Translating Science Through Story
Making Science Make Sense explores storytelling as a practical tool for science communication. By drawing on narrative, metaphor, participation, and reflection, this toolkit helps translate complex scientific ideas into forms that audiences can understand, question, and connect with.
The Storytelling Transition Ladder
The Storytelling Translation Ladder is a practical framework for building science stories that connect complex ideas to public understanding.
It guides communicators through six flexible stages, from curiosity and explanation to participation and reflection, helping identify where communication connects, where it breaks down, and where it can be strengthened.
The Ladder is designed for science communicators, facilitators, educators, and public engagement practitioners. It can be used to plan workshops, develop activities, test communication approaches, or reflect on existing practice.
While structured as a step-by-step process, it is flexible. Not every story needs every step. The goal is not perfection.
The goal is connection.
The Ladder moves from curiosity to reflection, helping communicators identify where science becomes meaningful, understandable, participatory, and open to revision.
Using dance, metaphor, and co-creation, Science Ceilidh translates complex scientific ideas like gravitational waves into shared physical experiences, showing how storytelling can make invisible science tangible.
Research Data Scotland:
Storytelling Trust in Data
Science Ceilidh:
Storytelling Through Movement
Case Studies
Explore Case Studies
These case studies show two worked examples of how the Storytelling Translation Ladder can be used in practice.
Explore the annotated PDFs to see how different science communication settings move from curiosity to reflection.
The Story Builder Deck
The Story Builder Deck is a facilitation tool designed to help participants explore science storytelling through collaborative play.
Using six card types, Concept, Hook, Anchor, Translation, Glitch, and Participation, the deck helps groups build, challenge, and adapt science stories together.
Unlike the Ladder, which supports practitioner planning and reflection, the Deck is designed for workshops, festivals, classrooms, and community engagement settings, offering a more interactive way to test ideas, spark discussion, and make science communication more memorable.
It can be used with non-specialist audiences, particularly young adults and community groups, but is adaptable across ages and contexts.
Share Your Reflections
How did the toolkit shape your science story?
What worked well?
What felt challenging?
What sparked curiosity, conversation, or new questions?
This space is designed for facilitators, participants, and anyone else to reflect on how the Storytelling Translation Ladder or Story Builder Deck worked in practice.
These reflections help support adaptation, improvement, and future use across different settings.