Cutting Through the Clutter: Successful Messaging in an Age of Information Overload

Cutting Through the Clutter: Successful Messaging in an Age of Information

Overload

Dr. Robert Chandler, Ph.D.

Director of the Nicholson School, University of Central Florida

Marc Ladin

Chief Marketing Officer, Everbridge

• Everbridge empowers better decisions with interactive communications throughout the incident lifecycle to protect your most important assets

• Recognized in the 2012 Gartner Magic Quadrant on Emergency / Mass Notification as a Leader in the industry

About EverbridgeAbout Everbridge

• Everbridge helps more than 30 million people communicate in a crisis and connect on a daily basis.

• The company’s notification platform is backed by an elastic infrastructure model that delivers near infinite scale, advanced mobile connectivity, and real-time reporting and analytics.

• More than 1,000 organizations in over 100 countries rely on Everbridge for their emergency needs

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Agenda

Part 1: Presentation

• What factors “drown out” critical messages

• How to create effective message structure and content

• How to overcome message fatigue

AgendaAgenda

• How to overcome message fatigue

Part 2: Q&A

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Bracing for the 2010

Hurricane SeasonCutting Through the Clutter

Successful Messaging in an

Age of Information Overload

Dr. Robert ChandlerUniversity of Central Florida

(2 March 2012) New York, NY [USA]

A well-intentioned Southwest Airlines pilot made an announcement wishing an air traffic controller's mom (who was a passenger aboard the flight) a happy birthday. Unfortunately, edgy passengers misheard "mom on board" as "bomb on board," causing panic. A Southwest

Miscommunication at workMiscommunication at work

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"mom on board" as "bomb on board," causing panic. A Southwest spokesperson told WCBS 880 that the pilot clarified his announcement, but the passengers were not placated, and two of them complained to security officials after landing.

• Term popularized by Alvin Toffler

• Refers to the difficulty a person can have

understanding an issue and making decisions that

can be caused by the presence of too much

information

"Information overload" "Information overload"

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information

• First mentioned in a

1964 book by Bertram

Gross, The Managing

of Organizations

• Toffler's explanation of it presents information

overload as the Information Age's version of sensory

overload, a term that had been introduced in the

1950s

• "Information overload" and concept precede the

"Information overload" "Information overload"

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• "Information overload" and concept precede the

Internet and can be viewed from an information

sciences perspective or viewed as a

psychology phenomenon

• Information Overload is when you are trying to deal

with more information than you are able to process to

make sensible decisions

• It is now commonplace to be getting too many e-mails,

reports and incoming messages to deal with them

Age of spamAge of spam

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reports and incoming messages to deal with them

effectively.

• Vital information – during critical incidents may simply

become lost in the tsunami of information – filtered out,

ignored, or just adding to the sheer volume of

information noise that prevents effective decision

making at peak periods


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• The root of the problem is that, although information

input, various communication modalities,

interconnection to data sources, computer processing

and memory is increasing all the time, the humans

that must use all of this information are not getting any


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faster

• Human brains are still learning to deal with the juxtaposition of

millions of years of sensory input vs thousands of years of

reading/writing vs. recent high speed electronic information

flow

• How do we counteract this learning curve?

How to better process informationHow to better process information

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• Spending less time on gaining information that is nice to know and more

time on things that we need to know now.

• Focusing on quality of information, rather than quantity.

• Learning how to create better information.

• Single-tasking, and keeping the mind focused on one issue at a time.

• Spending time disconnected from interruptions (e.g. switch off e-mail,

telephones, Web, etc.) so you can fully concentrate for a significant

period of time on using the information you have to make a quality

decision.

Determine what you should

communicate by assessing how people

understand, interpret, and act on

messages.

How information is processed during a crisisHow information is processed during a crisis

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• Cognitive processing capabilities

• Perceived risk

• Information loading theory

• Attitude-behavioral consistency theory

• Balance theory

Factors affecting information Factors affecting information processingprocessing

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• Balance theory

• Uncertainty reduction theory

• Situation awareness

• Selective attention

• Reaction time

• Semantic memory

Diminished Cognitive CapacitiesDiminished Cognitive Capacities

During emergencies and

disasters, decisions must

typically be made

unexpectedly with little

advance notice, high advance notice, high

stress/distress context,

little time for thorough

deliberation, and often

with high (life and death)

negative consequence

risks

• Cognitive processing involves thinking, reasoning,

remembering, imagining, or learning

• Cognitive abilities typically decrease as stress

increases

• People possess different cognitive abilities and

CognitiveCognitive--processing capabilitiesprocessing capabilities

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• People possess different cognitive abilities and

limitations, which in turn affects decision-making

capabilities in a crisis

• Limits what people notice and remember during

a crisis

• Conscious vs. unconscious

Selective attentionSelective attention

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Factors that affect reaction time include:

• Recognition, choice, number of stimuli, fatigue,

reasoning, remembering, imagining, or learning

Reaction timeReaction time

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• Concept-based knowledge unrelated to specific

experiences, e.g. learning ABCs

• Semantic memory is memory of words, facts, and

ideas

• People’s semantic memories are usually assumed

Semantic Semantic memorymemory

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• People’s semantic memories are usually assumed

to be similar (in contrast to episodic memory)

