0:00:06.896,0:00:09.429
I want to start with a warning today.

0:00:10.619,0:00:15.296
I realize that beginning with a warning[br]may not be the smartest thing to do,

0:00:15.296,0:00:16.827
but I'm just going to go for it.

0:00:16.827,0:00:21.397
My warning is that although I'm here[br]to talk to you about communications,

0:00:21.397,0:00:24.715
I actually have zero training[br]in communications,

0:00:25.275,0:00:27.096
and I've never worked in PR.

0:00:27.096,0:00:28.208
What I am

0:00:28.208,0:00:30.768
is a psychological anthropologist.

0:00:31.488,0:00:35.436
And what I study is the way[br]that culture influences how we think,

0:00:36.396,0:00:39.737
how we process information,[br]how we make meaning of messages,

0:00:39.737,0:00:43.534
and how we formulate[br]and come to decisions.

0:00:44.227,0:00:49.037
And so, as a psychological anthropologist,[br]one of my goals here today

0:00:49.037,0:00:52.129
is to convince you,[br]is to show you, that this ...

0:00:53.297,0:00:54.627
is not true.

0:00:54.627,0:00:56.247
(Laughter)

0:00:56.247,0:00:59.668
That we should not be actively[br]dissuading our friends and colleagues

0:00:59.668,0:01:01.950
from going into anthropology,[br]

0:01:01.950,0:01:07.050
and that instead, studying culture[br]and how people use it to think

0:01:07.050,0:01:09.977
is an incredibly valuable tool[br]in the real world,

0:01:09.977,0:01:11.768
and for our purposes today,

0:01:11.768,0:01:15.917
can be an incredibly important[br]and effective thing

0:01:15.917,0:01:18.737
in being a better communicator.

0:01:19.397,0:01:23.128
And so, as an anthropologist[br]working in communications,

0:01:23.738,0:01:25.918
I study two different things.

0:01:25.918,0:01:28.509
First of all, I study public thinking,

0:01:28.509,0:01:29.999
not public opinion,

0:01:29.999,0:01:33.538
not the way that people answer a couple[br]of polling questions here or there,

0:01:33.538,0:01:35.698
or conduct themselves[br]in a few focus groups

0:01:35.698,0:01:38.149
in Cleveland or Kansas City -

0:01:38.149,0:01:40.718
I'm from Cleveland,[br]I can make that joke, that's okay -

0:01:40.718,0:01:46.179
but rather how people use culture[br]in a deep and highly predictable way

0:01:46.179,0:01:50.279
to think about complex social issues;[br]issues like education or mental health,

0:01:50.279,0:01:55.568
immigration or aging,[br]climate change or race inequity.

0:01:56.109,0:01:59.518
So I am really excited[br]to talk to you about ...

0:02:01.098,0:02:05.188
how culture helps us[br]be more effective communicators.

0:02:05.710,0:02:08.089
The other thing that I'm going[br]to talk to you about

0:02:08.089,0:02:11.159
is how through the way[br]that we present information

0:02:11.159,0:02:16.119
we can get people to open up[br]an access dramatically different ways

0:02:16.119,0:02:21.489
of thinking, of feeling, and of acting[br]about those social issues,

0:02:21.489,0:02:24.611
and in a nutshell,[br]that is what framing is:

0:02:24.611,0:02:27.790
how variations in the way[br]that we present information

0:02:27.790,0:02:33.510
can lead people to dramatically different[br]perceptual and behavioral outcomes.

0:02:33.510,0:02:36.709
And so I'm really, really - why not? -

0:02:36.709,0:02:42.190
really excited to get the chance[br]to geek out about framing today.

0:02:42.190,0:02:44.260
And I'll tell you[br]right from the beginning

0:02:44.260,0:02:47.500
that geeking out about framing[br]is pretty much my all-time,

0:02:47.500,0:02:49.499
absolute favorite thing to do,

0:02:50.169,0:02:54.479
which I realize is kind of pathetic,[br]and probably a little bit sad.

