Public engagement campaigns pivot on words.  Get the words wrong and they will end up hurting you or your cause. Language helps you frame an issue to make a connection with your audience and persuade them to take action. World renowned, linguist and cognitive scientist George Lakoff in his book Don’t Think of an Elephant lays out why framing is essential to change.

“Frames are the mental structures that shape the way we see the world.  As a result they shape the goals we seek, the plans we make, the way we act and what counts as a good or bad outcome of our actions.  In politics our frames shape our social policies.  To change our frames is to change all of this.  Reframing is social change… We know frames through language.. all words are defined relative to conceptual frames—when you hear a word its frame is activated in your brain.  Reframing is changing the way the public see the world.”

Framing must be fast on the Internet

Online words have a very short life span.  The Internet is not a friend to long prose.  Compared to print online people read:

• much less: Web content should have 50% of the word count of its paper equivalent
• much slower: Reading from computer screens is 25% slower than from paper
• more erratic: 79% of users scan the page instead of reading word-for-word

So we are faced with the challenge online of the importance of language in creating frames for social change, while at the same time using fewer words to convince people to take action.  When crafting your message for your campaign try to keep in mind:

Don’t overwhelm your audience: one clear message, not a thesis on an issue, will resonate more with your audience and help them see how their action makes a difference.

Keep it personal: more people will be motivated to act by a story that they can relate to in their everyday lives rather than a litany of facts.

Don’t dumb it down: yes you need to use fewer words online but be respectful of your audience, using clear plain language does not mean dumbing it down it means being clear.

More if they want more: always provide your audience with opportunities to learn more, to go deeper into the issue.

Keep in mind that like any campaign whether offline or online, one email does not a campaign make.  In attempting to persuade someone to take action this requires building the will to take action often over time. 

“To build will, the messaging must convince people that action is a good thing.  To spur action, the messaging must reinforce the idea that it will result in something that is important to and will benefit the target audience.”  (Discovering the Activation Point)

If we are able to achieve this in our messaging we stand a greater change online that our campaign will become viral.  This means that our audience will refer our campaign email to their social and professional networks.  This is a public engagement campaigner’s dream.  How to create a viral public engagement campaign will be the focus of next month’s column.

Pattie LaCroix has provided strategic leadership in crafting integrated communications and fundraising strategies to nonprofits for more than a decade. As CEO of Catapult Media she is passionate about the power of storytelling in engaging your audience and building support for your work. You can reach Pattie at www.catapultmedia.ca.