We’re the first to admit it - talking to Trump supporters is the ultimate “easier said than done”. It's more art than science, requiring a bit of creativity, practice, and plenty of thinking on your feet. It won’t be perfect, but you’ll learn. Here are just a few examples, touching on empathy, authenticity, and fellowship to help you adjust your own words and approach.

Use simple stories to humanize issues. Stories skip over arguments, and they take away the trigger words:

• Instead of “Well, I think the government should play a role in our lives,” try something like: "My uncle worked two jobs and still couldn’t afford his insulin… that’s when he started paying attention to drug pricing reform."

• “I grew up out in the sticks - it was a poor area of the country, but we always had each other's backs - that's something I'll never let go of."

Give them permission to doubt without losing face - maybe even show your own journey through doubt:

• “Honestly, I’ve been conflicted about some of this, too. But I keep going back to what actually helps people.”

• “When I find myself thinking ‘I don’t know’, that’s my signal to dig in and learn.”

• “I know I don't have all the facts on this... What have you heard?”

Help them see that caring, questioning, or changing is consistent with their values, not a betrayal of their loyalties:

• “Sometimes I think we have more in common than the people at the top want us to believe.”

• “I used to like the idea of 'shaking things up' - but over time, I began to figure out who’s actually benefiting from it.”

• “I just don’t think corporatists, foreign oligarchs, Christian Nationalists, and Authoritarians are in this for us.”

Create cognitive dissonance by challenging their conflicting stances. As they think, let the silence settle in - it’s often more effective than any argument.

• “Give me a sec, I’m just trying to understand how that aligns with what you said earlier about...”

• “I know you’re really family-oriented, so I was surprised you were okay with that policy.”

• “You’ve always hated money in politics. This looks a lot like corruption to me, doesn’t it to you?”

It’s often best to start a counterpoint with an agreement:

• You’re spot-on there – I’m just worried that…

• I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said last week... The part I can’t figure out is…

It's easy to unintentionally insult those already in a defensive mindset. It might be worth practicing a bit.

• Replace “Wait, you didn’t hear about…?” with “Yeah, I was totally shocked when I learned …“.

• Replace "How did you not know this?" with "There's just so much noise out there - it's hard to keep up."

A more direct approach may also be suitable - perhaps when the person is coming around or whenTrump’s policies start hitting home, or depending on your relationship with them.

• He made a big show of fighting for us, but behind the scenes, he was cutting deals with the very people who’ve been draining the country dry for decades. The system’s rigged, yeah, but he just made it worse.

• He didn’t care about facts. He cared about followers. He used lies to get loyalty.

• They didn’t want to inform anyone. They just flooded the airwaves with noise, hoping we'd give up on the truth.

We hope you choose to reach out to the Trump supporter(s) in your life. You know them, so use the above examples to envision how your conversations might go.

If any of the above resonates with you, here’s a deeper dive…