Effective Communication About the Early Years
This series of articles is intended to help support infant-toddler professionals in their communications efforts.
Effective communication requires an in-depth look at what we are trying to communicate and how people make sense of the information. The FrameWorks Institute, a communications organization, conducts scholarly research on framing the public discourse about social problems and then translates that research into recommendations and tools for the non-profit sector.
The following articles provide guidance on how to effectively communicate about and advocate for infants and toddlers in a way that is clear, effective and persuasive.
Messaging Tools
-
Tool
How to Write a Letter to the Editor and an Opinion Editorial
This advocacy tool outlines suggestions for writing letters to the editor and op-eds and getting them printed, as well as examples of published opinion pieces.
-
Tool
Infant and Toddler Messaging Guide
This paper shares the results of a national scan of message trends in infant and toddler advocacy and offers guidance on how to develop effective infant-toddler messages.
Framing Early Childhood Issues
These articles, written with The FrameWorks Institute, provides in-depth knowledge and guidance about how to effectively frame issues impacting infants and toddlers.
-
Tool
How to Talk About Early Childhood Mental Health
This article in the framing series highlights the communications research on childhood mental health and also provides tools to help us communicate more effectively and promote public policies that r…
-
Tool
When is the Right Time to Use Personal Stories and Vivid Examples?
This article in the framing series takes a communications challenge head-on: Is it really effective to include the stories of specific children or families in our communications and advocacy efforts…
-
Tool
Strategies for Becoming a Better Communicator and Advocate
This article in the framing series addresses strategies that infant-toddler professionals can use to become better communicators about the early years.
-
Tool
Framing Early Childhood Development: Recommendations for Professionals and Advocates
This article explores some specific early childhood frames, the impact of those frames on how people reason about infant-toddler development, and the consequences of these messages for public policy.
-
Tool
The Elements of Framing Communications--Visuals, Tone and Metaphors
This article examines three additional elements of the frame – the research which supports each element, how to use it effectively in your communications and examples that relate each element directl…
-
Tool
The Elements of Framing Communications--Context, Numbers and Messengers
This article begins to break the process of framing down by examining the strategic elements that comprise a frame.
-
Tool
Understand the Basics of Framing to Communicate Effectively
This article is designed to provide you with a basic introduction to some concepts of effective communications, including the fundamentals of framing and ways to think about reframing your communicat…
-
Tool
How to Advocate Through Stories: Tell the Solutions Story
This article in the framing series focuses on developing a communications skill that can take your advocacy to a new level: solutions storytelling.