Put your messages to work.

Don’t begin with our issue. Begin with theirs. 

Most people are thinking about health outcomes, jobs, government spending, business growth, schools, public safety, research, emergency preparedness, and more. Start there. 

Then show them how accurate race and ethnicity information helps answer the question or topic they already care about. 

If you’re explaining the systems or data before your audience understands why they should care, you’re starting too far in the weeds. Always start with the why not the how or what. 

Choose the right entry point. 

• Healthcare leaders → Understanding patients, identifying different health outcomes, knowing where services are needed, etc. 

• Business leaders → Understanding workers, customers, markets, changing operating environments, and whether investments are reaching intended targets, etc. 

• Policymakers → Understanding how to make better decisions, finding measurable results, using public resources responsibly, etc. 

• Researchers → Understanding how to demonstrate accuracy, specificity, comparability, and meaningful differences in populations 

• Education leaders → Understanding students, where outcomes differ, whether programs are being effective, how to prioritize resources, etc. 

• Community organizations → Understanding the experiences of the people they serve, ensuring resonance of their work, giving decision-makers relevant information, etc. 

• Good-government leaders → Understanding where waste or inefficiency exists, ensuring transparency in decision making, providing measurable outcomes to constituents, etc. 

If they remember only one thing, I want them to remember that… 

In the modern communications environment, attention spans are short. It doesn’t matter if you’re communicating via mass communication channels like social media and traditional media, or targeted communications like individual meetings or presentations. Identify the most important message you want to communicate to your audience based on what they need to hear. 

• Good decisions require good information. 

• An average understanding can be accurate while still hiding something important. 

• You can’t measure progress and success if you stop measuring altogether. 

• Public information should serve the public good. 

Then use evidence and stories to support that idea. Don’t compete with it. Don’t poke holes in it. Don’t challenge assumptions. 

One idea creates a pathway to a conversation. Ten ideas creates an overwhelming list.

Remember: Data is not the outcome. People have their own outcomes and consequences they care about. 

Ask yourself: What becomes possible because this information exists? Paint the picture. Tell the story. 

• Don’t stop at… ““We need disaggregated health data.” —> Keep going to… “We need to know whether some communities are experiencing very different health outcomes because x, y, z…” 

• Don’t stop at… “The survey needs a MENA category.” —> Keep going to… “People need categories that accurately reflect who they are so the information accurately reflects this country. This helps with x, y, z…”

• Don’t stop at… "We need consistent collection over time.”  —> Keep going to… “We need to know whether conditions are getting better or worse. This will support x, y, z policymaking…” 

• Don’t stop at… “Public demographic data must remain accessible.” —> Keep going to… “Researchers, business leaders, and communities need to be able to see and evaluate whether programs are working. It’s how they x, y, z…” 

Facts will help you build credibility, but telling a story will help make the point stick. 

One message + one proof point + one concrete example. 

Your goal is to tell an easy-to-understand story – and one that’s ideally memorable, as well – rather than focusing on a technical explanation or weighty argument. 

MESSAGE: Broad averages can hide important differences. 

PROOF: Overall cervical cancer rates among Asian American women appear lower than rates among non-Hispanic White women. 

STORY: When researchers looked more closely, Vietnamese and Cambodian women showed higher rates of cervical cancer, while Chinese and Asian Indian women showed lower rates. 

TAKEAWAY: The average wasn’t necessarily wrong. It was just incomplete. 

Your time is limited and so is your audience’s. Make your own case instead of living inside of theirs.  

If you spend your entire conversation rebutting someone else’s framing you’re letting them decide what the conversation is about. Remember, you’re on a mission to tell a story.

1. Acknowledge their question. Show them that you’ve heard them. 

2. Answer it simply. Don’t give them a five-minute rebuttal to their 20-second objection. 

3. Bridge back to your message. Return to the affirmative case you want them to remember. (Yes, this is similar to media training!) 

—

Question: “Isn’t collecting information about race discriminatory?” 

Answer + Bridge: “Collecting information about race isn’t the same as making decisions based on race. It helps us understand what’s actually happening in our country. 

And that’s the larger point: good decisions should be based on facts rather than assumptions or opinions.” 

—

Question: “Why does the government need this information anyways?” 

Answer + Bridge: “The government makes decisions about programs, funding, and services every day. Accurate information will help our elected officials understand whom their decisions are affecting and what programs are or aren’t working. 

If we’re going to spend public resources and taxpayer dollars, we should be able to measure the results.”