Featuring Zack Pruett from the American Physical Society
May 2025
This 1-hour webinar, hosted by the American Physical Society (APS) and led by facilitator Zack Pruett, introduces the Science Trust Project.
Through a presentation that includes visual models, frameworks, and interactive exercises, the session equips scientists with better skills to engage the public and build trust. The Science Trust Project and its approach, presented in this webinar, break down the information-deficit model and present two alternative communication approaches. It also introduces the skill of reflective listening.
Debunking the “Information Deficit Model”:
The core argument is that mistrust in science rarely stems from a simple lack of information. Providing more facts, lectures, or data (transmission model) often fails to change behavior or beliefs because it ignores personal values, identity, and emotions.
Alternative Models of Communication:
Interaction Model: A two-way dialogue focused on feedback between conversants.
Transaction Model: A collaborative process where scientists and the public together construct social realities and communities, and include public values in the scientific process.
The Power of Listening:
Effective engagement requires active or “Reflective Listening”—seeking to understand the speaker’s subjective experience by reflecting back the message the listener heard. Tools like Stasis Theory help with what to listen for, identifying whether a disagreement is over facts, definitions, or underlying values.
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