Public Expert Archetype #1: The Translator
If you're lost in a foreign city, a Translator can help you read street signs. But an Explainer can guide your whole trip.
Of the Four Public Expert Archetypes—the Translator, the Explainer, the Advisor, and the Advocate—the Translator is easily the most celebrated.
The research communication-media industrial complex loves Translators—those experts who focus on taking research and turn it into something comprehensible for the rest of the world. They give good quote.
But translation by itself isn’t of much value, since most research (newsworthy or not) is off-point for most real-life challenges. The other three archetypes—the Explainer, Advisor and Advocate—bring far more value to the public because they’re not just about translating the research; they’re about using a researcher’s full expertise (not just their ability to translate research) to address specific audience challenges in immediately helpful ways (what I call the Essential Public Expert Formula). That move—help the audience with something they care about (or should care about), and do so in an accessible, useful fashion—is often antithetical to research culture. It’s also a hard move for researchers to learn and habituate.
Stopping at Translator leaves 95 percent of the value you could bring as an expert off the table. It’s like trying to win at poker by hoping everyone else folds after the ante.
That’s why most researchers who do public work stop at Translator: They feel uncomfortable straying too far from the research. But stopping there leaves 95 percent of the value you could bring as an expert off the table. It’s like trying to win at poker by hoping everyone else folds after the ante.
Still, The Translator describes the archetype most researchers identify with, if they identify with public work at all. So to kick off this series describing the four Public Expert Archetypes, then, let’s start with the archetype that best describes this relatively silent majority: The Translator.
In a nutshell: The Translator
The Translator is the classic research/science communicator: the findings, the whole findings and nothing but the findings. At most, they speak for the body of research, advocating for it as a public good. But they don’t go beyond it.
As public expert, Translators start with…
The research (usually, just published and their own). Translators are often uncomfortable talking about other researchers’ research. The Translators who aren’t get most of the interviews (which probably suits the other Translators just fine).
How does the Translator behave as a public expert?
A new study comes out in their subspecialty, they translate it and contextualize it—what it's found and what it means--for non-specialists.
They also synthesize the state of the research/science on questions of moment (e.g., will there be a next wave of COVID?).
Superpowers of the Translator
Translation, of course: The ability to translate new research--its findings and relevance--into language that's accessible, quickly consumable and (in those rare occasions when the findings of a single piece of research should drive behavior or policy change) actionable.
Synthesis (sometimes): The ability to understand and summarize what new research means in the context of an existing body of knowledge; how significant it is without exaggeration.
Content metabolism
Usually slow and reactive. Typically only responds when asked, when there’s new research to translate.
Typical content platforms (as public expert)
Media interviews
X and other short-form content channels
Newsletters (sometimes)
Reports
Values: ‘As a Translator, I believe…’
“Knowing the state of the science on any given question can improve the decision making and quality of life for many people.”
“New research often carries important findings non-researchers need to understand.”
“The public should understand and appreciate the full value science can bring to their lives.”
Achilles’ Heels
Translation isn't everything. Their very narrow view of expertise (as ambassador for the research and for research/science writ large) means they won't/can't address anything that the research doesn't explicitly cover--which limits their relevance and effectiveness to the public.
Best situations for the Translator
As conduits between communities and new research (especially obscure/abstruse research)
As vending machines for quotes, for the dwindling media that cover science or research
Worst situations for the Translator
When trust of research/science or researchers/scientists (including you) is less than ideal
In situations where audiences want more than just the best available evidence—they want your expertise in interpreting that evidence for their situation. They want your advice. (They want an Advisor.)
In situations where contextual explaining is called for—where it's not just about the science, but about a narrative of events that is the focus of attention and decision making and that needs to be framed within the evidence but not subordinated to it (e.g., an ongoing crisis).
How Do I Know That I’m a Translator?
You feel a mission to improve the public understanding of science.
You enjoy communicating science but feel uncomfortable straying beyond your research or that of others and especially to matters beyond research.
Once a research project is finished, you spend at least some time thinking of how I might help wider audiences understand it.
Non-researchers actually better understand a research project or research findings once they’ve heard you translate them.
Typical Language of the Translator
“In layperson’s terms…”
“Uncertainty”
“The limits of this research include...”
“We should be cautious about applying these findings too broadly.”
“More research is needed”
Often Found In
R1 universities and research professorships/fellowships.
University extension offices.
Committees/commissions charged with doing meta-analysis reports.
Next up: The Explainer. The way I explain the difference between the Translator and the Explainer? You’re lost in a foreign city and you need help getting around. The Translator can help you read the street signs. The Explainer is your trusted guide.