. Joe’s
commitment to staying at the forefront of new media trends, utilizing state of the art technology and artfully
telling stories that affect viewers are the bedrock of his production interests today. This includes, in addition to
being a co-founder and principal in Ninja Communications, serving as president of Mattmar Productions and cofounder of 3 Penny Films. Since leaving NBC, Joe has earned five Telly Awards and two Emmys.
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