The “deficit model” of communication holds that a presenter need only bring an audience up to speed on the facts and then that audience will agree with the presenter’s ideas. However, communications research indicates that audiences often filter presentations for the information that reinforces their personal beliefs. Thus audiences have been known to draw conclusions that are wholly opposite to presenters’ arguments. Belief systems are informed by combinations of personal experience, authority figures, and feelings. But individuals may apply different weights to these factors as they choose their actions. Effective messages therefore need to include emotional hooks, along with facts, to strike up conversations that could lead to more informed decisions.

Deficit model: Avoid it

256th National Meeting (2018)

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