0:02:54.479,0:02:57.571
But it does mean that at least[br]one person in this room

0:02:58.241,0:03:00.190
is going to have fun during this talk.

0:03:00.190,0:03:01.218
(Laughter)

0:03:01.218,0:03:03.440
That will be me, I will have fun.

0:03:04.040,0:03:07.373
And so, what I want to do today[br]is to convince you, is to argue

0:03:07.373,0:03:09.753
that even though you do not[br]think of yourselves

0:03:09.753,0:03:11.510
all the time in this way

0:03:11.510,0:03:15.820
and are not explicitly aware of it,[br]you are all communicators.

0:03:16.520,0:03:20.461
And as communicators,[br]framing matters a great deal to you.

0:03:20.461,0:03:25.751
So what I want to do is give you[br]two reasons why framing matters to you.

0:03:26.341,0:03:30.110
And the first reason is, [br]unfortunately, I'm in the position

0:03:30.110,0:03:32.791
where I have to tell you[br]that you all have a problem.

0:03:32.791,0:03:35.533
And you should know there aren't[br]11 more steps after this,

0:03:35.533,0:03:39.040
it's not that kind of a meeting,[br]and it's not that kind of a problem.

0:03:39.040,0:03:41.862
What I mean is that you have[br]a communications problem.

0:03:41.862,0:03:44.122
You have a problem of perception.

0:03:44.481,0:03:47.199
And the problem looks something like this:

0:03:47.199,0:03:50.012
That you all have been in positions,[br]at one time or another,

0:03:50.012,0:03:53.661
where you think you have the most perfect,

0:03:54.391,0:03:56.454
awesome, slam-dunk -

0:03:56.454,0:03:58.478
whatever sports metaphor you want to use -

0:03:58.478,0:04:01.342
way of talking about[br]what you do and why it matters.

0:04:01.342,0:04:03.722
Heck, it works with two of your[br]closest colleagues,

0:04:03.722,0:04:06.992
what could go wrong[br]when it goes out to normal people,

0:04:06.992,0:04:10.682
people who don't eat and breathe[br]and sleep your issues all the time?

0:04:10.682,0:04:13.741
And you find that when this idea [br]that made so much sense to you

0:04:13.741,0:04:16.791
goes outside of your immediate circle,[br]it does one of two things.

0:04:16.791,0:04:19.204
First of all, it lacks resonance.

0:04:19.204,0:04:22.972
It doesn't have grip,[br]it goes in one ear and out the other.

0:04:22.972,0:04:26.453
Secondly, probably more unfortunately[br]because it happens more frequently,

0:04:26.453,0:04:30.822
that thing which worked[br]and was so brilliant in your own head

0:04:30.822,0:04:31.853
goes out,

0:04:31.853,0:04:37.003
and it has the exact opposite effect[br]on the people you're trying to persuade,

0:04:37.003,0:04:39.333
on the people you're trying[br]to communicate with.

0:04:39.333,0:04:44.272
And I'm not going to ask you to take[br]my word for anything today, right?

0:04:44.272,0:04:48.213
I'm going to show you evidence[br]from the research that I do with my team

0:04:48.213,0:04:49.442
that shows this.

0:04:49.442,0:04:52.002
And I have a lot of pieces of examples,

0:04:52.002,0:04:55.862
evidence of this you-say-they-think,[br]this lost-in-translation effect.

0:04:55.862,0:04:59.293
I'm going to show you one today[br]that comes from some work that we've done

0:04:59.293,0:05:02.733
to translate the science[br]of early childhood development.

0:05:03.203,0:05:07.972
People who are in this field,[br]people who are developmental scientists,

0:05:07.972,0:05:11.265
really want to talk[br]about adversity and stress,

0:05:11.265,0:05:14.363
and the effects that stress and adversity[br]can have on young kids.

0:05:14.363,0:05:16.192
And they say things like this:

0:05:16.192,0:05:18.373
that persistent stress[br]can derail development

0:05:18.373,0:05:21.354
and have negative long-term effects[br]on health and well-being.

