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Principle 4: Personal
If I look at the mass I will never act. If I look at the one I will. - Mother Teresa.
You'll see this phenomenon every day in the news: one person's story can be all it takes to create an impression that the economy is in trouble, the health system is failing, crime is out of control, taxpayers' money is being wasted, and so on. It doesn't matter if the evidence says the opposite.
People will give far more money to save one starving child than two, and far more to save two than a million. Why? Because we empathise with individuals, not with groups.
The lesson? If you want people to listen and understand, tell a personal story.
Find out more
You can read stories from the Colombia Journalism Review and the Toronto Star about research about charities showing that people give more to individuals than groups, or read the full paper by psychologist Paul Slovic Psychic Numbing and Genocide.