Communication for change is different to marketing, education, or PR. We are inviting people to take personal risks, not just be aware of something. It’s vital to begin by learning about those people and their realities – by talking to them. Once we’ve done that, here are 5 rules that make a difference.<\/p>\n

#1 Create ‘I can do that’ moments<\/p>\n

#2 Tell of heroes, journeys and victories<\/p>\n

#3 Be appreciative<\/p>\n

#4 Work on one step at a time<\/p>\n

#5 Break the rules to spark delight<\/p>\n

#1 – Create ‘I can do that’ moments<\/strong>
\nPractically everyone knows why they should do be doing the ‘right’ things. Piling on more ‘whys’ probably isn’t going to make any difference (even assuming that people change because of reasons, which they don’t – see Mindspace<\/a>). What people most commonly lack is the self-belief that they can pull it off and get a result without being embarrassed or creating too much uncertainty, hassle and stress in their lives. This is called having ‘self-efficacy’ or ‘agency’.
\nInstead of arguing risks and benefits, let’s aim to give people an ‘I could do that’ moment, where they see a similar person performing the exact physical actions, or hear them speaking the exactly right words, to the point where they could imagine doing or speaking them themselves. This is called social learning<\/a>\u00a0and it works because it activates\u00a0mirror neurons<\/a>.
\nPeople hate being persuaded, but they do love to learn new abilities, so ‘how-to’ demonstrations tend not to cause denial or resistance.
\nMy favourite example, from the Food Safety Information Council:<\/p>\n