Engaging Client Engagements: Understanding the Other/Understanding the Self

• In Event: 1223 - Practice Symposium- Translating Sociological Insights to Broader Audiences

Abstract

As an applied social scientist and ethnographer the biggest challenge I face in my work is communicating the outcomes of research and the value of an on-the-ground understanding of people. My work needs to resonate with the audience once I leave the room. Regardless of the industry, market, target population, or the client, my audience need to “own” the insights. They need to feel confident in their comprehension and be able to speak knowledgeably about what was covered so they can use the information themselves. Unfortunately, in today’s climate, sometimes our traditional methods of dissemination (e.g. research papers, essays, Power Point decks) fail to resonate past a share out. In this presentation, I provide an overview of three interdisciplinary techniques/strategies I have used to share and communicate ethnographic insights to clients. Personal storytelling, active listening trainings, and designing client-specific assets that draw on popular culture (e.g. memes) invite audiences to embody the ethnographic mindset—they become both participant and observer and are asked to filter the cues of human experience through their own subject position. As I’ve learned, and as I will show, when I use the foundations of ethnography to design engagements, my audience feels more connect to the subject, they trust and rely on multi-sensorial observational cues, take more risks in their thinking, and discover actionable directions that are grounded in human experience. They’re also more fun and exciting! This form of ethnography as praxis calls people in to a shared experience that empathetically builds connection and resonates past the temporal moment.

Author

• Jillian Powers, COGNIZANT