NOAA/National Weather Service's Chief Learning Office United States Department of Commerce
Commerce Learning Center

NWS Impact-Based Decision Support Services PDS

 Damage View

Weather-Ready Nation is about building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather. To achieve this goal, it is imperative that the NWS expand its capacity to provide superior impact-based decision support services (IDSS) in all phases of the disaster life cycle. This Professional Development Series (PDS) focuses on identifying professional competencies needed to perform IDSS, along with an inventory of instructional components available to build those skill sets.

PCU 3: Effective Communication


Operational staff must use suitable communication techniques to share relevant information with appropriate personnel on a timely basis to allow core partners to accomplish objectives. They must communicate useful environmental information to decision makers in terms that are clear, succinct, understandable, and actionable.

Total Duration: 8.35 Hours

To find each course copy and paste the title into the search box on the CLC. You can also access each PCU curriculum from the IDSS PDS PCU 1-3 CLC Home Page.

Instructional Components:

Section 1: Fundamentals of Communication (2.27 hours)
  • Welcome to Professional Competency Unit 3 (0.1 hours)
  • Fundamentals of Communication (2.17 hours)
    • What is Communication?
    • Tone of Voice
    • Body Language
    • Giving and Receiving Feedback

Section 2: Messaging (1.92 hours)
  • Effective Weather Messaging for NWS Employees (0.67 hours)
  • Forecasting Uncertainty & Our Partners (0.25 hours)
  • Risk Communication (1 hour)

Section 3: Public Speaking (1 hour)
  • Public Speaking Training Video Series (1 hour)
    • Please select 10 of the following videos
      • Breathing
      • Creating Vocal Variety
      • Reducing Filler Words
      • Avoiding Jargon
      • Wearing Jewelry
      • Using Facial Expressions
      • Making Eye Contact
      • Walking the Walk
      • Creating a Presence
      • Fighting Your Nerves
      • Delivering a Great Presentation
      • Knowing Your Audience
      • Creating a Story
      • Assembling a PowerPoint Presentation
      • Practicing Your Presentation
      • Engaging Daydreamers and Zombies
      • Preparing for a Virtual Presentation
      • Giving a Better Virtual Presentation
      • Preparing for an Interview
      • Choosing the Right Outfit
      • Using a Microphone
      • Taking a Headshot
      • Giving a Phone Interview
      • Having All the Answers

Section 4: Delivering IDSS (3.16 hours)
  • IDSS Preparation (0.58 hours)
  • Media Training for NWS Employees (1.5 hours)
  • Graphics for IDSS (0.25 hours)
  • IDSS Presentations (0.58 hours)
  • Consistent Messaging (0.25 hours)