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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.
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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


Punctuation matters
WEA issued for a missing person We don't frequently edit non-warning messages, but given that missing person messages are issued through...

Jeannette Sutton
Oct 1, 2023


Creating internal consistency across messages
Three messages sent from 11:41 pm to 4:55 am in one night. While its uncommon to find multiple messages issued over the course of the...

Jeannette Sutton
Sep 30, 2023


WORDS MATTER!
Technical language and jargon may accurately describe the context and the hazard but at what cost? The editor is taking a bit of a detour...

Jeannette Sutton
Sep 23, 2023


Content order can affect readability.
Did you know that social scientists investigated the best order of WEA message contents? They did! And it looks something like the...

Jeannette Sutton
Sep 23, 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 22, 2023


You're yelling again...
This use of ALL CAPS can sure make things difficult for message readers. The Editor took the liberty of making some changes to this WEA....

Jeannette Sutton
Sep 16, 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


Message content order makes a difference for readability
WEA issued 9/5/2023 When we stumbled across this WEA on pbs.warn, the thing that popped out was the idea of an "over wall moving...

Jeannette Sutton
Sep 6, 2023


Write with Style that catches the EYE
One of the strategies to improve message readability is to use a mix of upper and lower case letters. This will naturally draw the...

Jeannette Sutton
Sep 2, 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


**Evacuation Warning** but for flash flood
(click image to enlarge) WEA issued in advance of #Hilary for the CA desert The folks at the Editor's Desk have written a LOT about the...

Jeannette Sutton
Aug 27, 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 24, 2023


Include actionable instructions in an alert
A BOIL WATER notice can be confusing to many people leading to questions like: Why do we have to boil water? for how long? Will it really...

Jeannette Sutton
Aug 19, 2023


Including hazard impact information increases message understanding
Sometimes, threats and hazards may seem self-explanatory; other times, a hazard impact statement will help the receiver to understand why...

Jeannette Sutton
Aug 5, 2023


Making use of ALL CAPS
Of the many problems in public alert and warning messages, the habit of falling back upon "how things have always been done" or "what...

Jeannette Sutton
Jul 29, 2023


Edits to an incomplete message about a power outage
WEA issued on 7/20/2023 Sometimes a message will be issued that lacks so much context, we have to do some digging to figure out what it's...

Jeannette Sutton
Jul 22, 2023


The JARGON style of wildfire messaging
Two WEAs issued for wildfire on 7/21/23 Clearly, alert and warning writers are neck deep in technical jargon when talking about IPAWS,...

Jeannette Sutton
Jul 21, 2023


Warning messages must include the hazard
WEA issued 7/10/2023 It's entirely possible that a local message recipient will know why they are advised to evacuate immediately. If...

Jeannette Sutton
Jul 12, 2023
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