What 911 Dispatchers Teach Us About Talk
22,461 views |
Heidi Kevoe-Feldman |
TEDxNortheasternU
• March 2019
Using the right words can save lives! Dr. Heidi Kevoe-Feldman, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Northeastern, uses conversation analysis to examine interactions in 911 emergency dispatch centers. In her talk, she makes it clear to the audience that minimal variations in word choice and sentence structure will affect the outcome of a conversation tremendously. She guides the audience through a series of original 911 calls and showcases how dispatchers delicately deescalate some of the most dangerous situations. What can you learn from this? Continuously using language can influence the outcomes of conversations with children, colleagues, or call center agents to one's benefit.