Yesterday’s announcement from CERN about the (almost certain) discovery of the Higgs Boson has excited scientists around the world. It’s a phenomenal achievement at the very forefront of science.

But most people will be slightly mystified and no doubt asking ‘What does it mean and why is it important?’

In our presentation skills course we train scientists to present complex scientific ideas in a way that is understandable to the layman. We’re often met with the claim that it’s difficult to explain such complexity without enormous amounts of data in incomprehensible graphs or impenetrable language. Whilst that may be true, we occasionally come across examples of people who can communicate stuff that really is ‘rocket science’ in a way that even a school child can understand. They use pictures, props, analogies and other ‘right brain’ devices to get the message across.

Here’s a great example of Ian Sample explaining what the Higgs boson is and why it matters using ping pong balls and sugar: