Practice Makes Better: National Weather Service Training Center Methods for Helping Scientists Communicate Weather, Water, and Climate Information to Partners

The science of forecasting and warnings continues to rapidly improve. The complexity of interpreting that forecast information into meaningful and actionable messaging remains a challenge. Meteorologists must communicate to an extremely diverse population using an ever-expanding number of platforms. Many meteorologists have not received formal communication training or practice before joining the workforce.

Key components of effective communication include: conveying timely and accurate information, knowing your audience and how they will use the information, using plain language, and selecting the appropriate platforms and resources to accommodate your users’ needs. How do we put these concepts into practice in our messaging and improve our communication in an effort to save lives?

We practice.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Office of the Chief Learning Officer - or NWS Learning Office - offers a wide variety of communication and Impact-based Decision Support Services (IDSS) training. This training helps NWS personnel improve their skills to more effectively communicate weather, water, and/or climate information. There are numerous communication-based training courses provided online. Many of the courses are short-format modules, lasting less than twenty minutes in duration. They can easily be completed between other tasks at work, making them extremely accessible. Additionally, many of these communication training modules include opportunities to practice the concepts off-line.

For personnel wishing to deploy, there is additional training available through the IDSS Deployment-Ready tier of training. This additional training focuses on hands-on activities and communications exercises with coworkers and partners alike.This tier includes a task book that identifies critical skills to master before a deployment. Deployment-Ready trainees are encouraged to attend the IDSS Deployment Boot Camp. Here they participate in a residence course of non-stop exercises, simulations, drills, and coaching. Each day focuses on improving communication skills in an effort to save lives and property.

This presentation will overview the different methods the NWS Learning Office uses to help NWS personnel practice effective messaging of our products and services. We will also discuss user feedback from some of those training sessions and how participants felt about their enhanced communication skills in real-world situations.