Story by: Ryan McGarty

One of the biggest impacts COVID-19 has had on people is that they are now struggling on how to communicate. During a pandemic, we cannot communicate face to face so people are having to find news way to keep in touch with friends and loved ones. And even when we do communicate face to face, masks make it difficult to

I sat down with Dr. Jefferson Walker, a Instructor of Communication Studies at the University of Montevallo, to get some tips about how to communicate during a pandemic and also get his predictions about how the pandemic will effect the field of communication after things return to normal.

Walker also talked about the impact that COVID had on the COMS Studies program. “The content is the same. But there were some things we had to move online. Like right now, we are doing speeches. It’s hard to give a five minute speech in a mask and it’s hard to grade. So we are doing our speeches virtually” Walker explained.

Walker went on to discuss some tips for communicating in a pandemic. “Communication is something that people struggle with even under the best of circumstances. So some of the tips you would learn in a COMS 101 class for example still apply. If anything they apply more now. But I would say the first thing is to be open with your communication” Walker said.

For more information on what Dr. Walker and the rest of the Communication Studies program are up to you can check out heir Facebook page here.