The Grey Lit Café

Anthony Haynes

Grey (or gray) literature – 'grey lit' for short – includes such forms of communication as reports, white papers, dissertations, newsletters, slide decks, blogs, and podcasts. The Grey Lit Café explores the opportunities and benefits that grey lit provides for professionals and researchers. The podcast is directed by Anthony Haynes, produced by Dr Bart Hallmark, and published by Frontinus Ltd, a communications agency focused on engineering, infrastructure, sustainability, and research. Frontinus provides consultancy, editing, writing, and training services. If you're creating some grey literature and would like some support, contact us via our website, frontinus.org.uk.

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Top 10 The Grey Lit Café Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Grey Lit Café episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Grey Lit Café for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Grey Lit Café episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

What makes a good presentation (Comms for GM1)

The Grey Lit Café

05/17/25 • 16 min

If you're a student on the University of Cambridge's Multidisciplinary Design course (GM1), this episode has been created for you.

The episode stems from consideration of the big pitfalls presenters often fall into and provides advice on how to avoid them.

Simply by avoiding the pitfalls, you can make your presentation outstandingly good.

Contents

00.00 'Presentation' and 'slides' aren't synonyms
02:37 Where to look and why
08:06 Creating flow
10:18 Getting the timing right

Further listening

This is the first of three episodes on presentations. The other two concern:

slides
tactics concerning group presentations and course-specific factors.

Credit : The music is from Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, courtesy of the US Marine Band.

Support the show

About the publisher
This episode is published by Frontinus Ltd. We're a communications consultancy that helps organisations and individuals to communicate scientific, professional, and technical content to non-specialist audiences.
We provide

consultancy
mentoring
editing and writing
training

and work on presentations, bids and proposals, and publications (for example, reports and papers).
To learn more about services or explore ways of working together, please contact us via our website, http://frontinus.org.uk/.

Scholarly podcasts, with Mack Hagood

The Grey Lit Café

10/05/23 • 26 min

Anthony Haynes writes: Nobody could accuse The Grey Lit Café of ignoring innovation in the communication of science and research! In fact, we're delighted to showcase innovative thinking, as in such episodes as

and shortly we'll be publishing an interview with Giovanni Salucci on his notion of 'the quality blog'.
Here, in an episode fizzing with intellectual excitement, Mack Hagood develops some innovative thinking on podcasting.
This episode
Why should scholarship be done aloud? And how should 'sonic' scholarship be done?
In pursuit of the answers to these questions, Mack Hagood (Associate Professor of Media and Communication at Miami University, Ohio) distinguishes between three types of podcast:

'hi-fi, mid-register';
'lo-fi, high-register'
the 'third way' podcast - the form that Mack proposes as an alternative form to journal papers.

In the process, Mack delves into the characteristics and the benefits of this new form.

References and links
Mack Hagood, 'The scholarly podcast: form and function in audio academia' in Jeremy Wade-Morris & Eric Hoyt, Saving new sounds: podcast preservation and historiography (University of Michigan, 2021).
Mack Hagood's sites include:

The researcher mentioned at Cambridge Judge Business School is Pearl Phaovisaid.
The book on narrative is Shawn Callahan, Putting stories to work (Pepperberg Press, 2016).
Further listening
If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you might also enjoy:

Credits

Sound production: Bart Hallmark
Music: from Handel'

Support the show

consultancy
mentoring
editing and writing
training

How to add value to your poster (Comms for GM1)

The Grey Lit Café

05/17/25 • 11 min

If you’re a student on the Multidisciplinary Design course (GM1), this episode has been created for you.

Understandably, students tasked with preparing a poster presentation tend to assume that it’s all about the poster itself.

Of course, the poster’s the primary component of a poster presentation. But there’s more to poster presentation than that.

This episode explains the why and the how concerning two further components of poster presentations.

Attending to all three components of a poster presentation will help you to optimise the way you engage your audience and communicate your work.

Contents

00:00 What’s in the series?
00:58 What are the components of a poster presentation?
03:02 Who are you communicating with?
05:36 What does your poster not say?
07:07 How can you add value with supplementary resources?
10:23 Where next?

Further episodes

This episode is the first of a series of episodes on poster presentations. The others are:

How to optimise your use of space on your poster
How to optimise design features on your poster

A parallel set of episodes deals with presentations.

