Overcoming Two Biases in Our Climate Communications What makes us think we can survive the climate crisis? Certainly, a large portion of our country isn’t concerned. One of our political parties has their heads in the sand or some other place. Of course we are an optimistic species. But [...]
When we look back at the election or the climate challenge, we will see that our success was determined by the stories we told. Politics and climate are now inextricably linked. So we can also apply the same observations about political stories to the stories we tell about the [...]
We know that the way we use language in the public debate often influences which policies or candidates gets supported. Often, the most effective language activates deep-seated circuits or frames in our brains that are about right and wrong. For example, “My country, love it or leave it.” This [...]
Why does ExxonMobil get to determine the fate of your kids, family and community? Does this piss you off? Then, I'll get to it in a moment. I want to tell a story first. I was talking to a new member of a climate group recently and asked him [...]
Would you show up for a first date with a ring, a proposal for marriage, and your parents in tow? Of course not. But that’s what a lot of climate activists and communication professionals do by mistake. I was talking to the director of a Minnesota climate organization the [...]
I read eclectically, occasionally deeply, but most often just skim headlines to see what interests me. It seems to me that 95% of the message of an article is often hidden in the title. The message is different than the title. That’s a problem because we don’t have the [...]
The Strategy and Language of the Gas Stove Culture Wars So you want to “ban” gas stoves? A firestorm erupted in January over the pollution of gas stoves. As climate activists, we reacted without a solid strategy and without testing the language we are using. Consequently, we may lose [...]
Almost every climate message can be made better. While we are admonished to not make perfect the enemy of good, climate messages are often lacking and ineffective despite our best intentions. We can and must do better if we want to save ourselves and preserve a habitable earth for [...]
I saw an ad for a Chevy truck last night. It had all the requisite touch points: the deep base male voice-over, the truck driving up an impossible mountain, a female passenger adoring the ride, and by association, her driver. What caught my attention was the line “… equipped [...]
“We can no longer tolerate Republican’s bankrupt delay on climate.” Do you get an image or feeling on the quality of their delay from this sentence? If we want our ideas to spread, we must use words that create images and feelings and connect them to stories and narratives [...]
