Climate communication workshop
A storytelling game for groups of three. Everyone opens this page on their own phone and presses the button for their role.
Press your button again to draw a different card.
Source: (opens in a new tab)
Your conversation
Start with them, not you. Answer their opening line and ask about their day. When they give you a link, share a moment from your own life. Skip lines like "I care about climate change": they cost a point.
The news is optional: weave it in for an extra challenge. No numbers or jargon unless they ask.
,
Never without: .
Scene
Only you and the referee see this.
Ask the character who they are. Their hidden side appears here.
5:00
Five minutes for the conversation.
Yellow cards this round: 0. Red cards: 0.
Each card fills the screen for 5 seconds so you can hold your phone up. Every card is counted.
Yellow for
Red for
Total: 0
Tap every time you hear one. The total adds itself up.
Plus one
Minus one
Waiting for the character's answer.
Play in threes. Each round, one person brings the news, one plays a character and one referees. Swap after every round so everyone plays all three roles.
Draw a news story as your prompt. Connect with the character first, then share your why, then ask for one thing. You can stick to your own personal story, or take the extra challenge of weaving the news in. You win the round if the character says yes to your one thing and you get no red card.
Draw a character and read out the top of the card. Keep your hidden side from the newsbearer. Start with your opening line, then stay in role: open up when the newsbearer finds a door opener and push back when they hit a trigger. You can say yes to one thing without changing your mind about climate change.
Pick the character's name in your kit to see their hidden side. Run the five-minute clock, hold up cards when the newsbearer slips, tap the score and call the verdict at the end.
The story and the character are drawn separately, at random.
| What | Who sees it |
|---|---|
| The news story | Only the newsbearer. The others hear whatever the newsbearer chooses to share. |
| The top of the character card Name, age, job, place and the scene | Everyone. The character reads it out. |
| The character's hidden side Climate view, time, wallet, reach, triggers and door openers | The character and the referee. The newsbearer finds out by asking and listening. |
Unless the scene says otherwise, the newsbearer and the character have never met.
Connect first. People listen to someone who has listened to them, and a personal story lands when it answers something they said. Out of nowhere, it sounds like a pitch.
Start where the character is. Answer their opening line and ask about their day. In an everyday scene like a taxi, start with what's in front of you, like the traffic or the weather.
Listen for what they feel and what they need, and show them you heard it.
Based on Marshall Rosenberg, Nonviolent Communication
When something they say gives you a link, share why you care through a moment from your own life: a place, a person, a smell, a feeling. If you are using the news story, bring it in here. A few sentences is enough.
Avoid generalisations such as "I care about climate change", "the planet is in trouble" or "we all need to do our bit". They sound like everyone else and cost a point.
Based on Simon Sinek, Start with Why
Ask for one action. It has to pass the detective test.
Detectives use motive, means and opportunity to test whether someone really could have done something. Use the same test on your one thing: if any of the three is missing, it won't happen.
Every character holds one of six views on climate change, from least to most resistant. The newsbearer isn't told which, so listen for it.
Adapted from Yale's Global Warming's Six Americas
Marco
"Make it quick, I've got a queue out the door."
Messenger
"It's mobbed in here! How's business, with bean prices the way they are?"
Marco
"Brutal. My roaster's put prices up twice. I've had to charge four pound for a flat white and my regulars moan at me."
Messenger
"So you're stuck in the middle. You're fed up because you want to be fair to your regulars and still keep the doors open. Is that right?"
Marco
"Aye. That's exactly it."
Why it works: the messenger starts with what's in front of them, the queue, and asks about Marco's day. Then they name what happened (prices up twice), the feeling (fed up) and the need (fairness, keeping the business going), and check. That's Nonviolent Communication. The referee would tap good question and active listening.
Messenger
"Coffee's personal for me. My first love was a barista in Bologna. Every morning that summer he made me a cappuccino with a wee heart on top. So when I read that the farms in Brazil and Vietnam are getting weeks more of the heat that damages the plants, it actually hurt. It's a big part of why your roaster keeps putting prices up."
Why it works: the story answers something Marco just said, so it doesn't come out of nowhere. It starts with a real moment and a feeling, and the news arrives as an answer to his problem, with no numbers and no jargon. Compare "Climate change is a huge issue and I really care about the planet", which tells him nothing about you and costs a point.
Messenger
"Would you put a wee card by the till this week, saying where your beans come from and why the price went up? Your roaster will have the farm's story already."
Marco
"Go on then. Might stop the moaning."
The referee ticks all six boxes, the character says yes and the screen celebrates.
The newsbearer keeps going and drops whatever earned the card.
The newsbearer stops the story and repairs the conversation before going on.
The referee taps a button every time something happens, on their phone. The page adds up the total.
When the character says yes and there was no red card, the message is delivered and the screen celebrates. If the character answers maybe or no, or says yes after a red card, the messenger gets shot with a foam dart. Pew pew. Compare scores across rounds in the debrief.
Say what you think the character feels and needs, then check you got it right.
"It sounds like you're [feeling] because [need] matters to you. Is that right?"
Wait for the answer. If they say no, try again. Carry on once they agree you've understood.
| Starts at | Length | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 | 5 min | Get into threes and read these rules. |
| 0:05 | 10 min | Round 1. Two minutes to draw and prepare, five to talk, three for the verdict. |
| 0:15 | 10 min | Round 2. Swap roles and draw new cards. |
| 0:25 | 10 min | Round 3. Swap again, so everyone has played every role. |
| 0:35 | 10 min | Whole-room debrief. |
Climate view
Push back.
Open up a little.