SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
English
2019
Policy Makers, Practitioners
Published
Before, During, After
Content creation, Crisis communication
Intermediate
https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/d7/priv/pep19-01-01-005.pdf
CONTENT
- Communications Fundamentals
- Communicating Complex, Scientific, and Technical Information
- Myths, Principles, And Pitfalls
- Understanding and Working with the Media
- Using Social Media Before And During Crises
- Correcting Errors and Rumor Control
- Assessing Personal Strengths and Weaknesses
- Presenting Information at Public Meetings
- Recognizing Opportunities to Speak Out
This guide focuses on the following areas:
- A brief orientation and perspective on the media for public officials, including discussion of how the media thinks and works, and on the public as the end-recipient of information
- Techniques for responding to and cooperating with the media in conveying information and delivering messages before, during, and after a public health crisis
- Tools of the trade of media relations and public communications
- Strategies and tactics for addressing opportunities and challenges that may arise as a consequence of communications initiatives
AVOIDING PITFALLS
- Abstractions:
- Use examples, stories, and analogies to make your point.
- Don’t assume there is a common understanding between you and your audience (even when you are using stories and analogies to make your point).
- Attacks:
- Respond to issues, not to people.
- Strive to end debates, not further them.
- Don’t respond to an attack with an attack of your own.
- Attitude/Nonverbal Messages:
- Remain calm, attentive, and polite.
- Adopt a relaxed, neutral physical stance.
- Don’t let your feelings interfere with your ability to communicate positively.
- Never convey disgust, frustration, indifference, or smugness.
- Never lose your temper.
- Don’t allow your body language, your position in the room, or your dress to affect your message.
- Blame:
- Accept your share of responsibility for a problem.
- Don’t try to shift blame or responsibility to others and don’t magnify the fault to be found in others in order to deflect criticism or minimize your culpability.
- Costs:
- Focus on the benefits to be derived, not on the costs entailed.
- If costs are an issue, voice respect for the need for responsible stewardship of public funds.
- Don’t discuss issues in terms of their dollar value, or complain about a lack of funds.
- Guarantees:
- It is better to offer a likelihood, emphasizing progress and on-going efforts.
- Don’t make comments like, “There are no guarantees in life.”
- Humor:
- Avoid it.
- If used, direct it at yourself.
- Don’t use it in relation to safety, or health, or in describing risk.
- Jargon:
- Define all technical terms and acronyms.
- Don’t use language that may not be understood by even a portion of your audience.
- Length of Presentations:
- Plan, practice and deliver a cogent 15-minute presentation.
- Don’t believe that what you are saying is inherently more interesting than other topics and therefore warrants more time.
- By the same token, don’t end your remarks after 15 minutes if there are important audience questions in need of answering.
- Negative Allegations:
- Refute allegations succinctly.
- Don’t repeat allegations or refer to them in ways that give them credibility.
- Negative Words and Phrases:
- Use positive or neutral terms.
- Don’t cite national problems, or make highly charged analogies, which may belittle the current situation (e.g., don’t say, “This is not 9/11.”).
- “Off the Record”:
- Always assume everything you say and do is part of the public record.
- Don’t make side comments or “confidential” remarks.
- The rule is: Never say anything that you are not willing to see printed on the front page of a newspaper.
- Personal Identity:
- Speak for the organization. Use the pronoun “we.”
- Don’t give the impression that you, alone, are the authority on the issues being raised or the sole decision-maker.
- Never disagree with the organization you are representing, e.g., “Personally, I don’t agree,” or “Speaking for myself ...,” or “If it were me. ...”
- Promises:
- It is better to state your willingness to try. Promise only what you can deliver.
- Don’t make promises you can’t keep and never make a promise on behalf of someone else.
- Reliance on Words Alone:
- Use visuals and hand-outs to emphasize key points.
- Don’t rely entirely on the spoken word to explain your point.
