How to talk to people into caring about the world’s most pressing issues*
*without boring and depressing them too much
LYN 🌳 THAILAND
สวัสดีค่ะ Sawadee ka! I’m Lyn.
Got an *important* message the world needs to hear or act on... but people don't really care??? I got you!! Here's how to make people care about your cause through effective storytelling!
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I was born in Thailand, but am not sure whether I could define myself as just Thai. Through four international schools in Bangkok, an exchange year in Italy and a semester in the US, and months of backpacking through a dozen hostels and campgrounds across three continents, I’ve picked up many accents and diverse worldviews from a big, yummy, colorful salad bowl of culture with a lovely dressing of nature.
With all this, I found myself immersed in two things I love most: storytelling and nature. By freshman year of university, I started my learning journey in journalism, and by senior year, in activism – the later phase of my life spent trying to figure out how to interact and communicate with people to make them care about the home planet we live on and all those we share it with.
Backpacker
🌳
Hiker
🌳
Hugger
🌳
Friend of wildlife
🌳
Writer and filmmaker
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Power-saver
🌳
Mostly vegan and sometimes not
🌳
Backpacker 🌳 Hiker 🌳 Hugger 🌳 Friend of wildlife 🌳 Writer and filmmaker 🌳 Power-saver 🌳 Mostly vegan and sometimes not 🌳
Having had conversations with people from various walks of life and having been exposed to such a variety of perspectives, I’ve realized how unique we all are – and just because I believed something was important and worth my time and energy, doesn’t mean that another person would think the same. We all have different things we care about, and different things we believe in. And that’s why I’ve been trying to figure out how to get on the same wavelength as those around me and get them to join my movement in making the world a better place.
I have ideas of a spectacular future in my head and now it’s about finding a team who sees the same vision to create it together. As humans, we share these stories of what’s been, what is and what could be – in this course, I hope to bring you along in crafting stories that can shape our world.
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HOW DO I TALK TO PEOPLE SO PEOPLE LISTEN?
This is ultimately the biggest goal and challenge in activism. There are many issues in the world, and many can seem distant and irrelevant. Here are some tips to incorporate your activism into everyday conversation (without boring or annoying people)
My five steps to communicating (about climate change) without losing all your friends and family 😊 Don’t forget to switch on the volume!
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Corrupted politicians aren’t just intrinsically bad and mean people aren’t just born so. What might be driving someone to do what they do? How do you interest people?
Know what they need!
This might help:
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Some TED talks!
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Think back to your everyday conversations, whether it’s sharing something new you’ve learned with your parents, or telling your friends about something funny that happened. Now try talking about your cause that way.
What happened?
Why do you care?
Why are you sharing it with them?
Why should they care?
An arc that many narratives follow – just a possibility, but play around with your creativity!
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HOW DO I EXPLAIN COMPLICATED THINGS SO PEOPLE GET IT?
The world’s biggest issues are often complex and confusing. Here are some examples of how you can explain them better and help people not only understand, but also become interested.
The Green brothers have mastered their educational style: complex subjects taught at a fast-paced, yet highly digestible and fun to follow along.
You’ll notice that every Vox video poses a really interesting question – a funky ‘how is this connected to that?’ or ‘if this, then what?’ that gets audience immediately curious to find out
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Now try this yourself! Think about a topic you’re most passionate about or knowledgeable in.
Find five people of different backgrounds – your grandma, your best friend or a stranger – and try to explain your subject and why it matters to you and should matter to them. -
Ever gone traveling in another country or made friends with a backpacker? Try explaining something to someone who doesn’t speak the same language as you. You’ll be amazed at how much you can communicate with each other!
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Think about a time someone explained a difficult concept to you. What was the ‘aha!’ moment? What helped you understand it? Did they use any metaphors to compare the concept with something you already knew? Did they show you anything visual?
Go to: Make it relatable • Simplify it • Make it easy • Be creative • Be indirect
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WHAT’S AN EASY WAY TO TALK ABOUT DIFFICULT SUBJECTS?
Some topics can just kill conversations. Here are some examples of how you can address society’s dark truths without depressing or boring everyone.
Imagine a skit like this for issues like climate change!
In this video, I speak about shrimp farming and its controversies by integrating humor and adventure to balance entertainment and seriousness.
The first short film I’ve made, themed around a simple throughline of children’s curiosities.
Dark humor and sarcasm to hit people hard but also make them laugh.
⁉️ A QUESTION I HAVE 🤔
How ‘activist’ should an activist be? How often should we talk about the issues we care about in conversations and on social media? How intense could we be before it becomes too outspoken and plain annoying and pushy? What's the ‘right time and place’ to speak about such things?
I don’t have an absolute answer to this one, but I guess everyone has their own ways and no one should feel pressured to be a 24/7 activist.
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HOW CAN I TALK ABOUT MY CAUSE WITHOUT JUST STRAIGHT-UP SAYING IT DIRECTLY AND BLANDLY?
Sometimes, when you tell people to do or think something, they do the complete opposite. Here are some sneaky but engaging ways to incorporate your message.
AJ brings you into his life in Syria. In it, you can see both the tragedy of war and also the compassion of people. There are many sides to a story – make sure you share them.
These movies portray social issues without even mentioning them.
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WHAT OTHER WAYS (BESIDES TALKING) CAN I GET MY MESSAGE ACROSS?
Talking isn’t the only way to have a conversation – here are some other cool mediums that go beyond words (Get it? Beyond words? 😉)
For this assignment, I used words and photographs to share my observations and learnings not by directly telling and stating, but rather by showing and describing.
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Great visual comparisons, illustrations, infographics, etc. that explain so well and so much with so little: Leaf of Life
Some data visualisation examples
Lorde singing about climate change without sounding preachy? Yes!
I wrote a poem about climate change once and it sounded horrible. This artist, though, did it beautifully.
I looooove Loyle Carner. His raps and rhymes and the stories they tell.
👋 LAST WORDS 👋
Connect with me! Website | Stories and film | Snorkeling | Solutions Project | Climate Strike Thailand | Youtube | LinkedIn
