Clearing up COVID confusion

We’ve seen the rollout of a scientific plan to get the country vaccinated. What we haven’t seen is a “consolidated voice” to reduce current confusion from COVID’s seesaw messages to achieve a more unified understanding of the issues and solutions.  

A communications plan is what’s missing. 

Randy Olson, PhD, is a scientist-turned-filmmaker who is the 2020 recipient of the John P. McGovern Award for Excellence in Biomedical Communication from the American Medical Writers Association. In a recent post, he boiled down the basic narrative about the purpose of a communications plan to what is called the ABT framework which consists of three basic elements: the context, problem and solution. 

Stories can be told in a linear, monotonous manner with “and” used to connect one thought to the next. Children often share this way: “and then this happened, and that happened.” To avoid repetitiveness, whether it is a movie script or about a worldwide health pandemic, the first ‘and then’ needs to be followed with ‘but’ and end with ‘therefore.’ Thus the acronym ABT. 

The ABT framework has been taught to thousands of scientists and communicators in government agencies such as the National Park Service, FAA and Army Corps of Engineers. Whether you’re writing about COVID or not, communications teams would do well to ask: “What is our ABT?”

 ABT COMMUNICATIONS PLAN CONVERSATION