Nice of them to make our argument for us.OVERALL MESSAGING GUIDANCE
- KEY MESSAGING PRINCIPLES
- #1:ALWAYS FOCUS ON EMOTIONAL AND VALUE-DRIVEN ARGUMENTS ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE, NOT THE POLITICAL FOOD FIGHT IN WASHINGTON OR WONKY STATISTICS.
- It’s critical that you ground your messaging around gun violence prevention by making that
emotional connection. Don’t skip past emotional arguments and lapse into a passionless public
policy voice. And don’t make the gun violence debate seem as if it is a political “food fight” between
two interest groups.
There is a reason why the NRA falls silent at times of high-profile gun violence incidents. The last
thing they want is an American conversation centered on the terrible toll that gun violence takes on
people’s lives.
- #2: TELL STORIES WITH IMAGES AND FEELINGS.
- Our first task is to draw a vivid portrait and make an emotional connection. We should rely on
emotionally powerful language, feelings and images to bring home the terrible impact of gun violence.
Compelling facts should be used to back up that emotional narrative, not as a substitute for it.
WARNING: Don’t break the power and undermine the value of emotionally powerful images and
feelings by appearing squeamish or apologetic in presenting them.
Never let facts get in your way. There is something absolutely morally and intellectually bankrupt about a political philosophy which seeks deliberately bury true facts.