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Section Summary

To get your messages across amid the chaos and heightened emotions during a crisis, you should develop simple, clear messages tailored to the audience you want to reach. Effective messages:

  • Give specific guidance
  • Acknowledge how people feel
  • Avoid condescension, promises, and attacks

When communicating complex information use:

  • Plain language
  • Consistent terminology
  • Familiar frames of reference

Pretesting your messages will help you make sure your messages resonate with your audience.