Use narrative techniques to talk about your research in a new way
Why do we pay money to go see a movie, while we have to get paid to read journals? Because movies are stories, and stories captivate us! In fact, narratives are a great way for humans to receive and remember information.
Use storytelling to make your science come to life!
In this workshop, you will learn what makes a good story, and start writing your own. We’ll cover topics like perspective, narrator, characters, plots and story arcs, and illustrate the various options with examples. Then you’ll get to practice them to find out what works in which situation.

English or Dutch
Online or in-house
What you will learn
- What are stories, and (how) do they differ from the scientific narrative?
- Elements of a good story: characters, narrator, plot
- Keeping your audience engaged: add tension or a plot twist
- How can you use stories to explain your research?


A workshop by
Stephan van Duin, MSc
Stephan has been working with scientists to shape their stories for over a decade. He is able to take position between your research and your audience, and to make you reflect on the steps you need to take to communicate effectively and bridge that gap.
A workshop by Stephan will give you background theory, but it also delves into his experience as science communicator and press officer to explore what it can mean for your situation. So you will leave his workshops with a lot of practical tips and skills but a plan as well!
Thank you, Stephan! I particularly liked how you prompted us to approach our pitch from multiple perspectives.
Thanks for the tips for the pitch and storytelling. These are quite useful.
Liesbeth and Stephan inspired me to think better about the communication of my research. I thought it was especially cool to learn how to convey a message in such a way that you can attract attention even with the most complex topics. In the future I will package all my messages in a more creative format."
David Oerlemans, student at HAS
This workshop is flexible!
Do you like this workshop, but are you looking for something slightly different? No problem! We offer our workshops in various configurations. In addition to the 4-hour version, we can give keynotes, interactive lectures or split the workshop in two or three sessions.
We can also combine some workshops to create a full-day program, or fit a narrower time slot by giving a lecture highlighting the most important insights.
Fill out the quote form below to tell us the time you have, the amount of participants and the level of interactivity so we can find a solution.

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