Nobody understands your research? Here’s how to change that.

You may find it difficult to get that substantial grant or impact people’s lives when nobody understands your research.

But the upcoming “STEM and Medical Communication Workshop: Communicating What You Do and Why It Matters” can help you.

Presented by the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, the workshop aims at improving your communication skills so you can explain what you do to patients, students, elected officials, the public and the news media.

“The importance of scientists being able to ‘speak science’ using common language has been underestimated,” said Dr. Lisa Middleton, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and one of the organizers of the workshop. “More than an add-on skill, it’s about being able to connect with a broader audience. Techniques learned at this workshop will help researchers express their work in ways that engage and inspire.”

The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science teaches researchers a communication method developed by its founder Alan Alda, who hosted Scientific American Frontiers, a Public Broadcasting Service series about scientific discoveries, and played Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H.

Organized by the Georgia Cancer Center and the Augusta University Research Department, the free event will take place 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 at The Knox Foundation Community Center in the newly expanded M. Bert Storey Cancer Research Building.

The event is open to the Augusta University and Augusta University Health community. The first 75 attendees will receive a free lunch box given at the end of the presentation.

To attend the event, register by Oct. 11.