Communicating in high stress situations

How to Communicatein High Stress Situations*
Rusty Cawley, APR | ColdCrisis.tv
*Condensed from the National Center for Food Protection and Defense’s “Risk Communicator Training for Food Defense Preparedness, Response & Recovery,” module 3, topic 1.

Basic model for communication
The Sender

The Receiver

The Channel

The Message

Feedback

The Environment

Noise

High stress is noise

Establishing trust inLOW stress situations
Source: Vincent Covello

Establishing trust inHIGH stress situations

9/11 attack on New York City
‘The loss of life … is greater than any of us can possible bear.’
Mayor Rudy Giuliani

Impact of high stress
The sender must emphasize caring and openness.
The receiver loses some capacity to understand and recall messages.
Listening carefully to feedback becomes crucial.

Effects of stress on communication
Low stress
People can process an average of 7 messages.
They recall information in linear order (1,2,3 …)
They process messages at an eighth-grade level
Trust is built on competence and experience.

Effects of stress on communication
Low stress
They recall information in linear order (1,2,3 …)
They process messages at an eighth-grade level
Trust is built on competence and experience.
High stress
They recall what they perceive as most important or what is said last.
They process messages at a fourth-grade level.
Trust is built on listening, empathy, caring and compassion

How do we adjustfor high stress?

1. Send simple messages
Maximum: 3 messages.
Use short sentences.
Blend empathy with action.
Use numbers sparingly.

2006 E.coli spinach outbreak
‘We are telling everyone to get rid of fresh bagged spinach right now.’
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle

‘To be safe, don’t eat it.’
Minnesota Health Department

‘It's sickening for us to see anybody in the public suffer in this way, especially if they got ill from eating at Taco John's.’
Corporate Vice President for Marketing

2. Emphasize pictures and diagrams

To learn more,visit ColdCrisis.tvorhttp://outrage.typepad.com/food.html

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Communicating in high stress situations

by Rusty Cawley on Jun 03, 2010

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Communicating in high stress situations — Webinar Transcript