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

• The Unintended Consequences of Emotional Appeals
• From Resolution to Revolution: The Music that Moves Us 

Awe

• New ways of Thinking About the Family Photo Album in the Digital Age

Fear

• Fear of the Fixed Pie

Anger

• Reclaiming My Damn Feelings: How #MeToo and the Power of Empathy Shifted My Approach to Movement Communications
• The Bad, the Quiet and the Angry
• From Anger to Utopia

Moral Emotions

• Moral Emotions and Conflict Motivate Actions

Love

• The Day I Fell in Love

Hope

• Anger Mobilizes, Hope Organizes: Five Positive Shifts for Better Narratives
• Science of Persuasion

Pride

• The Anger Gap: Seeing Red Beyond Black and White
• How We Talk About Climate Change Shapes How We Feel – and Whether We Act
• Stories from Here

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.