{"id":1029,"date":"2020-12-21T17:38:19","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T17:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T18:43:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T17:43:05","slug":"the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/","title":{"rendered":"Communicating Science – What We Can Learn From Jonathan Van-Tam"},"content":{"rendered":"

“How we frame our message is crucial to its success”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Communicating Science – What We Can Learn From Jonathan Van-Tam<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cSo this is like getting to the end of the playoff final. It\u2019s gone to penalties. The first player goes up, scores the goal. You haven\u2019t won the cup yet, but what it does is it tells you that the goalkeeper can be beaten.\u201d<\/p>\n

So said Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, the UK\u2019s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, managing public expectations of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. A familiar face on televised government briefings, he has become an unlikely celebrity thanks to his use of analogies like the one above. He is also a great example of someone who is effective at communicating science.<\/p>\n

The UK government\u2019s response to the pandemic has at times been criticised for lack of clarity. In particular, the scientific evidence presented by the government\u2019s advisors has often been explained in dry, complex language. This requires a level of expertise many of their audience don\u2019t possess.<\/p>\n

It’s a serious problem for a government that struggle to contain rising infections. In essence, a clear public understanding of Covid-19 is the foundation upon which successful countermeasures are built. If the public cannot follow the science, how can they be expected to accept major restrictions upon their freedoms?<\/p>\n

Van-Tam is doing his best to redress this dangerous disconnect between the scientists and their audience, dispensing with technical language in favour of something more tangible. Football, trains, yoghurt and planes have been used metaphorically to make potentially confusing data engaging and memorable.<\/p>\n

SHAKESPEARE – THE EARLY MASTER OF TANGIBILITY<\/h3>\n

Storytellers use these techniques to expand the scope of their work while keeping it relatable.<\/p>\n

Shakespeare was one of the early masters of the tangible. His plays straddled continents and kingdoms, the earthly and the ethereal. They explored subjects such as regicide, the dark arts and forbidden love – alien concepts to most who came to see his plays.<\/p>\n

The majority of his contemporary audience were from the lower classes of London. Enticed into the theatre from competing events such as bear-baiting and cockfights, they were largely illiterate and often volatile when they didn\u2019t like a play.<\/p>\n

The gulf separating the events of Shakespeare\u2019s plays and those watching them was wide.<\/p>\n

So, he used simile and metaphor to unite them. The enormity of Hamlet\u2019s struggle was compared to taking arms against a sea of sorrows. Juliet\u2019s beauty was as radiant as the sun. To Macbeth, life was as meaningless as the performance of a bad actor \u201cthat struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more\u201d – something Shakespeare\u2019s audience would certainly have been familiar with.<\/p>\n

More than 400 years later, Shakespeare is still one of the most performed playwrights globally. Why? His ability to connect with audiences regardless of their background, social standing or nationality. Not only that, some of the tangibles he created have transcended the plays and become part of everyday language.<\/p>\n

THE MAGIC OF THE METAPHOR<\/h3>\n

Similarly, Van-Tam has bridged the knowledge gap by putting his message into a context his audience can understand. “I love metaphors,\u201d<\/a><\/strong> he recently told the BBC. \u201cI think they bring complex stories to life for people. It’s great.”<\/p>\n

As a result, he has become the media\u2019s go-to Covid expert. A trusted advisor when it comes to distilling complicated science into something that makes the public say, \u201cNow I get it!\u201d<\/p>\n

How we frame a message is crucial to its success, particularly when sharing highly technical data or new concepts. As we become experts in our field, there\u2019s a danger we fall prey to the \u201ccurse of knowledge\u201d. We assume our audience is as well versed in our subject as we are. We begin to share information without feeling the need for explanation or context. This leaves our audience confused as to its relevance and reluctant to take action if any is required.<\/p>\n

Data alone is not enough. As Daniel Kahneman, the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow, wrote, \u201cNo one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story.\u201d More specifically, they need a story that is relevant to them and tangibles, like those used by Jonathan Van-Tam, are an incredibly effective way of doing that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/section>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n

To learn more about how we can help you, please get in touch with our team<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Van-Tam is fantastic at communicating science effectively. By making complex information tangible he brings science to life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":1030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCommunicating Science - What We Can Learn From Jonathan Van-Tam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jonathan Van-Tam is fantastic at communicating science effectively. By making complex information tangible he brings science to life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Communicating Science - What We Can Learn From Jonathan Van-Tam\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jonathan Van-Tam is fantastic at communicating science effectively. By making complex information tangible he brings science to life.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Body Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-21T17:38:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-14T17:43:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/shutterstock_1728019336-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Seddon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Seddon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/\",\"name\":\"Communicating Science - What We Can Learn From Jonathan Van-Tam\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/shutterstock_1728019336-scaled-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-21T17:38:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T17:43:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#\/schema\/person\/9e8c2b54a60c36f3e6f65bb8ef657372\"},\"description\":\"Jonathan Van-Tam is fantastic at communicating science effectively. By making complex information tangible he brings science to life.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/shutterstock_1728019336-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/shutterstock_1728019336-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":1170,\"height\":650},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Communicating Science – What We Can Learn From Jonathan Van-Tam\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/\",\"name\":\"Body Talk\",\"description\":\"The Science of Communication\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#\/schema\/person\/9e8c2b54a60c36f3e6f65bb8ef657372\",\"name\":\"Mark Seddon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d66e099fb9a9360bc9ffa45b888431d1f3a952132d5ab837dc6eef20e98538a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d66e099fb9a9360bc9ffa45b888431d1f3a952132d5ab837dc6eef20e98538a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Seddon\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/author\/markseddon\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Communicating Science - What We Can Learn From Jonathan Van-Tam","description":"Jonathan Van-Tam is fantastic at communicating science effectively. By making complex information tangible he brings science to life.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Communicating Science - What We Can Learn From Jonathan Van-Tam","og_description":"Jonathan Van-Tam is fantastic at communicating science effectively. By making complex information tangible he brings science to life.","og_url":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/","og_site_name":"Body Talk","article_published_time":"2020-12-21T17:38:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-14T17:43:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/shutterstock_1728019336-scaled-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mark Seddon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Seddon","Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/","url":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/","name":"Communicating Science - What We Can Learn From Jonathan Van-Tam","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/shutterstock_1728019336-scaled-1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-21T17:38:19+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-14T17:43:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#\/schema\/person\/9e8c2b54a60c36f3e6f65bb8ef657372"},"description":"Jonathan Van-Tam is fantastic at communicating science effectively. By making complex information tangible he brings science to life.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/shutterstock_1728019336-scaled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/shutterstock_1728019336-scaled-1.jpg","width":1170,"height":650},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/the-tangible-science-of-jonathan-van-tam\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Communicating Science – What We Can Learn From Jonathan Van-Tam"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/","name":"Body Talk","description":"The Science of Communication","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#\/schema\/person\/9e8c2b54a60c36f3e6f65bb8ef657372","name":"Mark Seddon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d66e099fb9a9360bc9ffa45b888431d1f3a952132d5ab837dc6eef20e98538a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d66e099fb9a9360bc9ffa45b888431d1f3a952132d5ab837dc6eef20e98538a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Seddon"},"url":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/author\/markseddon\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}