Nine Rules for Movement

Not all messaging is created equal. It is highly contextual, dependent on audience, environment, medium, and messenger. For those trying to change the world – advocating for a cause greater than themselves and mobilizing others to move big ideas – these mission-driven organizers must follow a different set of rules.

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Rule 1: Lead With The Future, Not With The Past

Resist the urge to lead from what you are against. Instead, articulate the better future you envision.

Rule 2: Remind People Why They Should Act, Not That They Haven’t Yet

Our job as communicators is not to convince people that their barriers are wrong. Our job is to help people forget their barriers exist.

Rule 3: Not Everything Is A Crisis. But When It Is, Don’t Forget Solutions.

It is natural and justifiable to double down on the urgency of your issue when messaging for your organization. After all, there’s nothing like a good crisis to get people off the couch, right?

Rule 4: Remember People In Systems

As social sector communicators, if we are not putting people front and center in our communications, not only will our audiences struggle to understand the nature of the systems we are seeking to change, they will fail to understand the human implications of the systemic flaws we address as advocates.

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Rule 5: Fight On Your Own Terms

Our goal as communicators is to introduce a more compelling alternative frame, not refute the one you are up against.

Rule 6: Use Action Verbs

Using action-oriented verbs gives people the opportunity to see themselves in your movement.

Rule 7: Avoid The Heroic (Or Tragic) Exception

Who doesn’t love a good hero story? But researchers have identified troublesome effects triggered by stories of heroism.

Rule 8: It’s Not Enough To Be Right

Research shows that when the facts don’t fit the frame, people reject the facts, not the frame. The only way data is effective in influencing mindsets is to present the data in its own alternative frame.

Rule 9: Play The Long Game

Social advocates often feel compelled to satisfy short-term needs, but those short-term wins can come at the expense of long-term goals.