0:05:21.354,0:05:25.254
And if you're a developmental scientist,[br]you replace negative with deleterious

0:05:25.254,0:05:27.354
because that's the way you talk.

0:05:27.354,0:05:29.374
And so for folks who are in this field,

0:05:29.374,0:05:30.554
this is true.

0:05:31.214,0:05:34.594
There is an incredibly[br]deep body of science

0:05:34.594,0:05:37.743
across a number of disciplines[br]which supports this point.

0:05:38.334,0:05:41.624
Unfortunately,[br]when you take this idea out,

0:05:41.624,0:05:44.004
to normal people,[br]to members of the general public,

0:05:44.004,0:05:46.585
you get things[br]that look and sound like this:

0:05:46.984,0:05:49.544
(Video) Man:[br]Life's hard. Supposed to be hard.

0:05:49.544,0:05:53.424
What doesn't kill you makes [br]you stronger, you know?

0:05:53.424,0:05:55.524
All the bad cliches you can think of.

0:05:55.524,0:06:01.554
There's been people that have come[br]from absolutely nothing to make it,

0:06:02.094,0:06:05.794
and in society's eyes gained success.

0:06:05.794,0:06:08.915
Nat Kendall-Taylor:[br]So just to make it really crystal-clear,

0:06:09.545,0:06:12.975
that which you just heard[br]was not the intended effect

0:06:12.975,0:06:16.035
when this expert opened[br]his or her mouth to deliver this message.

0:06:16.035,0:06:18.706
I'm not trying to say[br]that our friend Nietzsche here

0:06:18.706,0:06:21.576
with "what doesn't kill you [br]makes you stronger" -

0:06:21.576,0:06:23.856
smart audience, there you go -

0:06:23.856,0:06:26.124
is wrong or stupid in any way.

0:06:26.124,0:06:28.514
But there's clearly something[br]that's going on here,

0:06:28.514,0:06:29.864
there's clearly a difference[br]

0:06:29.864,0:06:32.504
between the intention[br]and the delivery of the message,

0:06:32.504,0:06:35.416
and it's actual perception and effect.

0:06:35.416,0:06:38.006
And you all should have a good idea[br]as to what that is,

0:06:38.006,0:06:41.086
based on how I introduced myself[br]as an anthropologist.

0:06:41.086,0:06:45.005
So the thing that stands between[br]the you-say and the they-think here is ...

0:06:45.735,0:06:46.946
culture.

0:06:47.716,0:06:50.875
Not the external, Indiana Jones[br]artifact kind of culture,

0:06:50.875,0:06:53.056
but rather culture in mind,

0:06:53.056,0:06:56.236
culture as a set[br]of shared patterns of thinking,

0:06:56.236,0:07:00.256
as a set of shared assumptions[br]and propositions that we have

0:07:00.256,0:07:02.296
and carry around with us in our minds,

0:07:02.296,0:07:05.846
and use every time[br]that we are presented with information,

0:07:05.846,0:07:08.386
every time that we engage with an issue.

0:07:08.386,0:07:10.256
And so, what this does,

0:07:10.256,0:07:15.236
this realization that culture[br]is always mediating our meaning

0:07:15.236,0:07:18.786
and complicating our job[br]as communicators, is it gives us -

0:07:18.786,0:07:21.807
so this is both, kind of[br]one of these paradoxical things

0:07:21.807,0:07:26.116
that's both utterly common sense,[br]and completely game-changing -

0:07:26.116,0:07:28.196
is that this gives us[br]a really different way

0:07:28.196,0:07:30.136
of looking at what has been

0:07:30.136,0:07:33.647
the dominant way of thinking about[br]public understanding and communication.

0:07:33.647,0:07:36.267
So for a long time,[br]and still too this day,

0:07:36.267,0:07:38.897
people have thought[br]of public understanding in this way:

0:07:38.897,0:07:43.556
as an empty receptacle,[br]as a blank slate, as an empty fishbowl,

0:07:43.556,0:07:48.125
and have thought that we as communicators[br]can assume that we are our audiences,

0:07:48.125,0:07:50.727
and take the things[br]that make so much sense to us,

0:07:50.727,0:07:53.156
and literally drop them[br]into this unfettered space

0:07:53.156,0:07:54.928
where they get to do their thing.

