Hi! Motivating
Great news – a lot of you are planning to vote!
The responses that I got last week were overwhelming curious about one thing: “How do I get __________ to vote?”
Some of you are wondering how to convince young adults you know to go to the ballot box, others are hoping to encourage people with whom you work or members of your community. And as I read so many entreaties, I thought “Well, you’re asking me about behavior change. I got you!”
There is no guaranteed way to get an adult to do anything.
But!
The best chance you have follows a simple formula.
Something you already know they want + a change in behavior = more likely to get the thing they want.
So the best way to get someone to vote, for example, is to first understand something they want from their country or town or future that is impacted by politics. Which shouldn’t be hard because lots of things are impacted by politics.
Then speak to this person. Focus on the thing you know they want and get them to speak about it a bit, telling you why it’s important or why they want it very much.
Then you make your argument that voting is a way to make that future more likely.
If they’re open, you can ask what obstacles they have to voting and if you can help overcome any of those.
That’s it. No guarantees, but a big increase in likelihood. Want to try it?
All my best,
Dr. G
Motivating