Communicating About Ocean Challenges

When you’re working to keep the public informed about the health of America’s beloved sea mammals and critical fisheries populations, clear communication is key. NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) sought our expertise to hone their outreach skills via a three-day, comprehensive virtual training on strategic communications planning. Vanguard prepared a customized distance learning curriculum for NOAA Fisheries regional offices that explored the process in-depth, provided small group exercises, and supported collaboration. After the training, staff had a framework for a communications strategy that met their various needs, including how to identify goals, objectives and key audiences, as well as how to persuade them with effective messages.

NOAA has continued to seek training and technical assistance on a variety of communications topics including an in-person, comprehensive storytelling and messaging training for the NOAA/NMFS Leadership Council in Key Largo, Florida. Through interactive sessions, we focused on developing a compelling narrative to showcase NOAA Fisheries success stories. We’ve also continued to provide additional virtual, multi-day trainings for staff, regions and NOAA Fisheries leadership. Equipped with tailored strategies and tools, NOAA Fisheries is more prepared to educate its audiences about their crucial work to understand and protect our ocean resources.