About five years ago, the smart progressive campaigners I know (from communities like the ECF) started talking about the growing fear that we weren’t reaching beyond our own filter bubble. Then stuff started happening that confirmed this (you have may noticed them, such fun developments as ‘Brexit’ and ‘Donald Trump becoming President of the USA’).
Since then, the smart campaigners have been focusing on figuring out what about their messaging wasn’t working, and testing out new ways of talking about their issues. There’s also a lot of work being done on the way we talk to people about issues – we know that the hectoring debate format where facts (and ‘facts’) are flung back and forth does very little to change minds, particularly if people are strongly attached to a particular position. We know that the right messengers are crucial, and people are much more likely to listen to someone from their own ‘tribe’ than an organisation. I was really delighted to see this resource from Uplift which provides really clear and useful instructions about how to have a difficult conversation about a controversial issue; in this case, Repeal the 8th. Please read and share.