FameLab asked me back. In September I spent an hour with this year’s FameLab Australia finalists at Forrest Hall in Crawley, the day before they took the stage.
They get three minutes on stage. My job was the other 364 days.
Let’s kill a myth first
Plenty of researchers have been told that posting a paper gets it cited. A three-year randomised experiment published in PLOS ONE in 2024 tested exactly that, and the citation bump wasn’t statistically significant. What sharing did change was who read the work. Downloads jumped on the day a paper was shared, and its online attention kept climbing for years after.
They trust you. They just can’t find you.
Scientists start with credit. A 68-country study in Nature Human Behaviour last year put Australia equal fifth in the world for trust in scientists, and 80% of Australians believe scientists have a responsibility to communicate with the public. The audience is there. The job is to be findable where they already look.
What a personal brand is, and isn’t
A personal brand is recognisable, credible and human. It isn’t becoming an influencer, dancing on TikTok, oversharing your private life or pretending to be certain. The only homework: who is this for (name one person), what are you known for (one to three areas, no more), and what changes for them if they understand it.
Pick one platform, not four
LinkedIn for collaborators, funders and journalists. Instagram or TikTok for the public and future students. Bluesky for the academic conversation. And your institution’s comms team, who are paid to amplify you and are always short of material. The platform matters far less than showing up on the one that suits you.
My hot takes
- Understand your audience before you write a single word
- Give people a reason to follow you that isn’t “I exist”
- Design for sound off, delight with sound on
- Captions, alt text and plain language. Accessibility is not optional
- Reply to people. It’s social media, the clue is in the name
The best bit came afterwards
I closed with one brief: pick one platform and post once this week. Then the finalists started reaching out to me on socials, which is exactly the point. Good luck to every one of them.
I first ran this workshop for FameLab in 2024. Read about that one here.
Want this workshop for your researchers or team? Book a workshop with me.
