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Effective Messages and Message Mapping - Federal
- 1. Effective Messages andMessage Mapping Dr. Robert C. Chandler Director, Nicholson School of Communication
- 2. Agenda • Effective Messages •The latest rules for message mapping • Must-have tools for creating messages • Why formalized, planned communication is vital to emergency preparedness 2
- 3. The challenges: Communication (Justa few…) • Insufficient communication planning • Psychological noise Crisis • Communication breakdowns communicators (messages, processes, people) must overcome these challenges 3
- 4. The challenges: Recipient/ Message • Attention • Selection • Perception • Behavioral request • Understanding • Feedback • Comprehension } Crisis communicators must overcome these challenges
- 5. Three tiers ofan effective message Moderate redundancy 5
- 6. Anatomy of anemergency notification message DA 4 - 3 & 30 - 60 & 6 Danger - Action Sequence 4 Key Components 3 sentences & 30 words or less 60 readability score & 6th grade reading level (Chandler Method)
- 7. Four components ofeffective emergency notification messages Information Urgency Message Instructions Confirmation 7
- 8. Every stage ofthe crisis dictates your audience’s information requirements and your response 1. Warning 2. Risk Assessment 3. Response 4. Management 5. Resolution 6. Recovery
- 9. The solution: MessageMaps What are Message Maps? • A database of messages in predictable sequences (templates, sample wording, etc.) • Checklist of important messages, audiences, etc. to serve as roadmap for communicating • Clear, concise messages created in advance of an incident that simplify complex concepts and improve communication during chaos • Useful before, during, and after an incident as well as for routine and on-going communication 9
- 10. Next step: Creating abasic Chandler message map in five easy steps 1. Begin with the overall communication goals in mind 2. Determine the messages & audiences (who & what) for each Crisis Phase 3. Identify three sub-points that relate to the goal for each 4. Create matrix of Predictable Sequences for Messages 5. Create three sentences for each message goal (Tier 3) 10
- 11. Basic message mappingtools • Stock templates • Word choices • Keyword lists • Lexicon • Thesaurus • Goals and strategies 11
- 12. Message matrices • Who/ what / how of messages • How to build a message matrix
- 13. Message matrices Audience Key Messages Com. Channel Timing Spokesperson Employees Customers Suppliers Investors Community Leaders Regulators, government Media General public 13
- 14. Next step: The goodand the bad of incident notification 14
- 15. Effective communication strategies • Be first, be right, be credible • Acknowledge with empathy • Explain and inform about risk • Describe what you know, don’t know, and what you’re doing about it • Commit to continued communication • Keep communication channels open 15
- 16. Always remember • Nothingcan destroy hard-earned credibility more quickly than failure to communicate well in a crisis • The message you send represents everyone in your organization from the governor to the on-scene responders • Only quick, confident, actionable, and easily understandable communications will ensure your constituents’ life-safety
- 17. Communication Contact information resources White papers, literature, case studies www.everbridge.com/resources blog.everbridge.com twitter.com/everbridge facebook.com/everbridgeinc youtube.com/user/everbridge Robert C. Chandler, Ph.D. rcchandl@mail.ucf.edu 1.407.823.2681
- 18. Communication Contact information resources White papers, literature, case studies www.everbridge.com/resources Ellen Rollins blog.everbridge.com twitter.com/everbridge Senior Account Manager facebook.com/everbridgeinc ellen.rollins@everbridge.com youtube.com/user/everbridge 760.644.8403 Francis Willett Director, Services Delivery francis.willett@everbridge.com 818.230.9512 Hank Nowak Rory Peters Director, Federal Services Group Training & Education Service Manager hank.nowak@everbridge.com rory.peters@everbridge.com 267.222.8385 818.230.9755