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.
Within this toolkit, storytelling means shaping and sharing scientific knowledge or experience through narrative connections between events, characters, perspectives or forms of change, so that the subject is contextualised and made meaningful for a particular audience. Accessibility, translation, dialogue and participation can support storytelling, but they do not constitute storytelling independently. Some form of narrative connection must remain.
The Storytelling Translation 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 and people developing science communication skills, including researchers, students, educators, volunteers, facilitators 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.
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 communication 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 and is particularly intended for young adults aged 18 to 35 and community groups, while remaining adaptable across ages, experience levels and contexts.
Not every combination of cards will produce a complete or immediately workable story. The prompts are intended to encourage experimentation, discussion and revision rather than generate a fixed narrative. Users can redraw, replace or adapt cards as their ideas develop.
Participants do not need to begin with specialist scientific knowledge. However, unfamiliar scientific information should be checked using reliable sources or with someone who has relevant knowledge before the story is shared.
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.