Stop debating.
Start coaching.
Inspiring Behaviour Change is the method behind every WTF outreach conversation. Learn it in a free live workshop.
What IBC is
You know the conversation. Someone says lions eat zebras, you have the perfect answer, and five minutes later they walk away more sure of themselves than when they arrived.
Inspiring Behaviour Change (IBC) is how we stopped having that conversation. You don't tell people why they should go vegan. You ask questions until they tell you, in their own words, why the footage bothers them and what they could change.
We didn't invent it. It's a coaching method professionals use to hold difficult conversations without making the other person defensive. Our two facilitators learned it in earlier careers, one in social care and one in sales, and adapted it for animal advocacy.
Why it works
Why coach instead of debate
Debates backfire
In a debate somebody has to lose, and nobody wants to be the loser. Studies show two people who debate opposing views usually leave more convinced of where they started. Being nice about it doesn't change that.
People believe what they say
A conclusion someone reaches out loud, in their own words, is one they own. That's why the whole method is questions.
Most people already agree with you
Almost everyone you meet says they love animals and hate seeing them suffer. You don't need to change their values. Their actions just haven't caught up yet.
You stop needing an answer to everything
When you're asking the questions, a clever objection isn't a test you can fail. Activists tell us they stop dreading the next conversation.
How it works
Clarity = Awareness + Accountability + Action
The questions take a person through three steps, and they do the talking at each one. Most people we meet are missing one or two.
Awareness
They know what happens to animals. Most people never see it, and the packaging suggests something humane happens along the way.
Accountability
They see that it happens because people pay for it, and that includes them. It isn't only the farmers' problem, or the government's.
Action
They know what to do next and believe they can. They name the hard part themselves, and how they'd get past it.
A complete game changer for my outreach conversations. I used to head into events geared up for a confrontation, but now I feel much more relaxed and I have more effective conversations.
Two levels
Foundations and Masterclass
Both run live on Zoom, and you'll practise as much as you listen. If you've already taken one, its handout is here to reread before your next event.
Foundations
The Vegan Outreach Crash Course. Three principles, nine questions and three ways to handle an objection, which is about as much as anyone can remember mid-conversation. Start here.
Read the Foundations handoutMasterclass
The Vegan Outreach Masterclass. The full method, with 15 questions, a 7-step framework for objections, two worked role plays and six playbooks for the objections you hear most.
Read the Masterclass handoutJoin an upcoming workshop
Vegan Outreach Masterclass | Inspiring Behaviour Change | November 8th | American Timezones | ET
Vegan Outreach Masterclass | Inspiring Behaviour Change | November 10th | European Timezones | CET
Questions
No. Every workshop is free. Our donors pay for them.
No. It helps to have had a few conversations of your own, because you'll recognise the moments where they went wrong. If you haven't done any outreach yet, start with Foundations.
We built it for street outreach and that's where we practise it. The questions work just as well at the dinner table, in a video chat, or with a colleague who asks why you're vegan.
No. Anyone who advocates for animals can join, whichever group they're active with.
Try it at your next event
One session is enough to start asking different questions.