Month / April 2015

by Roger Dennis

Observations from presenting at the Nobel Cause Symposium

 

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I’ve just returned from spending three days with some of the smartest minds in the world on climate change at the Nobel Symposium in Hong Kong.

I presented about visions for cities, and how energy saving in street lighting is a very tangible way to cut carbon emissions through dealing with a small group of decision makers.

There’s very few scientists that dispute the data about the challenge of climate change, and the evidence is very strong.  However after listening to speakers present data and show compelling graphs, it occurred to me that challenge is no longer data, it’s how you form the narrative.

This is a common problem with many experts, who have difficulty creating a story that resonates with enough people to start a social movement.

No story, no movement.  No movement, no change.

 

(More details about the symposuium are here: Programme — Nobel Cause Symposium, and here. The photo is of six Nobel Prize winners signing a memorandum imploring decision makers to take stronger action to combat climate change.)

by Roger Dennis

John Oliver reframes complex narrative with ‘Dick Pics’

I watched the John Oliver show about the renewal of the Patriot Act upcoming in June.  His central argument is that the American people don’t care about NSA mass surveillance programmes as it’s too complicated.

He goes to Moscow and interviews Ed Snowden, and you can watch Snowden struggle to understand how to frame his story.  Then John Oliver reframes the massive complexity of NSA surveillance  around, errrr…Dick Pics sent online.

He shows Snowden interviews with people in Times Square before and after the reframing, and the results are absolutely clear when it comes to the formation of great narrative.

The full clip is 30min but you need to watch it in it’s entirety to see the beauty of the formation of the story.  Before the reframing people aren’t particularly worried about the powers of the NSA.  After the reframing they are passionately against it.

It’s a virtual masterclass in how to reframe complexity in such a way that it can trigger a narrative to be re-told.  It’s also an extremely topical and relevant story in itself.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Government Surveillance (HBO) – YouTube.