How To Talk To Non-Preppers Without Turning Them Off to Prepping

By Timothy Gamble (January 6, 2017)

Do you know someone who is thinking about preparedness, but isn't quite sure they want to become a "prepper"? Perhaps your spouse doesn't share your enthusiasm for survivalism? Maybe you're trying to warn your brother/co-worker/friend/neighbor that he needs to get serious about building self-reliance and readiness for whatever the future might hold?  

Here's what not to do:

   1- Avoid too much doom-and-gloom.
   2- Avoid jargon. acronyms and "military" talk.
   3- Avoid politics as much as possible.
   4- Put away the tin-foil hat.
   5- Don't nag.

Preppers and survivalists are often unfairly portrayed as backwards, paranoid, right-wing nut-jobs, gun-nuts, conspiracy-nuts, or just plain nuts. This makes "regular" folks reluctant to hear the prepper message of self-reliance and commonsense preparations for any future difficulties. Don't confirm these stereotypes in how you talk to your non-prepper friends and neighbors! 

Many people (especially women) are also turned-off by too much doom-and-gloom and over-the-top scenarios. It is very scary think about end-of-the-world subjects (nuclear war, civil war, economic or political collapse), and some people simply tune out such talk rather than deal with such scary subjects. Instead of scaring them away with extreme dangers, emphasize building security and safety for more common situations (winter storms, hurricanes, the next recession, etc.).

You can also turn people off by always or only talking about prepping, survivlism, and similar topics. Sometimes its a good idea to just talk about the football game, or to have lunch together without mentioning prepping. Show an actual interest in them. Ask how their day is going, or about their kids, or what plans they have for the weekend. Pick and choose the best opportunities to talk to them bout preparedness. 

Here is what to do:

   1- Adopt a conversational tone. 
   2- Emphasize building security and safety.
   3- Use personal experiences & real-life events. 
   4- Remain calm.
   5- Use humor.


Have an actual conversation with non-preppers. A conversation isn't a lecture, an argument, or a dire warning. A conversation isn't riddled with technical jargon or acronyms that one participant doesn't have the first clue about what it means. A conversation is a two-way exchange of ideas, presented calmly and rationally. 

Pointing to your own personal experiences or actual real-life events works much better than abstract ideas about what might happen sometime in the murky future.  Sharing how you handled an unexpected job loss is much more effective in reaching people than trying to tell them how they should get ready for the coming economic collapse that the world's elites are intentionally planning. 

You can also point to what happened in real-life events like Hurricane Katrina, a terrorist attack, or even the current  economic disaster going on in Venezuela. 

What Could Possibly Go Wrong??? How To Go From Completely Clueless To Totally Prepared  This is a great book for people who are thinking about prepping, and just aren't sure. It is a great example of what I have tried to explain in this article as the best way to talk to non-preppers without scaring them off or intimidating them.   

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