In my training sessions, participants sometimes ask difficult questions.
I like that.
One of the most difficult questions is: how do you convince someone who fundamentally disagrees with you?
For example, someone who doesn’t believe in climate change. While your story is about heat pumps.
Or someone who thinks that 5G towers emit dangerous radiation. While there is no evidence for that.
And I haven’t even mentioned corona yet.
So it’s a topical question…
My answer?
It’s hard. Sometimes it’s impossible. But not always.
The most important thing is that you really start from the world, the knowledge and the values of your audience.
The best example I have found is in the book Made to Stick: about a campaign against the litter problem in Texas.
How do convince the stereotypical young, male Texan who occasionally leaves something lying around?
That Texan has a pickup truck and doesn’t care about seals. He is proud and independent and doesn’t let anybody tell him to clean up his mess. He’ll decide that himself!
The ‘Please no litter’ signs had little effect. 😉
In the campaign, Texan pride eventually became the deciding factor.
For example, there was a TV commercial with a tough, famous Texan baseball player throwing garbage in a trash can with a fastball.
The slogan? Don’t mess with Texas!
Pretty good.
Regards,
Arnaud