My theoretical research program uses humanistic methods to understand the meanings of mediated messages and social behavioral methods to explain, predict, and control the influence of those messages. I am particularly interested in how involvement with mediated narratives and public speaking persuades and/or overcomes resistance to persuasion. My research is published in Communication Monographs, Communication Quarterly, Human Communication Research, and Western Journal of Communication. Most recently, I published an article in Communication Research Reports reporting that audio-only soliloquy, in the Showtime series Dexter, predicts more involvement with the addressing character. I also published a book chapter reporting research showing that reminders of death predict more involvement with a favorite television character. My current research is investigating the influence audiovisual soliloquy in Netflix's House of Cards. In 2016, I began a two-year term as the associate editor of Discourse: Journal of the Speech Communication Association of South Dakota.
