Episode #44
How to Speak on Climate with Rune Kier
If you care about something, you don't always need to win with facts. You need to invite people in. Today's guest is anthropoligist Rune Kier. One of the things that stayed with me from this conversation was the question of what happens when we stop treating communication as a battle to be won. Because when something matters deeply to us — the climate, the living world, the future, our communities — it can be tempting to reach for more facts. More evidence. A stronger argument. The perfect response to someone who doesn't see what we see. But facts don't exist outside of relationship. And people don't always need more data. Sometimes they need a story they can enter. A perspective they can recognise. A way of talking about what matters that doesn't require them to first agree with us. A few things from this conversation stayed with me: • People don't always need more data — they need a story they can feel. • "I'm concerned" can be enough to begin a conversation. • The right words are often the ones that sound like your life, rather than a debate. • Sharing what we notice can create more space than telling someone what they should think. That's a shift from persuasion to perspective. From "let me prove it" to "let me show you how I see it." And perhaps this is especially important when we are talking about something as complex and personal as our relationship with the living world. We don't all have to speak like experts. We can speak from where we stand. Maybe the most powerful thing we can say is not: "I'm certain." But: "I'm here. I noticed. And I care." Save this if you've ever felt caught between being accurate and being real.
