A person’s fear might challenge your attempt to persuade them. Here’s how “framing” could go a long way.
Read about current trends in science communication and science communication related activities around UMB in "SciComm Spotlight," the monthly column of the School of Graduate Studies’ (SGS) Science Communication (SciComm) certificate program. To see previous SciComm Spotlight columns, visit the program’s website.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many would obsessively disinfect kitchen counters that lined up contaminated grocery purchases, stock-piled hand sanitizers and protective gear, and exchanged words with their families from a 10-foot distance, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of a vaccine and the course of our lives would soon change.
At the time, eligibility to receive the shot depended on patient age, preexisting immunodeficiency disorders, and working sector, which placed priority on individuals with highest exposure or weakest defense mechanisms against the virus. Had there been enough supply for a nationwide rollout, many would have stood in line to get the shot on the first day — yet many at the top of the list hesitated. They were afraid.
Among those was a 65-year-old Mexican woman in Houston named Maria Antonia, alias “Toña,” who didn’t speak English but was still overwhelmed by the surplus of information regarding the vaccine’s secondary effects. Toña, a beloved family friend, had health complications that included hypertension and a chronic back pain that was caused by years of labor as a dishwasher, all of which made her eligible to receive the vaccine during the first month of the rollout. But while she was anxious about contracting the disease, she was equally afraid of the vaccine’s secondary effects. She felt isolation was her only choice.
Within the window of time between my first and second shots — which happened months after the first rollout — I spent every interaction persuading her to get vaccinated. I argued that she was privileged to live in one of the first nations to begin a vaccination program, and that she could stand up against her fears and in solidarity for those who couldn’t. That resonated with her.
In real life, convincing an audience of the validity of a scientific recommendation can be a daunting task. My own case was favored by a personal connection, which enabled weeks of attempts to deliver a message, but science communicators are faced with limited time and one-way channels to accomplish their goal. One way to persuade an audience to overcome their fear is by employing "framing" strategies, crafting an argument that uses the bits of information that will resonate the most. Based on the lessons learned from my interactions with Toña, here are five tips to frame an argument successfully.
1) Identify your audience’s fears: Successful framing requires a baseline understanding of who your audience is and what issues matter to them the most. Completing this step will determine the content of your storytelling and which aspects of the argument you’ll want to focus on. In my case, my target audience (Toña) was afraid of experiencing a high fever that could hospitalize her. This required presenting evidence of secondary effects on individuals with shared age and similar health conditions who experienced common mild symptoms. But one thing to note is that a meaningful/relatable example could make a strong difference in your argument.
2) Map out your target audience’s demographics and media consumption: As discussed in Step 1, understanding your audience will guide your framing strategy. In this step, identifying demographic information as well as media consumption will allow you to visualize which channels your target audience is using to reinforce their fears. Keep in mind that grouping individuals with similar age and educational background under the same umbrella does not always paint an accurate picture, as often moral values drive our behaviors. In my case, I focused my efforts on identifying the messages that Toña was receiving from Facebook, her preferred social media, and focused my argument on debunking any misrepresentations or misinformation.
3) Do not underestimate their fear: While science communicators are often confident in their trust in science, they may overlook their audiences’ emotions as a barrier to accomplish their goals. This is a common response to an overwhelming body of evidence that would make your case, but humans connect with storytelling, not data. For Toña’s case, part of the strategy involved validating her fear while reinforcing the odds. This gave her an extra push to take a risk and overcome her fears, which gave her a sense of pride and strength in character after getting vaccinated.
4) Avoid preying on politically induced bias: Coming to terms with using framing as a strategy is understanding that party-picking will only drive your audience away. Our job as science communicators, however, does involve debunking misconceptions that are often the byproduct of political agendas. As such, when framing your argument, focus on sources that make recommendations presented in a consensus, a tactic proposed by the Oxford Handbook of the Science of Science Communication. Instead of referencing an individual as a source, such as Anthony Fauci, focus on entities that propose similar recommendations, such as the National Institutes of Health, for instance. In Toña’s case, I focused on a global entity, the World Health Organization, which she was familiar with.
5) Compile strong multimedia to complement your argument: While it matters to carefully craft the argument, an audiovisual element brings the audience closer to your ideas. The key is to focus on your audiences’ priorities. When they counter-argue, if they reference infographics, images, videos, or a podcast episode that reinforces their ideas, make sure to identify a similar channel that supports your argument. If you’ve ever read the “Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman, you’re familiar with the idea that humans respond differently depending on the type of stimuli, whether auditive (verbal) or visual and kinesthetic (physical touch), among others. Toña was visual-oriented, so I compiled a selection of YouTube videos shared on Facebook that acted as supporting points to my argument.
Lastly, while these five tips alone may not be enough to accomplish your goals, they may begin a conversation that could evolve audience members’ ideas. Keep in mind that your audience is exposed to a large amount of information, and your storytelling is only a small fraction of that.
Daniela Benites is a communications coordinator at the A. James Clark School of Engineering, covering science news for broad audiences via university websites and social media channels. She is currently a student in the Science Communication Graduate Certificate program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and serves as a board member of the D.C. Science Writers Association.