Creating Scripts for Crisis Communication: COVID-19 and Beyond. (January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: St.Amant, Kirk
• Other Names: Frith Jordan guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of business and technical communication. Volume 35:Number 1(2021)
• Page Start: 126
• Page End: 133
• Publication Date: 2021-01
• Subjects: cognition -- crisis communication -- health communication -- psychology -- public health -- scripts; Business communication -- Periodicals; Communication of technical information -- Periodicals; 658.45
• DOI: 10.1177/1050651920959191
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1050-6519

Abstract

Individuals act on information that connects to their daily lives. In emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, these connections are central to maintaining individual health and community safety. Making such connections requires an understanding of audience perceptions; the better technical communicators address these perceptions, the more successful their materials can be. This article presents a cognitive framework, based on script theory, to help identify and address such factors in the COVID-19 crisis and in future public health challenges.