- Speculation:
- Stick to the facts of what has, is, and will be done.
- Don’t speculate on what could be done, or on what might happen, or on possible outcomes other than the intended one(s), or about worst case scenarios.
- Statistics:
- Use them to illuminate larger points and to emphasize trends and achievements.
- Don’t make them the focus of your remarks, or overuse them.
- Technical details and data:
- Focus on empathy, efforts, and results.
- Don’t try to fully inform and educate audiences on the minutia of issues.
Five Rules for Building Trust and Credibility
- 1. Accept and involve the public as a partner.
- Work with and for the public to inform, dispel misinformation and, to every degree possible, allay fears and concerns.
- 2. Appreciate the public’s specific concerns.
- Statistics and probabilities don’t necessarily answer all questions.
- Be sensitive to people’s fears and worries on a human level.
- Your position does not preclude your acknowledging the sadness of an illness, injury, or death.
- Do not overstate or dwell on tragedy, but do empathize with the public and provide answers that respect their humanity.
- 3. Be honest and open.
- Once lost, trust and credibility are almost impossible to regain.
- Never mislead the public by lying or failing to provide information that is important to their understanding of issues.
- 4. Work with other credible sources.
- Conflicts and disagreements among organizations and credible spokespersons create confusion and breed distrust.
- Coordinate your information and communications efforts with those of other legitimate parties.
- 5. Meet the needs of the media.
- Never refuse to work with the media.
- The media’s role is to inform the public, which will be done with or without your assistance.
- Work with the media to ensure that the information they are providing the public is as accurate and enlightening as possible.
- If your agency or organization has a communications office, work with them on approaches to dealing with the media.
SOURCE: Covello and Allen, 1988; Palttala, Boano, Lund, & Vos, 2012Property "Synopsis" (as page type) with input value "CONTENT</br>*Communications Fundamentals </br>*Communicating Complex, Scientific, and Technical Information </br>*Myths, Principles, And Pitfalls </br>*Understanding and Working with the Media </br>*Using Social Media Before And During Crises </br>*Correcting Errors and Rumor Control </br>*Assessing Personal Strengths and Weaknesses </br>*Presenting Information at Public Meetings</br>*Recognizing Opportunities to Speak Out</br></br></br>This guide focuses on the following areas:</br>* A brief orientation and perspective on the media for public officials, including discussion of how the media thinks and works, and on the public as the end-recipient of information</br>* Techniques for responding to and cooperating with the media in conveying information and delivering messages before, during, and after a public health crisis</br>* Tools of the trade of media relations and public communications</br>* Strategies and tactics for addressing opportunities and challenges that may arise as a consequence of communications initiatives</br></br></br></br></br>AVOIDING PITFALLS</br>* Abstractions:</br>** Use examples, stories, and analogies to make your point.</br>** Don’t assume there is a common understanding between you and your audience (even when you are using stories and analogies to make your point).</br>* Attacks:</br>** Respond to issues, not to people. </br>** Strive to end debates, not further them. </br>** Don’t respond to an attack with an attack of your own.</br>* Attitude/Nonverbal Messages:</br>** Remain calm, attentive, and polite. </br>** Adopt a relaxed, neutral physical stance.
</br>** Don’t let your feelings interfere with your ability to communicate positively. </br>** Never convey disgust, frustration, indifference, or smugness. </br>** Never lose your temper. </br>** Don’t allow your body language, your position in the room, or your dress to affect your message.</br>* Blame:</br>** Accept your share of responsibility for a problem.
</br>** Don’t try to shift blame or responsibility to others and don’t magnify the fault to be found in others in order to deflect criticism or minimize your culpability.</br>* Costs:</br>** Focus on the benefits to be derived, not on the costs entailed.</br>*** If costs are an issue, voice respect for the need for responsible stewardship of public funds.
