Found 26 topics tagged ‘Advocacy 101’

The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias that leads us to overestimate the knowledge of our audience. If you allow this curse to infect your writing, you may unwittingly leave supporters feeling confused an alienated. To...

Imagine you’re at a party. There are plenty of new people you could meet and talk to. There’s a guy talking himself up. You know—all the work he has to do; his accomplishments; how great everyone thinks...

How can you simultaneously meet the needs of both long-term and fledgling supporters in ways that don’t patronize or confuse anyone? Let’s apply common ground messaging theory to answer this question. Triggers: Long-term supporters value long-term...

How can you keep vegans on board with lobbying efforts to incrementally improve welfare standards for systems they’ve chosen to boycott? Let’s apply common ground messaging theory to answer this question. Triggers: Ethical vegans recognize that cruelty...

Cognitive biases are powerful mental distortions that affect the way we think and behave. They are so powerful that they can lead people to act against their own best interests. If you understand them, you can...

I’m not saying don’t do heroic things. Keep that up! But when you’re telling your supporters a story of injustice, there’s only space for one hero—and it’s not you. Let me explain... Every story...