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Seriously, if you’re having problems getting people to pay attention to your “issue” or your “problem,” try telling them about a “trend” instead. According to the excellent Making Communictions Connections Toolkit, published the Annie E. Casey Foundation (Disclosure: client of Beaconfire Consulting, my employer), the word “trend” helps listeners and readers focus on the need for public intervention to address a social shortcoming. The word “issue” or “problem” focuses listeners and readers on individual responsibility to address the situation.

How do you substantiate your claims that something is a trend? Provide three recent examples.

Photo courtesy USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Text addition by yours truly.