0:07:54.928,0:07:57.808
And we know, based on[br]what I've just told you about culture,

0:07:57.808,0:07:59.634
that this is neither correct,

0:07:59.634,0:08:03.758
nor is it productive as a way[br]to think about communications.

0:08:03.758,0:08:04.718
Instead,

0:08:04.718,0:08:09.027
we have to understand that culture always[br]complicates our job as communicators,

0:08:09.027,0:08:10.937
and if we can go a step further

0:08:10.937,0:08:14.769
and understand how people use culture[br]to think about our issues,

0:08:14.769,0:08:17.207
we can be dramatically more effective

0:08:17.207,0:08:21.287
in our roles as messengers,[br]in our roles as communicators.

0:08:21.837,0:08:26.928
And so, the second reason why framing[br]matters to all of you in this room

0:08:26.928,0:08:31.090
is because understanding [br]is frame dependent.

0:08:31.570,0:08:35.318
Now, that's a mildly[br]academicese way of saying

0:08:35.318,0:08:38.798
that the choices that you make[br]as communicators matter.

0:08:38.798,0:08:40.198
Sometimes the little things:

0:08:40.198,0:08:42.688
the pronouns that you use,[br]the verbs that you choose;

0:08:42.688,0:08:44.349
sometimes the big things,

0:08:44.349,0:08:47.542
the values that you use[br]to explain why your issue matters;

0:08:47.542,0:08:48.945
those things matter.

0:08:48.945,0:08:51.149
Those things have[br]frequently dramatic impacts

0:08:51.149,0:08:53.309
on what people are willing to do,

0:08:53.309,0:08:56.328
and how people are willing to act[br]and engage on your issues.

0:08:56.328,0:08:58.748
And again, I don't want you[br]to take my word for it.

0:08:58.748,0:09:00.538
I'm going to give you a quick example[br]

0:09:00.538,0:09:03.029
that shows you that understanding[br]is frame dependent.

0:09:03.029,0:09:06.059
And this example comes[br]not from the United States,

0:09:06.059,0:09:08.718
but from the Canadian province of Alberta.

0:09:09.348,0:09:10.759
And a quick geography lesson,

0:09:10.759,0:09:14.359
Alberta is one of the tall, skinny ones[br]in the middle of the country.

0:09:14.359,0:09:17.689
Kind of all you need to know -[br]it's very cold - for this example.

0:09:17.689,0:09:21.031
And so there's a group of experts [br]and advocates in Alberta

0:09:21.031,0:09:24.849
who are working to change [br]policy and practice around addiction.

0:09:24.849,0:09:27.191
They're working to take[br]what we know from science,

0:09:27.191,0:09:30.471
and use it to implement better policies[br]and practices around addiction

0:09:30.471,0:09:31.530
in this province.

0:09:31.530,0:09:34.489
And they've been having[br]a great deal of difficulty doing this.

0:09:34.819,0:09:36.961
A lot of their problem comes from the fact[br]

0:09:36.961,0:09:39.771
that there is zero support[br]to do anything different

0:09:39.771,0:09:41.901
when it comes to addiction[br]in this province.

0:09:41.901,0:09:44.860
And so, they came to us,[br]and they asked us to conduct some work

0:09:44.860,0:09:48.170
to figure out how to engage[br]members of the public more productively,

0:09:48.170,0:09:49.491
to move understanding,

0:09:49.491,0:09:53.450
and specifically, to increase support[br]for a set of evidence-based policies.

0:09:53.450,0:09:56.200
And so, as good framing geeks and dweebs,

0:09:56.200,0:09:58.311
we do what good framing geeks[br]and dweebs do,

0:09:58.311,0:09:59.741
we ran an experiment.

