Get Gobby competition, step 2: Turning ideas into a plan

Aaron Faunch

13 May 2013

In my last blog I talked about choosing an audience and a medium to reach them. Now the most important part... How am I going to convince them to change their diets?

I know the health and environmental benefits, and I need to use them. Not all benefits are going to be equally persuasive for a local community (my target audience). Climate Change affects us all but it's impersonal and distant. The farm behind Mr Jones' favourite Sunday walk - on the other hand - is full of emotions and memories.

There are various benefits to eating less meat. I chose one that my University city, Lincoln, would be interested in; something like locally-sourced meat (I could tell you more but I want to win). After that I needed to decide on tone - did I want them to laugh or cry or a mixture of the two?

You need to choose what's right for you. I wanted to avoid scalding people. And I didn't want to bombard people with jargon. Complex words are going to make people stop reading, turn off the television or close the browser.

Guilt won't work here. Many charity volunteers have successfully guilted me into parting with a fiver, but I don't want people to feel ashamed every time they have a steak.

My article will be enjoyable and encourage a new lifestyle. I want people to be motivated by the benefits of just having meat every now and then.

Now all that heavy thinking is done, it's time to plan. I've made a rough timetable of tasks and put them in the following order: research, writing and design.

Timetabling really is a good way to organise yourself. It means you can avoid those sleepless nights and panic just before a deadline (mostly).

If all goes to plan, my next blog will be in the middle of the research bit of my timetable. If you haven't started yet, why not? There's 500 quid up for grabs. Enter here.

Aaron Faunch is a volunteer in the Land Use, Water and Food Security team. He is also studying a Masters in Science and Environmental Journalism at the University of Lincoln.