Effective Communication Example
Below is an e-mail exchange between Paul Shapiro, while he served as the campaigns director at Compassion Over Killing (COK). It is a verbatim account (swear words, misspellings, and all) of an email exchange he had with someone who had seen one of COK’s MTV commercials about factory farming and vegetarianism. The messages are in chronological order. I found this exchange quite inspiring and a great example of effective communication.
Feel free to download this Effective Communication Example as a Word document.
Message 1:
Hello, I wanted to says some things about TryVeg. I am a big time meat eater, steak being my favorite food. You guys should seriously stop with this bullshit. Ya this is a hate mail, you vegetarian motherfuckers. Meat is meat, just fucking eat it!!!! Meat is a big part of my diet, and the ATKINS DIET BITCHES!! So, stop with your bullshit, and if you got some fucking balls, email me back you dumb fucks!
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Paul’s reply:
Hi,
Thanks for emailing. We appreciate all feedback, even criticism.
We need to ask ourselves: If the abuse “food animals” endure is so bad that we can’t even watch it, is it something we should be willing to support when we sit down to eat?
These animals are abused because we pay people to abuse them when we buy meat, eggs, and dairy products. The only way to end their abuse is not to hide their suffering from the public, but rather to show it to as many people as possible, so we can each make an informed decision about whether or not we want to support such cruelty.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to write back.
Paul Shapiro
Campaigns Director
Compassion Over Killing
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Message 2:
Hi, sorry for being so harsh earlier, i understand what your getting at, but eating meat is a part of my diet i cant change, but i dont even like eggs, and i have never purchased a pork product. (If that helps at all)
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Paul’s reply:
That’s great you don’t really buy eggs, as they are by far the most abusive of the factory-farmed animal products.
I used a to be a huge meat-eater and also thought I’d never change. Then, about 12 years ago, I actually visited a farm and slaughter plant. I realized that if I was serious about not wanting to support animal cruelty, there’s no way I could go on buying animal products.
Fortunately, there are so many great substitutes for each animal product out there now, that being vegetarian doesn’t even mean giving up the tastes we love. It just means eating the humane versions of those tastes.
Hope this helps,
Paul Shapiro
Campaigns Director
Compassion Over Killing
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Message 3:
Thanks for your email, ill will think about it, maybe even try it for a while, talking with you has actaully changed my whole view on meat eating.
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Paul’s reply:
Thanks so much for you nice email. I really appreciate it. I’m more than happy to send you some great vegetarian recipes and information on restaurants in your area if you’d like. Even eating more vegetarian meals is a powerful way to help reduce our support for animal abuse.
Let me know if you’re interested.
Hope you’re having a good holiday season,
Paul