“Why should I listen to you?

”
How we decide whom to regard
… as an ‘expert’

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Will Rifkin, PhD

Director, Science Communication Program
University of New South Wales
Sydney, Australia
“Why should I listen to you?”
1. Your questions

2. Explanation -- “expert status”

3. Illustration

4. Implications for your work

 Your Questions

• What questions do you have

about this topic?

Chat with neighbour for 1 minute

What are your questions?
 Re-Frame
Expert-nonexpert communication
is not about misunderstanding.

It is about ‘allocation of responsibility’

• see Hughes essay –

“Mistakes at Work”
Latin/Greek Roots
• Expert
• Experiment
• Experience

• “Ex” = former, without

• “Per” = peril
 Latin/Greek Roots
• “Ex – pert” =

Can help us to

proceed without peril.

• To avoid peril

• We choose a voice of authority

• An “Expert” …

At least, someone who

appears to be one
 You know the situation
• Listen to complex technical language

• Follow some words, but not others

Hesitate to ask …

?????
 Problem is –

Not lack of understanding, but

…hesitation!
 You could --
• Gain understanding

• By asking questions

• But, you do not ask …

Why not?
 Defer to “Expert”
We let “experts” control conversations

Blah, blah,
blah, blah
 Defer to “Expert”
Breakdown: due to barrier created …

Blah, blah,
blah, blah
 Think about it …

• Talk with your ‘neighbour’

• Who is your favourite ‘expert’?

• Who is an expert you dislike?

 Your ‘experts’
• Favourite experts?

• Disliked experts?
What you like: +

What you dislike: --

Communication’s 2 parts

1. Information
1. Relationship

Twisted together … Cannot be separated!

 Gary Larson Cartoon
• Top panel -- What owner says
“Bad dog, Ginger! Should not be in garbage!”

• Bottom panel -- What dog hears

“Blah, blah, blah, Ginger! Blah, blah, blah.”

Dog is happy …
“Are there any questions?”

• You sit silently …

Tail wagging
 Relationship can influence
• Expert knowledge and ability …
become less relevant

• “Expert status” predominates --

Authority over conversation
we give to someone who
“sounds good.”
 Selecting “experts”
• How can we tell
who has the relevant
knowledge, skill, ...
when we know less
than they do?
 In Conversations
Yet, every day

we pick up signals & guess / infer

who ‘really’ knows what

they are talking about.

Illustration
 Example in one sentence
“Groundwater, in general

follows the topography

in this hydrogeological regime.”

waste pond with leak

test well test well

groundwater
 Example …
sounds
“Groundwater, in general scientific

follows the topography

in this hydrogeological regime.”

waste pond with leak

test well test well

groundwater
 Example …
“Groundwater, in general
geographical
follows the topography

in this hydrogeological regime.”

mathematical
waste pond with leak

test well test well

groundwater
 Example …
“Groundwater, in general
narrow
follows the topography specialty

in this hydrogeological regime.”

waste pond with leak

test well test well

groundwater
 Example …
good
“Groundwater, in general scientific

follows the topography word

in this hydrogeological regime.”

waste pond with leak

test well test well

groundwater
 Example …
1
“Groundwater, in general
2 3
follows the topography
4 5
in this hydrogeological regime.”

waste pond with leak

test well test well

groundwater
 Example

5 signals
of speaker’s identity
in just
1 sentence
!!!!!
 Identity
is one of
3 elements from
which we derive
Meaning

Information + People + Process

text actor / identity context
Meaning includes past & future

1. What someone recognises (past)

referential meaning
– relevance to what they already know

2. What they expect (future)

inferential meaning
– relevance to what they value
The Grid
The technical Communicator

Combine
“info / actor / context”
with
“referential / inferential”
The Grid

For example …
The Grid

Scientist / Engineer
focus

Citizen
focus
 Re-framing

• Breakdown in communication is
not due to lack of understanding
of science.

• It is due to misalignment,
difference in focus . . .
• Which focus wins?

• Who controls the conversation.

 How is ‘Expert Status’
Relevant to You?

Talk to person next to you

Offer observations or questions

How is ‘Expert Status’
Relevant to You?
 Resources
• Google articles by Will Rifkin, PhD –
“negotiation of expert status”

• Sociology & linguistics –

E. Goffman, D. Tannen, F. Barth, R. McDermott

• Concepts – social status, negotiated status,

negotiation of meaning & identity, pragmatics,
speech act theory, social construction of reality,
ethnic groups and boundaries, risk perception
& risk communication, communities of practice,
allocation of responsibility, …
Thank you!