Researchers - Are you galvanising your allies? Part 2: Government (for researchers)

Practical strategies for researchers to engage policymakers—moving beyond jargon, building relationships, and turning research into real-world impact.

15th April 2025

Your pitch to government: Help me to help you! (but maybe don’t follow anyone into the bathroom when you’re asking). Via sleeplessthought.wordpress.com

In my last newsletter I talked about why the university sector needs an effective and unified narrative to transform its communications with government. This week I want to focus on how individual researchers can communicate more effectively with politicians. 

I was inspired to focus on a sectoral approach from my conversations with individual researchers – who often feel immense pressure to influence political perspectives around their own areas of research.

In the absence of a strategic executive-level engagement strategy, researchers are left bearing an outsized burden. They are often responsible for developing their own messaging–often without sufficient support or training.

That is a lot to ask from someone whose job is not in research engagement or research communications. It is its own skillset, and one that needs to be honed and refined. Many researchers are left feeling like they’re stuck doing a second job. It’s not intentional—it’s just that universities and the research sector simply lack engagement as a core strength.

But as with many systemic problems in the university sector (and elsewhere): it’s not your fault, but unfortunately it is your problem to deal with.

So, let’s get to it. You have limited time, and you want to make every engagement count. What are the common mistakes I see researchers make when engaging with politicians—and how can you avoid them?

1. Understand what motivates politicians.

Politicians operate under relentless schedules, intense public scrutiny, and the need to grasp countless topics quickly. Their primary motivation is serving their constituents—voters. To connect effectively:

• Frame your research in terms of societal impact. What issues matter most in their constituency? How does your work address these challenges or provide solutions?

• If your work spans disciplines or sectors, emphasise this—it shows you’ve already connected the dots and are focused on the “so what” of your research.

• Come prepared to discuss problems and solutions. Look beyond your work itself to its impact. Try to see how politicians (and voters) benefit from it.

2. Success is not self-evident

As researchers, it’s easy to assume that major breakthroughs will speak for themselves—but they don’t. Politicians won’t automatically grasp the significance of your work or its societal implications without clear explanations.

Ironically this means that your best can end up left on the table, because it seems too obvious to talk about. But most of us assume that others know far more about our work than they actually do. It’s not condescending to emphasise the obvious.

To overcome this:

• Avoid technical jargon: Explain your research as if you were speaking to a smart teenager; simplicity makes your message accessible. Again, it’s not about being condescending. It’s about connecting with an audience that has no context for understanding your work.

• Focus on storytelling: Why does your work matter? How does it solve real-world problems? It might take some creativity, but there’s always a way to connect your work to broader impact.

• Ask yourself: Are you sharing your strongest stories? Often, researchers leave their best narratives untold because they assume their importance is obvious. Build a portfolio of compelling stories that you and other colleagues can easily share and champion.

3. Talk to impact–realised and potential

Political strategist James Carville famously said, “It’s the economy, stupid.” For researchers engaging with government, the mantra should be: “It’s the impact, stupid.”

If you’re unsure how to define “impact,” start by reflecting on what makes you proud:

·       How has your work advanced knowledge or made a difference—big or small?

·       Have you engaged communities or informed policy?

·       What’s the ‘so-what’ of your research—how does it matter now or in the future? Look through the lens that politicians use - have you defined your impact by sector, by industry, or in the context of GDP?

Be clear and specific about what your research does, whether it informs policy, benefits communities, or contributes to national progress, make it tangible. Even if the ultimate impact is decades away or depends on contributions from others, sharing these long-term visions early can build excitement and support.

Which leads me to…

4. Build long-term, strategic relationships

Think of engagement as the start of a conversation rather than a one-off interaction. Building relationships with politicians takes time:

• Engage early in your research journey – treat these interactions as part of a long-term strategy. Building a relationship is a worthwhile investment. Research can take years to pay dividends, and you will need champions at every stage.

• Reach out across political divides to ensure broad support for your work. Again – staying focused on how your work solves problems can help with this, as ultimately that’s every politician’s goal.

• Building connections doesn’t end after one meeting: Keep politicians updated on major breakthroughs or announcements—but be selective and strategic with updates

• Share successes regularly to ensure they’re remembered even as roles change.

5. Prepare your messaging early

Too often, researchers leave communications until the last minute, relying on press releases as a forcing function for creating key messages. This approach is stressful! You want to walk into a meeting confident about what you are saying.

• Invest some time to sit down and draft your key messages. This can be really tough to do by yourself. One useful tip is to write out what you want to say, and then describe it to a friend (ideally not someone in your field). The version you use when describing your work in conversation is usually a good basis for key messages.

• Equip everyone representing your work—executives, collaborators, colleagues—with accessible language that highlights successes without relying on jargon. Make sure they’re short and simple. You don’t want people repeating a script (and they won’t anyway) but they should know what your work is about, its impact, and why it’s valuable.

• Identify allies that you may not be working with, who could represent your work–for example, do you have alumni in government? Make sure they are equipped with your key messages.

6. Make it a conversation

Engagement is a two-way street. Prepare to have a conversation, not to give a speech. Try to put yourself in your interlocutor’s shoes, and think about what they might want out of the conversation.

• Approach conversations with curiosity: learn about their priorities and concerns before diving into your research.

• Encourage questions and feedback during meetings—this signals openness and helps clarify complex points.

• Remember that it took years for you to become an expert in your field; it’s unrealistic to expect someone else to grasp its nuances in one conversation.

• Prepare FAQs: Think about the questions that might come up in a meeting, and be prepared to address them. What will they most want to know? What are they most likely to ask about? If you know someone in a similar position or with a similar background, ask them what questions they’d have.

7. Be clear about what you need

Your relationship is reciprocal – and while you should showcase what your research is doing to address government (and therefore voter) concerns, you should also be clear about what you need for continued success. Alongside your investment in clear messaging, you should be specific about what your needs are. Some researchers may struggle with this, but having clear requests will make you seem more polished.

• Don’t shy away from making specific asks: Do you need policy changes? Greater funding? Support for industry collaborations?

• Be transparent about how they can help—or offer advice—and frame it in terms of mutual benefit. Think of Jerry Maguire: Help me help you.

• Be clear about the outcomes you’re looking for. It’s not just about how your requests will help your research: go one step beyond that. What will the overall outcome of their support be? What’s the impact?

8. Don’t start by asking for money

Don’t begin a conversation by immediately asking for additional funding. Again, it’s about finding the mutual win–and leading with that.

• The most powerful and persuasive argument for more support? A solution. Research is the source of good news–so get creative about what that could mean.

• Help them share in the success they’ve helped create. Try positive announcements, photo ops, community building and connecting initiatives.

• Take a look at your past impact and see if you can open a conversation with your progress on, or even a solution for, a problem that the government is already dealing with.

In conclusion: government can be one of your most powerful allies, but you must make it easy for them to do so. Politicians need repeatable messaging they can use in parliament, trade missions, industry discussions, and more. With the right support, they aren’t just funders—they’re advocates who can champion your work far beyond its initial scope.

Effective communication builds trust with stakeholders, increases funding opportunities, and transforms government into an ally capable of amplifying your successes on national and international stages. After all, when they fund your work, they have skin in the game—your success is theirs too.