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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.


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


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


**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


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


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


Complete messages with room for improvement
WEAs issued 3/22/23 These messages are complete and include stylistic choices to increase attention (use of ALL CAPS for GO and EVACUATE)...

Jeannette Sutton
Mar 22, 2023


Jargon-talk
WEA sent 9/22/2022 90 Character messages are severely limited in the content they can contain. This is a reason to use all of the space...

Jeannette Sutton
Sep 21, 2022
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