Progressives are used to presenting facts and compelling evidence, only to find that people are not running to support us. Why is our message not getting out?
This is an article in the fifth issue of New Economic Magazine.You can read the full question here.
Republican communications strategist Frank Luntz wrote: of“Communication is functional, people are the real purpose, and language is just a tool to reach and teach them”.
Yet, as people who want to communicate progressive ideas, whether at work or at home, we often encounter the frustration of saying the right thing, presenting facts and compelling evidence, and finding that people won’t come running to support us.
Why is our message not getting out?
If we want to change people’s minds through effective communication, we must first consider not only what we say, but more importantly, how people will receive it.
In fact, human beings are complex, chaotic and contradictory. We are constantly processing the world around us through pre-existing beliefs and past experiences, deciding what fits and doesn’t fit into our understanding of the world. When progressives try to convey a message expressed in facts and figures, the human mind asks: of‘Does this work? Does this fit my view of the world? For those who have not yet embraced our worldview, facts are out of place and simply ignored. This act of categorizing information, choosing what is important and what is not, is called framing. We do it all the time.
Frameworks as a communication tool
Framing is also used to represent the choices we make around how to package what we want to say: what we emphasize, the metaphors we use, the values we want to ignite. It shapes the stories we tell and, importantly, what we choose to leave out of them.
Framing is important.Countless studies examining how information is communicated tell us that the way we of‘Framing ‘Our communications can have a significant impact on the way people think and act.
“Framing is important.Countless studies examining how information is communicated tell us that the way we of‘Framing ‘Our communications can have a significant impact on the way people think and act. “
In 2008, Stanford University surveyed Californians to see how simple language changes could boost voter turnout. They asked half of the participants, of“how important it is to you vote In the upcoming election? ” and the other half of“how important is it to you become a voter In the upcoming election? ” They found that participants’ messages contained of““Become a voter” showed greater interest in voting than participants who were asked if they were registered to vote of“vote”. Then they mapped that into a second experiment to see if participants followed through—if their intent of““Becoming a voter” translates to actually voting. It does. 96% of people who were asked if they became voters went on to vote.
This experiment correctly assumes that of““Being a voter” evokes a sense of self that compels people to vote. It reflects who people are and inspires them to tell positive stories about themselves: people who play an active role in society. On the other hand, asking people if they intend to of““The Vote” doesn’t evoke a story. It conjures up a one-time act, perhaps a well-worn political system that you can choose to participate in occasionally.
In this example, we see not only the profound impact of framing, but also the power of contained language, which inspires people to tell a story: a story about how people feel about themselves and about the people in their lives and communities.
The biggest mistake we make when communicating is forgetting that people approach and avoid ideas based on how they feel—even if they don’t realize it.
Cognitive Linguistics – as taught in books such as Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow, emotions play an important role in the way people process information. Political scientists in the field continually emphasize the theory that people make political decisions primarily based on how they feel about an issue. We gravitate toward things that are cognitively consistent (they fit our understanding of the world) and emotionally satisfying (they make us feel good).
That’s why stories are so powerful. There’s nothing like a coherent, compelling and moving story that moves people.
Stories in the Service of Strategy
The human brain is constantly looking for stories to make sense of the world: whether it’s stories that explain the meaning of life or why a relationship ended.
Stories are an important tool for communication. When we weave everything we have to say about an issue into a compelling story, we can really grab the audience’s attention and arouse their emotions. As progressives, we have the best stories: we have stories of people coming together to fight for change, stories of people making big change in our communities, and most importantly, charting the future we all want to live in Vision story.
For example taxes. When we talk about taxation, we have choices about how to structure it. We can frame the tax as a burden and focus our messages on what we pay or what we need to pay, according to the opposition’s framing. Or we could create taxes around welfare and community. We can tell the stories of how everyone invested in creating the communities we live in, the schools, hospitals and roads we use every day.
But stories alone are not good enough, they are not magical tools for changing the world. Our stories need to serve our campaign strategy—the policies and actions we want to implement.
“But stories alone are not good enough, they are not magical tools for changing the world. Our stories need to serve our campaign strategy—the policies and actions we want to implement. “
Messaging experts from the US, ASO Communications and We Make The Future show how Communication needs to be centered on the big narrative changes we want to see and Include steps for practical implementation in your organization. We Make The Future’s message in this guide is to support a wealth tax to fund vital public services. They start their guide with a message, crafting a wealth tax around the idea that rich corporations and billionaires should pay us what we owe. They then developed ways to use this information to motivate people to take a clear set of actions to advance the campaign’s policy demands. Communication needs to be grounded in real-world campaigns and organizations in order to contribute to change.
strategic communication
So what does it actually look like when we put all these elements together? The answer: strategic communications. It’s a form of communication designed to shift the narrative around an issue, taking into account specifically what your audience thinks and how, how to structure the issue in a way that’s relevant to them, test those ideas, and deploy them into the campaign.
In conversations around strategic communication, we often hear this wisdom: of“We just have to meet them where they are”. This essentially means finding out what your target audience is already thinking, and then shaping your message to appeal to those beliefs. This means triangulating to best fit their pre-existing thoughts and life experiences.
However, messaging expert Anat Shenker-Osorio emphasizes that where people typically yes Not on economic and social issues where we want them. Knowing what people think is only the first step. Then we wanted to figure out what points we could leverage to tell our own story and change people’s minds. In the words of Shenker-Osorio: of“We don’t just want to measure temperature, we want to change it. ”
So, what can we do to change it?
The Shenker-Osorio method is very simple: for any given question, there will always be a certain percentage of people who agree with what you have to say – they are your foundation. There will always be a certain percentage of people who always disagree – that’s your objection. Then the vast majority of what is left will sit in the middle, which is the persuasive middle.
So the first goal of this game is to craft and use messages that appeal to your base, because those people will be your message ambassadors. You want them to like your message so they repeat and amplify it. The second purpose is to convince the intermediary. That means your message needs to be able to connect with the vast majority of people sitting in the middle. This might mean using a language they understand or including stories from communities they can relate to. Finally, don’t waste time trying to appeal to your naysayers—an effective message should alienate them and make them appear at odds with the majority.
Right now, we’re facing multiple intersecting crises that are being felt across the country: soaring energy bills, a dangerous reliance on fossil fuels, unaffordable housing, and more. This is our opportunity to improve the way we communicate by focusing on the people we want to transfer. This means telling stories that appeal to emotion, provide a coherent explanation of how we got to where we are, and build belief that things can change.
Language plays an important role in our mission to change things – let’s make sure we choose the right language.
Funmibi Ogunlesi is Interim Head of Communications at NEON, where she focuses on narrative and messaging support for social justice movements.
Image: Elisa Macellari
