Palgrave Practical Guides in Communication – serie

This book shows readers how the arts of improvisational theater and acting can help scientists and other experts speak about technical research to lay audiences.Focused on public speaking, this book translates the principles and processes used by actors and other theater professionals into a method for communicating science to the general public. The book is structured as a step-by-step examination of how to write an effective speech and then a guide to carefully analyzing that speech as an actor does in rehearsal before finally sharing it with an audience as a performance. In other words, the book helps science communicators identify what to say and how to say it. This book also includes prompts and exercises that the author has used in classes and workshops with scientists.

This book contains over 20 activities for use in the in-person communication studies classroom. Communication is an embodied act: our thoughts, ideas, and messages originate in our body and through our experiences. An embodied approach to pedagogy fosters inclusivity, creativity, and critical thinking, making classrooms more dynamic and equitable spaces. Drawing on a wide range of performance studies-based approaches and theories, the activities in this book can be applied across the communication studies curriculum, including relational communication, organizational communication, media studies, public address, and communication and culture. Whether you are hesitant to incorporate performance in your classroom or you regularly invite your students to “get up and play,” the activities in this book provide a step-by-step guide that is accessible to all communication teachers.

This book provides a light, but detailed study of recent research into the world of laughter and humor and offers direct, applied lessons to help readers use humor effectively and ethically in a wide range of situations in daily life. Focusing on broader categories like the effectiveness of humor and laughter at work, humor in interpersonal and family communication, and ethical issues related to humor, and more, the author summarizes and presents the research in a way that helps the reader understand the broader trends and relates those trends to modern issues.

This book uses cutting-edge research in media psychology to offer a practical guide for creating content that captures and maintains attention. The Digital Engagement Model (DEM) reimagines how content can better serve mobile-first users by depicting second-by-second relationships between users and content. The DEM shows why users’ diverse needs and behaviors are more complex than traditional practices account for. A model combining new variables and structures can extend the value of good writing, multimedia, and interactivity to users overwhelmed by too much information. Importantly, the model communicates content for both scanners with limited time and interest, and readers who are motivated to consume more detailed information. Drawing from cognitive psychology, communication, education, human-computer interaction, and neuroscience, the book explores the cognitive processes underlying attention. It offers practical strategies to align content with users’ incidental exposure and fragmented consumption. The final chapters assemble the model’s variables into an innovative Smart Story Suite.

This book is an informative and how-to guide for writing about the environment. Part One focuses on issues of environmental writing that writers must be aware of before they begin writing, such as environmental ideologies, affordances and constraints of various genres, considerations for audience, and social and political issues that influence environmental communication. Part Two is the how-to part of the guide with eight chapters that introduce readers to various writing strategies like how to write in narrative form, sensory writing, incorporating research, the use of visuals, and more.

This book introduces strategic communication students and professionals to essential topics and trends in corporate social advocacy (CSA). CSA refers to companies’ actions that publicly declare their stances on controversial social issues. This book covers emerging CSA communication issues relevant in today’s rapidly-changing world, including but not limited to theoretical frameworks, CSA messaging, internal communication, social media, crisis management, authenticity, social network, and ethics. Each chapter includes a relevant case study. This book will be an excellent resource for public relations and strategic communication students, faculty, researchers, educators, and practitioners interested in expanding their understanding and knowledge of organizations’ CSA communication efforts.