New handbook on climate communication from the IPCC has been released.
It follows the basic principles that those on the front lines have worked out over the past few decades.
- Be Confident – people will trust you more if you use an authentic voice
- Talk about the real world, not abstractions
- Connect with what matters to your audience
- Tell a human scale story – show the human face of science – your own story, perhaps
- Lead with the knowns, not the uncertainty
- Use effective visual communication – focus on the human side of the equation
The greatest advances have not been on the science, but on how we get the mass of people to understand it – see experts weigh in below.
Below, a few years ago, John Cook asked leading scientists to give their best “Elevator Pitch” on climate. They generally incorporate some best practices.