Who's This For
You have clarity on your impact story. Now you need to tell it to people who aren't NSF reviewers.
This issue is for you if you sound too academic when talking to community partners. If you sound too informal for proposal reviewers. If you have one pitch that doesn't quite land anywhere. If you're developing a public presence and want to communicate your broader impacts effectively.
The Partnership Moment
You've developed a clear broader impacts story. It works great for your proposal. Reviewers can follow the logic, see the structure, understand how activities connect to outcomes.
Then a museum educator asks what your project is about. You launch into your explanation and watch their eyes glaze.
Or a potential industry partner asks how their organization might be involved. You describe your plan and they nod politely but you can tell they're not seeing themselves in it.
The story is the same. But the telling needs to adapt.