Support the show

consultancy
mentoring
editing and writing
training

Podcasting on grey literature: what have we done? whither will we go?

The Grey Lit Café

03/08/25 • 6 min

"Three years have passed; five summers, with the length/ Of five long winters!" (as William Wordsworth wrote). This episode was recorded to mark the third anniversary of The Grey Lit Café's first episode ('Welcome to the Grey Lit Café') and the conclusion of our seventh season.

We briefly review the season in the context of our developing conception of how best to discuss grey literature and we look ahead to the next season, which promises a novel focus.

Further listening
We hope you found this episode rewarding. If so, you might find the following of particular interest:

Credits

Audio production and editing: Anthony Haynes
Opening announcement: Engy Moussa
Music: from Handel's Water Music, courtesy of the United States Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra

Support the show

consultancy
mentoring
editing and writing
training

Learning to become design literate: a key resource

The Grey Lit Café

09/01/22 • 7 min

Anthony Haynes writes: Many of us who aren't designers need to know something about design.
It may be that we have to design something - documents, for example -- ourselves.
Or it may be that we need to work with designers: we need to know how, for example, to brief a designer or to assess and respond to draft work.
That's where Robin Williams' wonderful book, The non-designer's design book (Peachpit), comes in.
This episode reviews this resource, outlining its scope and indicating key aspects of its content.
Further listening
This is the second episode in our occasional series of reviews. If you enjoyed listening to this, you may enjoy our first review, which is of the Redefining Communications podcast.
Credits

Sound production: Bart Hallmark
Music: from Handel's Water Music, courtesy of the United States Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra

The publisher
Frontinus Ltd seeks to help people and organisations to create grey literature of various types more efficiently and effectively.
We do this through consultancy, mentoring, training, writing and editing. If you'd like to explore our services, you're welcome to contact us via our website at http://frontinus.org.uk/.

Support the show

consultancy
mentoring
editing and writing
training

Wordclouds: a neglected form of grey literature

The Grey Lit Café

03/29/22 • 13 min

This episode covers key questions concerning word clouds:

what they are
where they can be sued
why they are useful
how to use them.

Credits

Sound production: Bart Hallmark
Music: from Handel's Water Music, courtesy of the United States Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra

Related content
This episode forms part of our occasional series on grey literature genres.
If you've enjoyed listening to this episode, you might also enjoy our episode on posters.

PS If you'd like to commission a designer to produce word clouds, we can recommend Mr Tom Allery: https://tomallery.co.uk/.

Support the show

consultancy
mentoring
editing and writing
training

How to write abstracts: processes

The Grey Lit Café

11/14/22 • 18 min

Anthony Haynes writes: Our previous episode on abstracts focused on structure and content. Now we switch our attention to process -- how to go about writing the text.
The episode considers common pitfalls and provides tips for good practice.
Resources
Unit V of #EnginComms provides links to a video and how-to slides, together with links to other creators' resources in various forms: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_oHWjm3yg7Z29K31gE6niS4KWpFmUNyNTgbTIhNCFNQ/edit?usp=sharing.
Karen L. McKee has produced two excellent videos, one on written abstracts and one on graphical. The respective links are:

Further listening
If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you might find the following episodes of particular interest:

Credits

Sound production: Bart Hallmark
Music: from Handel's Water Music, courtesy of the United States Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra

Support the show

consultancy
mentoring
editing and writing
training

Where do podcasts come from? Letters as an antecedent

The Grey Lit Café

03/07/24 • 34 min

Anthony Haynes writes: Cultural forms and communicative genres tend not to emerge from a vacuum: they tend to emerge from existing forms. In the case of podcasts, obvious candidates include lectures, essays, sermons, and radio interviews.
And, we suggest here, letters.
In this, the second of a series of three episodes devoted to the topics of letters, we examine the resemblance between podcasting and letters.
Using as a case study the literary correspondence between George Lyttleton and Rupert Hart-Davis, we explore the significance of various aspects of content and form, ranging from voice and types of orality to friendship and disagreement.
Reference
The Lyttleton Hart-Davis letters were published in six volumes by John Murray (1978-84).
Further listening
If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you might particularly enjoy the following:

