Straight talking

Sunday May 10th
When we’re giving our opinion or giving out information we should come across as genuine but also pay attention to how we sound. Given the potential for this subject to ignite passions we should be straight-talking but leave lots of space for other people’s opinions.
It’s likely that some of us amateur communicators don’t see ourselves as others see us. We talk as if people want to take our side, whereas most people simply want information from us, if that. We have to be careful with details and facts. Behind everything we say there must be a backup, for example, all animal products may be unhealthy and cruel but behind this must a reference to support the association between these products and certain ailments; the same with cruelty - behind the cruelty we need to give details of animals treatment: the sow stall, the cage, the biology of a cow’s lactation, what happens in abattoirs. It’s the story that counts. It’s the story and the verifiable facts behind our stories that convince. Us having this background knowledge also gives us the confidence to speak out.
Whatever we say is likely to contradict what people have been led to believe, but our conclusions are likely to be provocative anyway - we’re commenting on and questioning the morals of ordinary people who, being consumers, won’t take kindly to what we say or any fingers we are pointing. No one feels too comfortable agreeing that they’ve made mistakes regarding the healthiness of their foods let alone hearing us talk when there’s a moral principle at stake, which makes them feel really guilty.
To a certain extent people will accept what we say about nutrition on the basis that they can go away and check the details for themselves, but the cruelty side is more difficult to escape from. It’s something already known about and already swept under the carpet. Animal advocates, who are ‘straight talking’ about animal torture and public compliance, are dealing with delicate matters. If we want people to listen to this sort of disclosure we need to show them we’ve done our homework at the very least. But whether we have or whether we get caught out, it only matters that we are trying to be objective. We need to come across as sincere and entirely non-violently.
If we are promoting veganism in public, advocating total abolition, animal rights and non-violence personal sincerity would seem to be pretty important. If we look a bit fake, however wise we sound, people will always turn away. Things may even turn nasty. If we are saying how things should be done we’re also saying that they should be done as beautifully as possible, and to do that we mustn’t sound ugly! If we show any hardness in our words they will seem empty. Value-judgments and heated disagreements are guaranteed to lose us support. Instead of trying to convert people in the old fashioned, tub-thumping way, we need to listen a lot more than many of us do, and not be afraid of opposite opinions. Until this is established getting to first base is all up-hill when it needn’t be. When there’s no balance in a conversation or in fair debate it’s easy to lose sight of the issues and the central point of difference.