Fwd: Data doesn't speak for itself
Karen Kierpaul
From: Your Local Epidemiologist <yourlocalep...@substack.com>
Date: Fri, Jun 5, 2026 at 6:16 AM
Subject: Data doesn't speak for itself
To: <k.a.ki...@gmail.com>
Enjoying this newsletter? Why not share it with a friend? I try to keep Fridays reserved for paid YLE subscribers, and particularly the professionals and trusted messengers who are guiding households, communities, and patients. My goal is to help make your life a little easier. This week, Liz, Executive Director of The Evidence Collective—a program extension of Your Local Epidemiologist—led a scicomm training, so I’m passing the mic to her. I’ve sat in many classrooms as a student over the years. In none of them was I taught how to communicate in ways that best reach and meet the needs of the audience I was addressing. Particularly if that audience wasn’t scientists. I learned through failures and experience, and by seeking out guidance where I could find it. But it shouldn’t be this hard. It’s time to change this for our entire field. It’s time to go beyond the communications team at our institutions. Every scientist and community organization should know how to “translate” science to their community. And sure, some of us will remain in the lab, but some brilliance needs to be unleashed so more science can reach people, and more people can reach science. The Evidence Collective recently provided data communication training, and not only was it insanely fun, but also, for the first time, I sensed a deep hunger. It gave me hope: scientists are no longer just trying to figure out where we lost trust; now they want to do something. Here’s a peek at some of the things we covered, and things you should consider when working to better engage your communities.
1. Tailor your message to your audience. So much communication is approached top-down, with a single message delivered to many people. This often results in messages that don’t reach or connect with those who most need the information. When considering your audience, ask yourself what they like, dislike, fear, and care about. Consider where they consume information. Doing so helps you better understand them and how to engage with them. Your message should be adjusted for different audiences to ensure you’re engaging with those who need it most effectively. 2. Give your data meaning. Data does not speak for itself, no matter how compelling we think it is. An effective message needs to include data, but be structured in a way that gives that data meaning. You can do this by including stories, being clear about what is and isn’t known, and letting your audience know what they need to do with the information you’re giving them. Ask yourself: “So what does this data mean for this audience?” 3. Translate scale into something human. Raw numbers and rates mean very little to most people. “33 deaths per 100,000 live births” may be accurate, but it lands differently than “in a state with 60,000 births a year, that means roughly 20 mothers die annually.” Whenever you share a statistic, ask yourself whether your audience can actually understand it. 4. Use the 30-second translation rule. When you need to communicate something quickly, ask yourself three questions: What’s the context or core piece of information? Why does it matter? And what should happen next? If you can answer all three clearly and briefly, your message is ready. 5. Frame disparities responsibly. How you describe health disparities determines whether your audience hears blame, biology, or systemic failure. This difference matters enormously. Saying that Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes can, for many audiences, imply individual responsibility or inevitability. A more accurate and responsible framing also highlights gaps in access, treatment, and health care systems and includes actions individuals can take. 6. Communicate uncertainty without losing trust. Scientists are trained to hedge, but excessive hedging backfires. When you lead with qualifications before you’ve even made your point, audiences hear “we don’t really know anything.” Instead, lead with what is known, then add nuance. “The evidence we have right now is reassuring, while ongoing work continues to monitor for rare events.” 7. Partner with the community. Sometimes it’s not about how you’re telling the story but who is doing the talking. Those who have pre-established relationships will always better reach those communities. Sometimes you can be most effective by partnering with trusted voices, co-developing resources with them, and helping them engage their audiences with the data, rather than doing so yourself. 8. Diversify your communication channels. Don’t just post online. Don’t just hand out fliers in person. Every person and community will have different ways of accessing and engaging with information. Showing up in more places helps you better meet those needs. 9. Acknowledge your blind spots. Even with the best intentions, our communication can inadvertently exclude the very people we’re trying to reach. Non-English speakers, people with disabilities, low-literacy audiences, and culturally diverse communities are all too often left behind by well-intentioned messaging. We can actively build for these audiences through plain language, captioning, translation, and inclusive imagery. 10. Use art, stories, and humor. Data alone isn’t enough, but incorporating information along with art, stories and humor can help it land. In our recent in-person training we had participants write a public health haiku—a small, creative constraint that forces you to identify the single most important thing you want your audience to walk away knowing.
Bottom lineTry any of these tips! Just one step can make a difference. It’s time to do better, but we don’t have to keep learning the hard way. These are skills that can be taught. When they are, the science we work so hard to produce actually reaches the people who need it most. And if you or your institution is interested in learning more about training, reach out to Liz at l...@yle.health and visit our website here. Love, YLE Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) comprises a team of experts, ranging from physicians to immunologists to epidemiologists to nutritionists, working together with one goal: to “Translate” ever-evolving public health science so that people are well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. YLE suite of newsletters reaches over 475,000 people across more than 132 countries. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below:
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