Credits

Sound production: Bart Hallmark
Music: from Handel's Water Music, courtesy of the United States Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra

Support the show

consultancy
mentoring
editing and writing
training

Stephanie Shirley shares expertise on comms, business, and creativity

The Grey Lit Café

02/02/23 • 18 min

Anthony Haynes writes: This podcast covers the production, management, and consumption of grey literature. Of these themes, we've placed most emphasis than most resources on the first.
In the context of professional communication, we're interested in the creators - people and organizations - and their behaviors. This episode stems from that interest.
I was delighted to have the opportunity to interview Stephanie Shirley, Founder & Owner of Bennis Public Relations. I've followed Stephanie online for many years and have been struck by the quality and consistency of her output - especially her long-running and outstanding blog, The Comm Entrepreneur,
In the course of our conversation, we explore Stephanie's career history, vocation and motivation. In the process, Stephanie provides three pieces (bronze, silver, and gold) of advice, based on the lessons that she has learned from 12 years of business development.
We also discussed The Comm Entrepreneur - Stephanie's reasons for running the blog and the benefits that accrue.
Further listening
If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, you might also be interested in the following episodes:

How to get blogging and stay blogging
Our mini-series on productivity, including Improving your productivity through time management
Writing emails effectively

Further information on Stephanie and her business
Most of Stephanie Shirley’s public relations career has been spent on the consultant side. At the age of 23, she left her newly appointed job within Pennsylvania's state government to take an entrepreneurial leap of faith and start her own PR consulting business, Bennis Public Relations.

Now almost 12 years later, Bennis Public Relations has proudly assisted hundreds of clients locally and nationally, serving as their strategic partner who creates innovative and effective communication solutions to help grow a powerful and consistent brand.
Stephanie has helped businesses of all sizes and industries navigate the challenging internal and external communications of branding, transitioning through acquisitions and leadership changes, developing comprehensive strategic communications strategies, and implementing those strategies, consistently and effectively.
Stephanie is also called upon during critical moments when crisis communications and reputation management are central to the future viability of an organization, brand, or person.

Credits

Sound production: Bart Hallmark
Music: from Handel's Water Music, courtesy of the United States Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orche

Support the show

consultancy
mentoring
editing and writing
training

The art of the newsletter: lessons from the reader's perspective

The Grey Lit Café

06/20/24 • 39 min

Anthony Haynes writes: In this, our latest genre-based, episode, Engy Moussa and I explore newsletters - primarily from the perspective of the reader.
We range widely, exploring questions concerning quantity, spatial design, schedules, the reading journey, distinction, and offputting features.
And we review our favorite examples, asking what can be learned from them about the art of the newsletter.
And, finally, we consider the benefits to writers of contributing to newsletters.
Links

Our episode on managing emails: Managing emails
Our episode on Robin Williams' book: The non-designer's design book
The Royal Mint: www.royalmint.com
Buzzsprout Weekly: www.buzzsprout.com/2366845/share
Jenni Field: From chaos to calm
British Ecological Society: newsletter
James Clear: 3-2-1

Further listening
We hope you've found this episode a rewarding listen. If so, you might enjoy the following genre-based episodes:

Support the show

consultancy
mentoring
editing and writing
training

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FAQ

How many episodes does The Grey Lit Café have?

The Grey Lit Café currently has 73 episodes available.

What topics does The Grey Lit Café cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture, Research, Podcasts, Resources, Science and Communication.

What is the most popular episode on The Grey Lit Café?

The episode title 'How to write abstracts: processes' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on The Grey Lit Café?

The average episode length on The Grey Lit Café is 20 minutes.

How often are episodes of The Grey Lit Café released?

Episodes of The Grey Lit Café are typically released every 12 days, 17 hours.

When was the first episode of The Grey Lit Café?

The first episode of The Grey Lit Café was released on Mar 8, 2022.

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The Grey Lit Café

Anthony Haynes

Top 10 The Grey Lit Café Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does The Grey Lit Café have?

What topics does The Grey Lit Café cover?

What is the most popular episode on The Grey Lit Café?

What is the average episode length on The Grey Lit Café?

How often are episodes of The Grey Lit Café released?

When was the first episode of The Grey Lit Café?

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