Don't worry about the science

I've spent a lot of time reflecting on a recent chat with an early career scientist looking for some advice ahead of a possible newspaper interview about a research paper. Two very simple things I mentioned during the conversation seemed to be a huge relief to her: 

1. She didn’t have to spend ages justifying her methodology up front! IF it was going to be queried at all - and there was no reason to doubt it - it would come after more important questions about the main findings of the paper. 

2. She didn’t have to know everything! Working on a particular bit of science within a wider topic makes you a very good generalist, but you can’t know everything. On the odd occasion, an interview will stray into research questions you’ve never covered. It’s okay to admit that! 

There is huge perceived pressure on researchers to have all the answers, to expertly answer any question imaginable. Ironically, this pressure largely comes from their peers. In reality, most media interviews are a conversation around things you DO know, not an attempt to trip you up on things you DON'T know.

Part of the stress ahead of media interviews is not thinking through what you want to say, or worse, overthinking things that probably won’t come up!