US In The World | Getting Started | Section Contents

Getting Started

Key Background for First-Time Users

Core Concepts and Terms

This guide is built on the premise that effective communications requires understanding not only what people think, but WHY they think as they do.
This guide reflects a conviction that research can help communicators understand why people think as they do and can reveal which communications choices are most likely to enable people to see issues in a new way. But it also reflects a belief that no single research technique or approach can provide all the answers.
This guide's design and content are meant to help diverse messengers reference common themes, common big ideas, and elements of a shared big story -- even if the details of their communications differ. When that happens, each communicator's message is more resonant and compelling for nonexpert citizens, and the cumulative effects of communications are more powerful.

Where the Public Is Coming From