Podcast Ep. 48 | Words Have Meaning (with Daniela Busciglio)
Summary
We're joined by academic linguist and political consultant Daniela Busciglio with DFB Consulting to discuss why words matter and how advocates can use science to help us get our point across more effectively.
Links
During the episode we discussed author George Lakoff, the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI), and Daniela mentioned her upcoming training event, which is linked below.
Take-Aways
Daniela explained that messaging has less to do with what you're saying and more to do with how you say it. Facts and figures are helpful for shaping actual policy, but in order to win over the person to whom you're speaking, emotion - especially authentic emotion - is more important. Choose your words carefully, consider how they will be received by the listener, and make sure that you're connecting with them on a human level.
This makes sense with what we've already learned (and shared with you) about how to talk to legislators. Remember that they're just regular people, too, and as such, they are just as easily impacted by genuine, emotional stories that help them connect policy with people. As Daniela said during this interview, it's not enough to just say you support an issue in the abstract. You need to be very specific in what you support and why you support it.
So, rather than saying to your legislators "I care about education and want it to be fully funded," you could say "I'm a mother of two kids in public school, and I'm worried about the quality of the education they're getting. Because of years of cuts to their school's budget, my son has 28 kids in his kindergarten class, and my daughter has 33 in her second grade class. They tell me stories about how loud it is and how they don't have enough books for everyone."