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Jan. 4, 2023

652: Empathy & Understanding - Key Strategies for Effectively Selling Libertarian Ideas

652: Empathy & Understanding - Key Strategies for Effectively Selling Libertarian Ideas

Learn how to use empathy and understanding to effectively communicate and sell libertarian ideas to others.

As libertarians, we often focus on individual liberty and personal responsibility when discussing how to solve America’s problems. But it's also important to consider the perspectives and experiences of those around us.

Many Americans are struggling with a lack of economic opportunity and have been left behind by the current system. Increasingly, these individuals are looking to government as the only viable solution to their problems.

In this episode, we explore how libertarians can use empathy and understanding to better understand and connect with others, and ultimately sell libertarian ideas to a wider audience. We discuss the importance of listening and asking questions, as well as the role of storytelling and building trust. We also address common misconceptions about libertarianism and offer strategies for combating them. Tune in to learn how you can use empathy and understanding to more effectively advocate for libertarianism.

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Transcript

Brian Nichols  0:00  
Could libertarians learn a thing or two by using empathy when trying to reach out to new voters? Yeah, let's talk about that. Instead of focusing on winning arguments, we're teaching the basic fundamentals of sales and marketing and how we can use them to win in the world of politics, teaching you how to meet people where they're at on the issues they care about. Welcome to The Brian Nichols Show. Boyle Happy Wednesday there, folks, Brian Nichols here on The Brian Nichols Show. And thank you for joining us on of course, another fun filled episode. I am as always your humble host joining you live from our Stratus ip studios, here in lovely Eastern Indiana don't let cyber attacks or outdated Business Technology put your company at risk. All right, folks, let's let's talk about this whole empathy thing. Because yeah, as libertarians, we often spend most of our time focusing on how individual liberty and personal responsibility can help solve all of America's problems. But it's also important for us to consider the perspectives and the personal experiences of those that we're trying to speak to, because here's the reality that we're trying to deal with and face. Many Americans are struggling right now with a lack of economic opportunity. And they feel they've been left behind by the current system. And increasingly, in response to that, they're now looking to government as the only viable means to help them solve their problems. So instead of us chastising them, for them thinking that's the only way we can do this, I argue we should instead try to put ourselves in their shoes, and figure out why it is they feel this way. Now, no, before I see the comments coming in, in a flurry of anger, I'm not arguing that we should be abandoning our principles, and becoming a rock ribbed communist and socialist, but rather, I'm saying we instead just need to start listening to people, empathizing with them, and then offer our solutions in a way that shows that, hey, we actually care, and we want to see them have a better life. And there's a good news here, folks, this is so easy for us to do in practice in our day to day lives. So how do we do this? Well, first off, just by showing empathy and understanding, we're going to help show we are not only trying to better understand other people's perspectives, but that we're going to be putting ourselves in a position to down the road be in a better spot to help persuade them when we start bringing our libertarian ideas to the table. And we do so and going from where we start to where we'll finish by just simply listening. And I know you're like what listening, that's all it takes. Well hear me out when you listening. It's not just about listening to someone talk. It's about listening to what they're saying what it is the meaning behind their words. In other words, we should be paying attention to not just what people say, but what it is that make people tick, what is it that drives them to believe what they believe. And now we can get a better idea as to what it is that's motivating people to look at things in a certain way, mostly, by the way that they're being imprinted by the various forces around the mainly the different content they're consuming. So we can take interest in, let's say, the popular culture, read the books that folks are reading, watch the movies that they're reading, watch the television shows, and listen to the music, play the video games, whatever it is, figure out what it is that's currently influencing them now and how it works. Also, there are some libertarians out there who argue that we should be spending our time focusing on ideas and ideas alone, and that we're wasting our time. And we spend focusing our energy and efforts talking about the quote unquote, dangerous culture war. But here's the truth. Most people simply don't care about politics as they are. Beyond themselves. Folks are interested in stories, characters, relationships, and if you want them to care about libertarian principles and ideas, and if we want them to see why these ideas are not just good ideas, but are important ideas, worthy of their support, then we need to make sure we're presenting it in a way that's most palatable for them. And again, empathy does not mean we need to compromise on our principles, folks, but it does mean it does mean we need to listen and understand others. And we need to do this in a way that doesn't make us look like pardon my French smug, self righteous assholes. That means actually listening to people that we're trying to convince, and not just waiting them to say something that we can easily dismiss. We need to start asking questions and listen carefully to what they're actually saying. And then we need to build on that addressing their concerns with our own stories, and our own experiences. We need to feel that we can make it clear that we understand their concerns and how they themselves are feeling. And then we need to show them that our ideas will help us or help them rather address those concerns. And now a word from our sponsors in the world of wine there are so many choices. He says and that's why blood of tyrants, wine has tyrants losing their heads whether you're looking for a new go to at home or watching impress your