Communication Processing ImpairmentCommunication Processing Impairment

Info processed at -4 grade

(average) levels from low stress

(about 6th grade in general population)

Info processed at average grade

level (about 10th

Grade in general population)

Recipients process average of 7 messages

per communication

episode

Recipients process average of 3 messages

per communication

episode

Low Stress High Stress

population)episode episode

Robert C. Chandler, Ph.D. © 2010

Cognitive AbilitiesNormal<--------------------��Diminished

Increased ConfusedInability to focusEasily distracted

Increased Misinterpretation Increased Misunderstandings

Unable to complete complex critical thinking

Routine misinterpretationRoutine misunderstandingsAssumptionsSequential Errors

• Rules and norms

• Interruptions

• 47% of communication

events classified as

interruptions

• Asynchronous and synchronous

• Information seeking

• Active to passive

• Message variables

Communication Communication patternspatterns

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interruptions

• Simultaneous

communication

interaction

• Message variables

• Grammar

• Syntax

• Honesty is the best policy.

• Honest and frank disclosure of risk allows constituents

to make informed decisions to protect themselves.

• Transparency can help eliminate panic.

• Messages must be consistent and coordinated.

Preventing miscommunicationPreventing miscommunication

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• Messages must be consistent and coordinated.

• Coordinating messages and the release of information

can help slow the emergence of contradictions,

inconsistencies, and confusion.

Communicating in highCommunicating in high--stress stress emergency situations emergency situations

Truth #1: Stress negatively affects cognitive process

• Information–loading reductions (lower cognitive limits on

how much or how many things we can think about)

• Attitude–behavioral consistency interaction and

uncertainty anxiety effectsuncertainty anxiety effects

� Use optimal Loading� Use optimal redundancy� More than information – your communication should address

uncertainty-anxiety

A poorly constructed message can contribute to misunderstanding,

unrealistic expectations, and/or confusion


Truth #2: Stress negatively affects comprehension Simplify

the message (lower reading level)

� Reduce number of message points to

maximum of 3 points


� Use short sentences

� Use numbers carefully

� Use pictures or graphics


Truth #3: Selective attention (including attention

blindness/deafness); reaction time changes (in most cases

these changes result in slowed reaction times) will change

the way that your audience receives, perceives, and thinks

about the message.



Truth #4: You can’t forget varied demographics

� Customize the message – based on geographic location, languages

and economic resources

� Messages should be written in the recipient's first language (L1)


� Messages must be coordinated and consistent across all levels


Incident Notification

Marc LadinMarc LadinChief Marketing Officer, Everbridge

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Incident Notification Solutions Address Incident Notification Solutions Address Common Communication ChallengesCommon Communication Challenges

• Reduce miscommunications and control rumors with

accurate, consistent messages

• Satisfy regulatory requirements with extensive and

complete reporting of

• Communicate quickly, easily, and efficiently with large

numbers of people in minutes,

not hours, making sure that the

lines of communication are open

• Receive feedback from your complete reporting of

communication attempts and

two-way acknowledgements from

recipients

• Deliver refined, prepared , timed messages to each pre-

designated audience group, by

scenario

• Receive feedback from your messages by using polling

capabilities

• Ensure two-way communications to get

feedback from message

receivers

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Everbridge AdvantagesEverbridge Advantages

Existing Notification Vendor’s Infrastructure:

• Static algorithms based on capacity limitations, not actual call volumes during a disaster

- Failure-prone from unexpected

volumes of message outputvolumes of message output

- No ability to burst to meet wide-scale

system usage

The Everbridge Advantage:

• Near-infinite scale achieved

- Multiple redundant VoiP & PSTN

providers

- Elastic capacity accommodates

highest volume of outbound calls in

the industry

Everbridge’s Elastic Infrastructure ModelEverbridge’s Elastic Infrastructure Model

• What is it?

• Elastic infrastructure integrates with multiple, redundant on-demand communications providers

• Provides near infinite scale, capacity, performance and capacity, performance and processing resources

• Dynamically looking into performance and proactively enhance the performance of notifications delivered

• Provable, measurable performance through Everbridge’s mass recipient emulator

Advanced Connectivity for a Mobile WorldAdvanced Connectivity for a Mobile World

• Communicate from anywhere,

under any circumstances or

conditions

• Low-bandwidth optimized to

ensure delivery in adverse

• Support for popular mobile

platforms (Apple iOS, Android, &

BlackBerry)

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ensure delivery in adverse

conditions

Contact InformationContact Information

Thank you for joining us today!

Dr. Robert [email protected]

Marc Ladin

The third annual International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference is being hosted by the Nicholson School of Communication at UCF on March 4-6, 2013. Plan now to attend this exceptional event. For more information please visit: http://icrcommunication.com/

Marc [email protected] Everbridge Resources

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Item Number (Schedule II): 26.3Activity Group: A1 Point for each webinar

Cutting Through the Clutter: Successful Messaging in an Age of Information Overload

Business

Transcript of Cutting Through the Clutter: Successful Messaging in an Age of Information Overload