The science of engaging an audience

From world-leading researchers to global digital creators, bringing different perspectives together can help shape how we think about science and its place in society.

The Australian National University (ANU) recently welcomed internationally recognised science communicator Dr Derek Muller to campus for a sold-out public lecture, giving staff, students and alumni an opportunity to hear from one of the world's most influential science communicators.

Drawing on 15 years of creating videos for his popular YouTube channel Veritasium, Dr Muller explored how understanding audiences, creating curiosity and finding compelling stories can make complex science accessible to millions.

When Muller launched Veritasium in 2011, his initial vision was to take viewers on a step-by-step journey through the fundamentals of science.

“I would start with the most basic science idea. And then I was going step by step through all the science until basically you get a PhD watching the YouTube channel from start to finish.”

He soon realised, however, that he needed to rethink his approach and the audience he was trying to reach.

“It was an audience that didn't exist. I realised that a much better audience to target was an audience of science enthusiasts, people who love science, people who already know a lot about science and people who want to push their understanding further,” said Muller.

Understanding an audience also means recognising what people don't know and avoiding jargon or assumptions about prior knowledge.

“One of the biggest challenges for scientists and science professors is that they forget what it's like to not know the thing.”

Over time, Dr Muller experimented with different ways to bring science to life, from science songs and street interviews to visual demonstrations, including a slow-motion video of a falling slinky filmed at Canberra's Questacon.

For Dr Muller, an effective science story needs to capture attention while giving audiences a reason to stay engaged.

"You want to get to a mystery. You want to get to a question. You want a story. You know, the first five seconds are critical," he said.

But capturing viewers' attention was only part of the challenge. The real reward comes when an audience reaches a moment of understanding.

"We want people to get to a moment where they feel a strong sense of intellectual satisfaction. They want to feel like there's a sudden reveal and it all makes sense."

The approach has helped Veritasium grow into one of the world's most popular science channels, with more than 21.4 million YouTube subscribers and 4.6 billion views. In 2025, Muller received the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Kavli Science Journalism Gold Award.

Associate Professor Will Grant, from the ANU Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (CPAS), said Muller's experiences offer lessons beyond online video.

“Derek Muller is an absolute icon of the modern communication of science. Not only does his YouTube channel reach millions of people every week, but he's shaping the way high schools and universities think about their science education work,” he said.

Associate Professor Grant said the way people access and engage with science had changed significantly, with digital platforms and emerging technologies creating both opportunities and challenges.

"Clearly we live in a radically different world for science communication than 30 years ago. The internet, social media and AI are all changing the communication of science enormously, and it’s our job to both understand that impact and help scientists to navigate it.”

Despite these changes, he said the fundamentals of effective science communication remained consistent.

“A focus on audience, relevance and curiosity will always be essential to science communication.”

For universities, putting these principles into practice means training the next generation of science communicators and content creators, as well as supporting researchers to share their work with audiences beyond their immediate academic communities.

“Universities have a critical role to help researchers communicate their work, either by working directly to help tell their story or equipping them with skills to be able to tell their story in ways that suit them," said Associate Professor Grant.

Bringing leading international science communicators to ANU also creates opportunities to explore new approaches to storytelling and consider how their lessons can be applied across different disciplines.

"We’re so delighted to host Derek for this talk as it’s wonderful chance to explore the cutting edge of science storytelling and explore how his lessons can be brought to other fields."

Watch Dr Derek Muller's public lecture on the ANUTV YouTube

@ScienceANU: 5 questions with Dr Derek Muller