Journal 5: Message Box

For this journal, you’ll first need to read the “The Message Box Workbook.” Then, you’ll refine the message of your RFP  to address 3 different audiences by making a “message box” for each audience.

  1. [Most technical] One message box should be directed to a graduate school admissions board (preferably to a program that you’re considering for graduate work) who are asking about your research interests or a potential employer at an industrial lab asking about your experience (you can choose here depending on what you want to do after graduation). These people will most likely be highly educated, but they won’t necessarily be specialized in your exact field of research.
  2. [Moderately technical] Another message box will be targeted towards incoming NC State first-years in one of your major’s intro courses who are interested in seeing/doing undergraduate research. They’ll know a few basic concepts but will need more details on field-specific topics and methods. You can think of this as somewhat similar to a Scientific American blog. Here’s a good example of a blog post that emphasizes the importance of doing a certain research and here’s one that’s less about communicating research and more about the ethics of research in our current time.
  3. [Least technical] The third message box will be directed towards a broad lay audience such as your friends and neighbors. Here, you’re basically answering a journalist’s or family member’s question about your research when they ask, “So what?” In other words, they want the big picture/implication of your research. This audience will likely be readers of a popular periodical like the New York Times and can include anyone from your siblings to your grandparents to your neighbors. For the purposes of this box, assume (perhaps rightfully so) that your audience knows absolutely nothing about your topic and only possess a basic understanding of science concepts–something that you might gain through high school biology/chemistry/psychology classes.

Fill out and submit 3 message boxes for this assignment. You can find an editable template here. Some sections of your message box might be similar across boxes, but if nothing else the language should change to accommodate your various audiences. Don’t worry too much about making these boxes perfect. They are iterative processes meaning that they are always changing and improving throughout your career. Think of this journal as a first stab at planning your blog post and social media posts, which are due on Thursday (aka Final Exam day).

If you’re having trouble understanding the workbook, you can check out these resources as well: