Relating with COVID-19 and the frank 2020 gathering

Once upon a time in a land far far away, I hopped on two planes to head to Gainesville, Florida for the frank gathering. This was in early February of this year, but why does it feel like 80 years ago because of COVID-19? What an innocent time it was indeed.

As I reflect on my experience at frank, the content feels even more relevant now than it ever did before. This year’s gathering focused on emotion and how it can be intentionally used in strategic communications. Understanding the link between emotions and how they drive your audience is especially important now, when public health officials are struggling to understand how information circulates online, which has led to misinformation filling the gaps.  

This year’s frank talks focused on awe, fear, anger, love, hope, pride, and moral emotions.

Here is my round-up of highlights:

The Science of Emotion

Awe

Fear

Anger

Moral Emotions

Love

Hope

Pride

This is all just a taste. There is so much more.  All of the talks for frank 2020 were livestreamed, and are split by section on the University of Florida College of Journalism YouTube channel.

If you watched something from this list and want to talk about it, don’t hesitate to drop me a tweet! I would love to hear your thoughts.

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