Speaking on Campus

Key points on how to talk effectively to college students

• Identify the goals and desired outcomes of your speech.
• Try to anticipate and pre-empt criticisms of your points.
• Know your facts; if you address a university audience, it is possible that someone in the audience may be an expert on the subject you are addressing.
• The messenger is frequently more important than the message. Some people believe that libertarians don't give a damn about others; don't reinforce that belief.
• Don't be upset if people fail to embrace libertarianism immediately upon hearing your words of wisdom. Those encountering our ideas for the first time usually need time to consider. Tell people you can understand if they have doubts and questions about your comments.
• Ask people to "compare apples to apples" when they consider the libertarian perspective.
• Be gentle when forcing people to face the implications of their statist positions. Find areas of agreement, and lead them gently down the libertarian path.
• Change terms of debate:
  Legalization = Ending Drug Prohibition
  Gun Control = Victim Disarmament
• Most of your discussions with non-libertarians will deal with history (the Great Depression, the plight of the poor during the Industrial Revolution, etc.) rather than moral philosophy.
• Many of the most telling points against statist policies have nothing to do with libertarianism. For example, the arguments that minimum wage laws can (and do) harm the very people the laws are ostensibly designed to help, and that agencies such as the FDA may do vastly more harm than good, do not require any agreement with libertarian principles.
• Don't oversell the product. Understand that a libertarian society will not be perfect. Don't engage in "kneejerk libertarianism."
• Never underestimate the effect you can have upon someone. Seeds you plant today may bear tremendous fruit tomorrow. Note that some of your greatest victories may take place not in finding and nurturing the next great libertarian advocate, but rather in keeping someone from becoming the next Karl Marx or Michael Harrington.
• Offer your help to those who wish to learn more.