Palm Trees, Professors, & Chains Saws:
helping farmers listen to a safer future
Outline
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A riddle
The nature of the problem
Risk & health communication
Some solutions
A riddle
• A college professor…
A riddle
• A college professor…
• An extension ladder
& a palm tree…
A riddle
• A college professor…
• An extension ladder
& a palm tree…
• A buzz saw…
A riddle
• A college professor…
• An extension ladder
& a palm tree…
• A buzz saw…
• High wind?
The Answer
The Result
• 12 screws, 2 plates, 2 pins, 2 rods, 5 operations, 3
hospitalizations, picc line, hyperbaric chamber
The Lessons?
• Even though I’m married to a Canadian that doesn’t
mean common sense
• Just because I’ve done it before doesn’t mean I can
do it again
• I’m smart but I couldn’t out-think the problem
• Circumstances led me to overlook the circumstances
• But I saved $25!
The Nature of the Problem
• Risk cognition
 Underestimate v. overestimate
• Expert myopia
 Accidents: tight coupling between context + event + speed
 Can’t predict & can’t act fast enough
• Narcotizing circumstances
 Time pressure
 Mistaking experience for expertise
• This was a “normal” accident
 Predictable, avoidable, inevitable
So, what to do?
• Understand how they hear
• Slow them down
• Make it personal
• Show them the future
Persuasion 101
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PACYRAH
P  right channel  where do they listen?
A  break through clutter  what will grab them?
C  simple messages  what’s the point?
Y  relevant messages  does it make sense?
R  repeated messages  1 person calls you an ass…
H  immediate practice  see the cow, eat the steak
How people “hear”
• On any issue, three zones
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Acceptance, Non-Commitment, Rejection
Width of A & NC dependent on ego-involvement
Anchor Point: core belief judges messages
Key: message in A or NC zone
Messages must be SRR delivered by credible source
Now for an Example
“Modern Family”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyUNRWJg0P8
Homosexual
marriage
Homosexual = bad
Now for an Example
“Modern Family”
• “Just like us”
• By locating message/image text within A
or NC zone, message is received
Just like us
Now for an Example
“Modern Family”
• “Just like us”
• By locating message/image text within A
or NC zone, message is received
• Anchor moves over time, accepting message
Just like us
How people “hear”
• Central Route
• Peripheral Route
 High “need for
orientation”
 Low “need for
orientation”
 Facts, figures,
logical arguments,
credibility “just like
them”
 Emotions, images,
credibility “just like
me”
What to do
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Remember PACYRAH
SRR messages
Use words and images that fall within AC or NC zone
Peripheral route then central route
Slow them down
 Checklist  defeats the routine
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bwnGNzx9BM
 Uncouple the act from the permission to act
What to do
• Make it personal
 Testimonials
 Word pictures/analogies  “wild fire” accidents
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rClJW9gnchc
• Show them the future
 see it think it
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a9El93UhEw
Conclusion
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Know your audience
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Risk cognition  underestimate risks
Expert myopia  don’t see risks or out-think them
Narcotizing  numb to context & speed
SRR messages using the correct channels
Peripheral Messages anchored in A or NC
Predictable, avoidable, inevitable
Slow, personal, consequential = awareness