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Read. Understand. Apply.
The Warn Room blogs apply 70 years of research to the practice of alerts and warnings. We show how evidence-based changes to message content, style, and structure can create more effective warnings.
Warning Gallery
Helping you Improve Wireless Emergency Alerts!
Some Wireless Emergency Alerts are exemplary in their construction and inclusion of content. Others are not. Risk communicators can learn from each other in order to improve their messaging when it really matters.
Come back frequently for more examples.
Scary Messages - motivating behavior with persuasive language
There has been a long and ongoing discussion about how "scary" a message should be to motivate behavior. Some argue that people need to...
Jeannette Sutton
Dec 22, 2023
Bridge Closed - Find Alternate Route
We routinely see messages for roads that are closed using WEA. This is primarily within the states of Texas and Georgia and they are...
Jeannette Sutton
Dec 20, 2023
What is the hazard and why should I follow your advice?
Before posting this WEA to the Warning Gallery, the editors tried to revise the message, but were stumped. Without significant effort to...
Jeannette Sutton
Dec 15, 2023
The Problem with ALL CAPS MESSAGES
Messages delivered in ALL CAPS have a problem. Writing in ALL CAPS may seem like a reasonable strategy to get people's attention...
Jeannette Sutton
Dec 13, 2023
WEA is one of many ways to alert. What's your backup plan?
2023 has included a number if significant chemical releases associated with train derailments. While the East Palenstine, OH event...
Jeannette Sutton
Dec 11, 2023
Kasey Alert, Ashanti Alert, Ebony Alert: making missing persons alerts meaningful
When we look across the country today, we find there are a LOT of named alerts for missing persons. Each one represents a different...
Jeannette Sutton
Dec 8, 2023
Law enforcement notifications and message consistency.
When WEA was first initiated, messages addressed imminent and actionable threats, requiring public response to increase the safety of a...
Jeannette Sutton
Dec 6, 2023
Burn Bans and the importance of a complete message
Burn bans are issued when there is an increased risk of wildfire. In an analysis of all wildfire WEAs sent from January 2020- April...
Jeannette Sutton
Dec 4, 2023
A Well-Written Cancellation Message for a Boil Water Advisory.
The National Weather Service has done quite a bit of research on the use of the terms "watch", "warning", and "advisory", demonstrating...
Jeannette Sutton
Dec 1, 2023
A highly localized message with limited value.
If you read The Warn Room regularly, you know that a foundational aspect of good warnings is that they deliver complete information to...
Jeannette Sutton
Nov 27, 2023
A 5-Star Alert for a Missing Person
This missing person alert is a great example of how to write an actionable message with enough content that a receiver may be able to act...
Jeannette Sutton
Nov 25, 2023
Practice with your alerting software, please.
While you cannot tell it by reading these short WEAs that were issued within about 25 minutes of each other, These messages had the...
Jeannette Sutton
Nov 15, 2023
The Importance of Training and Exercises
About once a week we find a message on warn.pbs.org that is clearly incomplete in both the 90 and 360 character WEA fields. But if you...
Jeannette Sutton
Nov 7, 2023
Strategies to Provide Additional Information in a WEA
This is a great WEA for illustrating the strategies to include additional information. Sometimes, the content that you need or want to...
Jeannette Sutton
Nov 5, 2023
A Clear, Concise HazMat Message
This message includes the contents that motivate people to act and does so in a clear and concise manner. It provides information about...
Jeannette Sutton
Oct 28, 2023
Missing Person Alert Using Plain Language
We frequently see missing persons alerts that are incomplete, difficult to read, and filled with acronyms and jargon. This makes a...
Jeannette Sutton
Oct 20, 2023
A 5 Star Warning!
Issued 9/22/2023 (click image to enlarge) The Warning Gallery loves to display messages that exemplify good messaging. This message,...
Jeannette Sutton
Sep 23, 2023
Wildfire Evacuation Zones are coming to a town near you
(click to enlarge image) Evacuation zones can be useful, but only when it follows public education. We've been wondering a lot about the...
Jeannette Sutton
Sep 9, 2023
Your evacuation messages shouldn't be so confusing
WEAs issued 8/29/23 (click image to enlarge) If you are a Warn Room reader, you know that we usually write about the use of "trigger...
Jeannette Sutton
Aug 29, 2023
A clear & concise public health advisory
Public health advisories frequently fall into the category of "WEA-ble" due to the potential for impact on community populations.
Jeannette Sutton
Aug 25, 2023
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