0:10:00.241,0:10:05.016
And in this experiment[br]we tested three different values messages.

0:10:05.016,0:10:08.951
You see, the values messages[br]along the horizontal axis of this graph

0:10:08.951,0:10:10.141
right now.

0:10:10.141,0:10:12.411
So some people -[br]this is a large experiment,

0:10:12.411,0:10:16.291
6,000 people, which believe it or not[br]is not the entire population of Alberta,

0:10:17.001,0:10:20.134
it's a representative sample,[br]not an exhaustive sample.

0:10:20.134,0:10:24.762
Each of these 6,000 people is randomly[br]assigned to one of these messages.

0:10:24.762,0:10:27.291
So if some folks got the value [br]of interdependence,

0:10:27.291,0:10:28.891
which, in this case, is the sense

0:10:28.891,0:10:32.361
that we need to do a better job[br]of dealing with addiction in this province

0:10:32.361,0:10:33.752
because we're all connected:

0:10:33.752,0:10:36.452
what influences one of us[br]influences all of us.

0:10:36.452,0:10:38.821
Other folks got this value of ingenuity,

0:10:38.821,0:10:42.923
which is an innovation value, that we are[br]a province of problem-solvers -

0:10:42.923,0:10:45.222
you kind of swing your arm[br]when you do this one -

0:10:45.222,0:10:48.192
there's never been a problem[br]that we haven't been able to solve

0:10:48.192,0:10:49.761
with some good old Albertan grit

0:10:49.761,0:10:52.184
and roll-up-your-sleeves[br]problem-solvingness -

0:10:52.184,0:10:55.562
that was my Albertan accent,[br]if you caught that, very important.

0:10:55.562,0:10:58.922
And other folks, last but not least,[br]got this value of empathy,

0:10:58.922,0:11:01.252
which is the sense that we need[br]to do a better job

0:11:01.262,0:11:03.262
of dealing with addiction in this province

0:11:03.262,0:11:05.802
because people who deal with[br]addiction are people too.

0:11:05.802,0:11:09.081
They could be our mother, brother,[br]father, sister, neighbor, whomever,

0:11:09.081,0:11:12.062
and as individuals, we need to show[br]these folks compassion.

0:11:12.062,0:11:14.761
So what you're going to see[br]on this next click

0:11:14.761,0:11:18.832
is what I think are three beautiful,[br]blue bars appearing on this screen,

0:11:18.832,0:11:21.152
and what those blue bars[br]are going to show you

0:11:21.152,0:11:24.852
is the extent, the degree[br]to which hearing these different values

0:11:24.852,0:11:28.412
changes people's support[br]for these evidence-based policies.

0:11:28.412,0:11:30.432
So can anyone do a good drumroll?

0:11:30.432,0:11:33.024
Please, play along, thank you.

0:11:33.024,0:11:34.803
(Drumroll)

0:11:34.803,0:11:38.593
So you should see three blue bars[br]and notice two things.

0:11:38.593,0:11:41.789
So first of all, two of these values,[br]interdependence and ingenuity,

0:11:41.789,0:11:44.734
make people, to a statistically[br]significant degree,

0:11:44.734,0:11:47.873
more supportive of these[br]evidence-based policies.

0:11:47.873,0:11:50.833
That is good news[br]when we run these experiments,

0:11:50.833,0:11:52.483
and when we get results like that,

0:11:52.483,0:11:54.494
we stand up, we do[br]a little framing dance -

0:11:54.494,0:11:56.404
I won't do it right now, don't worry -

0:11:56.404,0:11:59.744
we sit back down and we look[br]towards the right-hand side of the screen.

0:11:59.744,0:12:01.163
The value of empathy

0:12:01.163,0:12:04.203
is actually depressing[br]people's support for these policies.

0:12:05.223,0:12:08.213
Now, the kicker is[br]that in a subsequent piece of analysis,

0:12:08.213,0:12:11.882
where we looked at all of the fields[br]external-facing materials,

0:12:11.882,0:12:16.675
guess which value we found[br]to be in place over 90% of the time?