friends at a party. A lot of times wine has you covered. And if you're trying to get rid of some pesky parents in your life well, if we've got that covered, too, and the Brian Nichols show.com forward slash wine and get $5 off your order, one more time, Brian Nichols show.com, forward slash wine freemen don't ask permission. So take a sip, you'll be glad you did. So if you want to help convince people more effectively, we need to start by listening. You need to listen carefully and deeply. And then when you're done listening, ask questions, and then listen to more. The ability to listen is the key to persuasion. And when we listen well, people will feel heard, and they'll feel understood. They'll feel like their concerns are being taken seriously. And it creates trust. And once there's trust, they're more likely to be open to what we have to say next. So the next time you see one of your buddies spouting some status nonsense at the watercooler don't jump in and start arguing with him now. Instead, listen carefully and deeply. And when he's finished talking, ask him about what he just said. And then listen some more. If you do this, he'll feel that his concerns are being heard and understood. You'll feel like his concerns are being taken seriously. And this will help build trust between you two. And once there's trust, he will be more likely to be open to what you have to say next. Now, is this foolproof? No, of course not. But it's a good start. Yes, there will always be bad faith actors, people who are always trying to be willfully obtuse, who aren't interested in trying to understand your point of view, and those who are just simply looking for excuses to fight. And guess what, they're not your target market. Your target market is the vast majority of folks out there who are sincere in their efforts to understand your different perspectives. They want to be heard and understood, and they're willing to listen to your points of view. If you show them you are willing to listen first. Alright, folks, there's our quick episode for today the power of empathy libertarians, there's so much we can do here with trying to reach out to people in a more effective way. And it starts with listening showing that we care and trying to be genuinely insert interested in the things that other folks are interested in. If you got value from today's episode will do me a favor, go ahead and give it a share. Also, this is some of the stuff we're gonna be talking about not just here, as we're talking about for libertarians, but for specific candidates and how they can use the different things we're talking about from strategy here and The Brian Nichols Show for their respective campaigns over at Candidate School, hit over the Brian Nichols show.com forward slash Candidate School where you can go ahead and sign up. Yes, classes have just started here in January, we already got things rocking and rolling. And the new course material is here. And that new curriculum is how to win your local election, a brand new ebook written by yours truly is a free resource that I'm saying yes, I've heard frankly, from different candidates. And I wish there was something as like a how to of what what do I do here to start out trying to win my local election because here's the reality, a lot of folks entering into those local races are just average folks like you and me. They're just trying to make a difference in the world. So I said here, we're gonna go ahead and give you guys a very nice a synced resource. It's about 17 pages long. And we're going from how to build your campaign team, messaging, fundraising, voter outreach, all that and more. It's discussed in this awesome free eBook. So if you wanna go ahead and get your free copy, we'll make sure you hit subscribe here to The Brian Nichols Show, and you head over to the Brian Nichols show.com On Friday, where you can go ahead and get your free copy of the ebook. Yes, it will be free. And also if you are already subscribing to our morning sales huddle, well go to your most recent Morning Sales huddle email in your inbox, and you'll see there's a link right there. If you hit the link there, it'll bring you right to a sub separate email requesting a sneak peek of the Morning Sales huddle. So that's an exclusive there for the morning sales huddle subscribers over at The Brian Nichols Show. And yeah, I've been reaching out to a lot of the folks here in the greater liberty movement, letting them get a sneak peek of the book and so far we're hearing some pretty good feedback. So I'm thinking this is gonna be a really good resource we have here for for folks moving forward and actually we're using it right now in a couple of our races in some local elections for some city council races, mayoral races and we're gonna hearings making a little bit of an impact. So good stuff here. Folks. If you want to go ahead and be a part of the fun, make sure you head over to the Brian Nichols show.com forward slash Kennedy School and yeah, the ebook will be dropping here at the end of the week this Friday otherwise, that's all we really have for you. Um, oh yeah. One last thing if you want to go ahead and support the show a couple different ways you can do that. Number one, you can go ahead and go to get some nice swag whatever it is, you want to go ahead and represent rock and roll please feel free head to Brian Nichols show.com

forward slash shop where you can go ahead and find your awesome merch. We have some great stuff like our what happened in 1971 t shirt, which I think is a question a lot of folks have been asked And because you're watching all those bar graphs, they all start to go crazy. They're 1971 Why is that? We ask that question. Plus, we have a bunch of other T shirts, mugs, snapbacks hats and more over at our shop at Brian Nichols show.com forward slash shop. And then also you will become an audience Insider. Well, it's only $1.99 a month. So head over to our Patreon. You can sign up for $1.99 a month, why not? And I'll send you over a a free, free postcard a free bumper sticker. There we go. Your choice, I'll make sure I include the options there as well over on the Patreon, link in the show notes. And otherwise, that's all I have for you if I'm on social media at being Nichols liberty, otherwise, it's all I have for you, folks. Brian Nichols signing off, you're on The Brian Nichols Show. We'll see you tomorrow.

Disembodied Voice of Matt Ultan, Vocal Artist Extraordinaire  10:41  
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Brian Nichols  10:48  
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Transcribed by https://otter.ai