</br>** Don’t discuss issues in terms of their dollar value, or complain about a lack of funds.</br>* Guarantees:</br>** It is better to offer a likelihood, emphasizing progress and on-going efforts. </br>** Don’t make comments like, “There are no guarantees in life.”</br>* Humor:</br>** Avoid it. </br>*** If used, direct it at yourself.
</br>** Don’t use it in relation to safety, or health, or in describing risk.</br>* Jargon:</br>** Define all technical terms and acronyms.
</br>** Don’t use language that may not be understood by even a portion of your audience.</br>* Length of Presentations:</br>** Plan, practice and deliver a cogent 15-minute presentation.
</br>** Don’t believe that what you are saying is inherently more interesting than other topics and therefore warrants more time. </br>** By the same token, don’t end your remarks after 15 minutes if there are important audience questions in need of answering.</br>* Negative Allegations:</br>** Refute allegations succinctly.
</br>** Don’t repeat allegations or refer to them in ways that give them credibility.</br>* Negative Words and Phrases:</br>** Use positive or neutral terms.
</br>** Don’t cite national problems, or make highly charged analogies, which may belittle the current situation (e.g., don’t say, “This is not 9/11.”).</br>* “Off the Record”:</br>** Always assume everything you say and do is part of the public record.
</br>** Don’t make side comments or “confidential” remarks. </br>*** The rule is: Never say anything that you are not willing to see printed on the front page of a newspaper.</br>* Personal Identity:</br>** Speak for the organization. Use the pronoun “we.”
</br>** Don’t give the impression that you, alone, are the authority on the issues being raised or the sole decision-maker. </br>** Never disagree with the organization you are representing, e.g., “Personally, I don’t agree,” or “Speaking for myself ...,” or “If it were me. ...”</br>* Promises:</br>** It is better to state your willingness to try. Promise only what you can deliver.</br>** Don’t make promises you can’t keep and never make a promise on behalf of someone else.</br>* Reliance on Words Alone:</br>** Use visuals and hand-outs to emphasize key points.
</br>** Don’t rely entirely on the spoken word to explain your point.</br>* Speculation:</br>** Stick to the facts of what has, is, and will be done.
</br>** Don’t speculate on what could be done, or on what might happen, or on possible outcomes other than the intended one(s), or about worst case scenarios.</br>* Statistics:</br>** Use them to illuminate larger points and to emphasize trends and achievements.</br>** Don’t make them the focus of your remarks, or overuse them.</br>* Technical details and data:</br>** Focus on empathy, efforts, and results. </br>** Don’t try to fully inform and educate audiences on the minutia of issues.</br></br></br>Five Rules for Building Trust and Credibility</br>*1. Accept and involve the public as a partner. </br>**Work with and for the public to inform, dispel misinformation and, to every degree possible, allay fears and concerns.</br>*2. Appreciate the public’s specific concerns. </br>**Statistics and probabilities don’t necessarily answer all questions. </br>**Be sensitive to people’s fears and worries on a human level. </br>**Your position does not preclude your acknowledging the sadness of an illness, injury, or death. </br>**Do not overstate or dwell on tragedy, but do empathize with the public and provide answers that respect their humanity.</br>*3. Be honest and open. </br>**Once lost, trust and credibility are almost impossible to regain. </br>**Never mislead the public by lying or failing to provide information that is important to their understanding of issues.</br>*4. Work with other credible sources. </br>**Conflicts and disagreements among organizations and credible spokespersons create confusion and breed distrust. </br>**Coordinate your information and communications efforts with those of other legitimate parties.</br>*5. Meet the needs of the media. </br>**Never refuse to work with the media. </br>**The media’s role is to inform the public, which will be done with or without your assistance. </br>**Work with the media to ensure that the information they are providing the public is as accurate and enlightening as possible. </br>**If your agency or organization has a communications office, work with them on approaches to dealing with the media.</br></br></br>SOURCE: Covello and Allen, 1988; Palttala, Boano, Lund, & Vos, 2012" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.
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