0:12:17.533,0:12:18.383
Empathy.

0:12:18.383,0:12:20.262
Thank you. Not a rhetorical question.

0:12:20.262,0:12:24.024
And so, what this field has been doing[br]for a very long time is endorsing a value

0:12:24.024,0:12:26.265
which actually drives support down[br]

0:12:26.265,0:12:28.465
for the very policies[br]that they are advocating.

0:12:28.465,0:12:30.604
So this example does two things:

0:12:30.604,0:12:34.434
it clearly shows you that understanding[br]is frame-dependent and frames matter.

0:12:34.434,0:12:38.144
It also shows you that these questions,[br]you know, which values to use,

0:12:38.144,0:12:40.215
how to communicate,[br]are empirical questions.

0:12:40.215,0:12:44.135
We don't have to guess or use our guts,[br]we can use social science.

0:12:44.755,0:12:46.274
I think it's pretty cool

0:12:46.274,0:12:49.915
that frames are able to move people's[br]understanding and their policy support,

0:12:49.915,0:12:53.565
but what about more intrinsic,[br]subconscious thinking?

0:12:53.925,0:12:55.705
What about implicit bias?

0:12:55.705,0:12:59.915
Can frames make people [br]less subconsciously biased

0:12:59.915,0:13:01.922
against particular groups of people?

0:13:01.922,0:13:06.336
So we set out to answer this question[br]through a project on re-framing aging

0:13:06.336,0:13:08.837
in which we were[br]specifically interested in:

0:13:08.837,0:13:13.856
can frames make people less[br]implicitly biased against older adults?

0:13:13.856,0:13:15.265
And we found two things.

0:13:15.265,0:13:19.726
First of all, Americans do not[br]like older people.

0:13:20.937,0:13:23.517
Older Americans don't like older people.

0:13:23.517,0:13:24.796
(Laughter)

0:13:24.796,0:13:26.436
High degree of implicit bias,

0:13:26.436,0:13:28.006
and it's a level of implicit bias

0:13:28.006,0:13:30.176
that parallels other biases[br]that people study,

0:13:30.176,0:13:34.896
whether that's gender,[br]religion, sexuality, race;

0:13:34.896,0:13:37.626
this is not cool news, not a good finding.

0:13:37.626,0:13:40.066
But it does get cool[br]when you look at what happens

0:13:40.066,0:13:42.056
when we gave people a message

0:13:42.056,0:13:45.875
that compared ageing to a process[br]of building and gaining momentum.

0:13:45.875,0:13:47.418
And when we did this,

0:13:47.418,0:13:52.477
we found that we could actually reduce[br]people's implicit bias by almost a third.

0:13:52.477,0:13:53.686
Through a frame,[br]

0:13:53.686,0:13:58.466
we could make people less ageist[br]at an implicit level.

0:13:58.466,0:14:01.368
And you can tell[br]that I think this is pretty cool,

0:14:01.368,0:14:04.066
and it's definitely evidence [br]that frames matter,

0:14:04.066,0:14:07.516
and it's definitely evidence[br]that understanding is frame dependent.

0:14:07.516,0:14:12.727
So I want to leave you with a quote,[br]one of my new favorite quotes.

0:14:12.727,0:14:15.667
This is from Austrian[br]philosopher Ivan Illich,

0:14:15.667,0:14:18.327
and Illich says that neither[br]revolution nor reformation

0:14:18.327,0:14:22.379
can ultimately change a society,[br]rather you must tell a more powerful tale,

0:14:22.379,0:14:24.948
one so persuasive[br]that it sweeps away the old myths

0:14:24.948,0:14:27.948
and becomes the preferred story.

0:14:27.948,0:14:33.099
So if we're going to drive social change,[br]we need to develop, we need to test,

0:14:33.099,0:14:36.727
and we need to commit to[br]telling new stories.

0:14:37.207,0:14:41.987
And with that, I will thank you very much,[br]and encourage you all to frame on.

0:14:41.987,0:14:45.038
(Applause)