Some political lessons from a math teacher
1. People learn what they figure out for themselves. Talk yourself blue in the face if you like, but it usually doesn't work. You usually have to feed them bite-sized portions, slowly and in a well-organized way, until they can figure it out
2. Hardly anybody will pay attention to a whole paragraph. A lot of them can't always parse a sentence: if you say, "don't you do this!" some will only hear "do this!" -- and if you repeat yourself, they'll probably notice you're repeating yourself but may still only hear "do this!"
3. "Do a hundred things right and nobody will remember -- but do one thing wrong and nobody will forget." You'll make a mistake -- a misstatement or a miscalculation. It will be remembered forever! Correct it as often as you like, but be careful: #2 still applies
4. Some people are very good at having arguments. I don't mean that they make good arguments: I mean that they are skilled at provoking interpersonal conflicts. It is important not to get sucked in. An interpersonal conflict can be theater, and if the expert provokes a knee-jerk reaction from you, the audience isn't paying attention to the facts and the logic: the audience is paying attention to the displayed emotions. Not every conversation needs to be held in public -- and, in fact, not every conversation is necessary. Some conversations do need to be held in public -- but then you need to remember the onlookers: sometimes they're the ones you're really trying to reach
5. You won't get through to everybody. And if you're a jerk, you may not get through to anybody. So be as pleasant as you can be, but devote your major effort to people you might be able to reach
