Rick Smith

#203: How to Use Storytelling to Change Entrenched Views

#203: How to Use Storytelling to Change Entrenched Views

America has a gun violence problem, and many citizens have these weapons for self-protection. But new technologies are allowing for alternatives that are safer and more effective. So, sharing the capabilities of these advancements through carefully crafted stories may not only shift the public’s perception, but ultimately make the bullet obsolete.

Rick Smith, founder of TASER (now Axon) and author of The End of Killing: How Our Newest Technologies Can Solve Humanity’s Oldest Problems, has devoted his career to putting an end to deaths by bullets. To do so, he has become an expert in why and how we use guns for violence. Now, he shares how the use of positive narrative can save us all.

Tremendous value is placed on firearms because it is viewed by many as one of the best forms of self-defense. But ultimately, killing is a technology problem. “Within the next 10 years, we will deliver a weapon that doesn’t kill and is as or more effective as a bullet in stopping a threat.” However, firm beliefs are hard to break. That’s why Rick is sharing the positive stories that are a result of these new technologies. The idea is that these stories will then build momentum and create a new set of beliefs where the bullet is obsolete.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

• How the power of story can change deep-rooted beliefs
• The power of a story to get your whole team moving in the same direction
• The importance of using storytelling to talk about future technologies in the present
• How storytelling through data-driven technology can eliminate biased policing and wrongful imprisonments, to name a few.
• How entrepreneurs can, through storytelling, be society’s greatest activists

Resources & Links

• Rick Smith’s The End of Killing: How Our Newest Technologies Can Solve Humanity’s Oldest Problems
• More about road rage murders of Todd Bogers and Cory Holmes
• Rick Smith’s Twitter
• Rick Smith’s Linkedin
• Rick Smith’s Website 
• Gun Violence Archive 

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