The 2016 US presidential election revealed a post-fact culture. Previously, catching someone in a lie could sully their name, derail a campaign, or decimate a brand—ask Gary Hart, Richard Nixon, and former governor and Appalachian Trail enthusiast Mark Sanford. Today, lies matter less… not to brands, but to their audiences. Emotion replaces logic. So how do you develop rapport when your audience tests proof points against their own convictions? Can mass media validate fact if “truthiness” trumps truth? Can you harness opposing perspectives without ceding to false equivalency? Most importantly, we’ll discuss how to empower audiences to embrace the courage of their convictions on your behalf. Presented at SXSW in Austin, #sxsw and #factstalk, on March 14, 2017.

1. COMMUNICATING IN AN ERA
OF SELF-VALIDATING FACTS
Margot Bloomstein
@mbloomstein
#factstalk
SXSW 2017

2. Is the media our magic mirror?
©Cayuga Productions and CBS
@mbloomstein | #factstalk

3. We see an accurate reflection:
our internal truths trump external data
©Cayuga Productions and CBS
@mbloomstein | #factstalk

4. If this is the post-fact era,
when was the fact era?

5. Rudy Giuliani, August 15, 2016, Youngstown Ohio Trump Foreign Policy Speech

6. Rudy Giuliani, August 15, 2016, Youngstown Ohio Trump Foreign Policy Speech
Inaccurate, but not inconsistent.

8. ©Scott Olson Getty Images; from Fox Business with Neil Cavuto interview

9. ©Scott Olson Getty Images; from Fox Business with Neil Cavuto interview

10. ©Scott Olson Getty Images; from Fox Business with Neil Cavuto interview

11. ©Scott Olson Getty Images

12. ©Scott Olson Getty Images; excerpt from August 15, 2016 foreign policy speech

13. ©Scott Olson Getty Images; I’m paraphrasing, but c’mon.
All these things are true
even if they didn’t happen.

14. ©Justin Lane European Pressphoto Agency; excerpted from https://nytimes.com/2017/01/30/technology/donald-trump-social-networks-protests.html

15. Consistency is an internal metric.
Does this information align with my
viewpoint?
@mbloomstein | #factstalk 15

16. Consistency is an internal metric.
Does this brand make me feel good
about myself?
@mbloomstein | #factstalk

17. History isn’t memory,
accuracy isn’t consistency—
@mbloomstein | #factstalk

18. History isn’t memory,
accuracy isn’t consistency—
and inconsistency didn’t cause
Trump to lose MORE.
@mbloomstein | #factstalk

20. ©Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images; Fox News Sunday

21. ©Politico

22. We see what we want to see
©Cayuga Productions and CBS

23. Trust emerges not from honesty, but
from consistency—with how we believe

24. ValidationDeliberation

25. Courage in our
convictions
Empirical
proof

26. “Feels right” is accurate
>

27. ©Cayuga Productions and CBS
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Does inner confirmation bias replace
outward faith in the institutions we
traditionally trusted as arbiters of truth?

28. Insert gut check cycle imageCan we blame the Right Wing Media?
©Fox News

29. Insert gut check cycle imageCoached skepticism? False equivalency?
©Fox News

30. Insert gut check cycle image
©CBS

31. Insert gut check cycle image
©National Enquirer

32. Insert gut check cycle image
©Mary Ann Chastain, Associated Press

34. Media may not hold people accountable,
but they can hold US accountable to our
own internal beliefs, values, & identities.
@mbloomstein | #factstalk

35. ©Jana Birchum for The Austin Chronicle; from March 12, 2017 panel Good Night and Good Luck: Media in Election Years at SXSW

36. What can we do to shift beliefs when
feelings trump facts?
@mbloomstein | #factstalk 36

37. How we form our beliefs matters more
than what we believe
@mbloomstein | #factstalk

38. How we form our beliefs matters more
than what we believe
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Cultural predisposition

39. How we form our beliefs matters more
than what we believe
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Cultural predisposition
confirmation bias

40. Earn attention through novelty
Trojan horse on feels-right opposition
Fit new ideas to old values for relevance
@mbloomstein | #factstalk 40

41. Invest in original content and reporting
@mbloomstein | #factstalk

42. Couple with analysis of others’ research
@mbloomstein | #factstalk

43. Host opposing viewpoints
@mbloomstein | #factstalk

44. Host opposing viewpoints
©Comedy Central

45. ADD OUTSIDE YOUR BUBBLE

47. © Yunghi Kim, Contact Press

48. Invite insight, don’t just present logic
@mbloomstein | #factstalk

49. Join discussions, don’t just dole out facts
@mbloomstein | #factstalk
Blog excerpt ©Design Mom/Gabrielle Blair

50. Give the opposition a seat at the table to
create new perspectives that appeal not
to what we know, but to what we value.
© YouTube

51. All these things are true
even if they didn’t happen.

52. Thank you!
Margot Bloomstein
@mbloomstein
margot@appropriateinc.com
http://amzn.to/CSatWork
http://slideshare.net/mbloomstein

53. Margot Bloomstein
@mbloomstein
margot@appropriateinc.com
Books: http://amzn.to/CSatWork
BrandSort: http://cards.appropriateinc.com
Talks: http://slideshare.net/mbloomstein