Taking Small Steps and Making Small changes-Anita Ilango, Entry #2

"Were you successful in convincing people to make a change in their lives in regards to your project? Why do you think they did or did not agree to make a change? What did you learn about what it takes to persuade people to make a change in their lifestyle and how can you more effectively convince people to make a change if you were to do this again?"


I was very successful in convincing people to make a change in their lives regards to my Natural Resources/Global Issues Project. I think the people we asked to make a change in their lives agreed because our theory was that taking small steps could help the environment. Our solution was that every person could make a few small changes towards conserving energy/electricity. This way, when we tried to convince people to make a change, they would think, "That's it? Then why don't I do make that simple change?" Then, they would not be as hesitant to make a change because they would think it will be easy to do.

I learned that when you try to persuade audiences about doing something huge to save the world, they will be hesitant to make this/these changes. Why? Well, if you've ever observed, most people like to make or are more comfortable making changes that will not affect their life very much. When you ask people to make a smaller change in their lifestyle, they are more likely to ponder, "Why not? I am helping someone."


After I have blabbered away just now, you might wonder, "So what IS exactly your point, Anita? So, now finally, I will get to the point in one short sentence(or maybe two). When you, or I, try to convince someone to make a change in their life, ask them to do a small thing. It will be more likely that they will say yes.

-Anita Ilango