The Problem With Climate Messaging (and How to Fix It)
And What You Can Do to Cut Through Noise, Create Belief, and Drive Change
Welcome back to Changemakers, the newsletter for founders, storytellers, and communicators building the next generation of impact-led ventures.
This edition tackles something urgent: Why climate communications keep failing and what neuroscience and story structure can teach us about making people care.
Today’s topics..
→ Spotlight: The Real Cost of Flat Climate Messaging
→ Insight: The Neuroscience of Why Story Changes Everything
→ For Founders: A Better Way to Lead Through Story
Drop us a note anytime at mission@brighterfuture.studio. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this newsletter.
Spotlight: The Real Cost of Flat Climate Messaging
Every week brings new data, dire warnings, and policy recommendations.
And yet? The public response is muted. Often indifferent. Sometimes paralysed.
It’s not because people don’t care. It’s because much of what they hear lacks what the brain, and the heart, need to act - emotional clarity, human stakes, and a reason to remember.
This week, we explore why that matters - and how founders, leaders, and creatives can start to change it.
Baroness Brown of the Climate Change Committee recently said:
“We can’t wait to take action. This is not tomorrow’s problem, it’s today’s problem. If we don’t do something about it, it will become tomorrow’s disaster.”
She’s right - but almost no one noticed.
Technically sound. Strategically correct.
But emotionally? Flat. Forgettable. Easy to scroll past.
Why? Because the quote appeals to reason, not imagination.
Philosophers have known this for centuries. Aristotle taught that true persuasion requires logos (logic), ethos (credibility), and pathos (emotion).
But without story, these elements rarely align.
And without alignment, there is no movement.
Now imagine the same message began like this:
→ A care home staff member watches residents suffer during last summer’s heatwave, the air heavy with the sour smell of sweat and disinfectant. The fans hum uselessly as she uses ice packs and wet towels to keep them alive, knowing it will happen again.
→ A flooded primary school, where every book, wall, and memory is ruined. The hall still smells of mildew. As the headteacher picks up a ruined drawing, she says quietly, “We never had a plan.”
→ An infrastructure engineer stands ankle-deep in floodwater, hearing the groan of strained metal as the bridge she helped design begins to flex. It wasn’t built for this century’s storms. She’s sounded the alarm for years, but no one’s listened.
If Baroness Brown had opened with any one of these, we’d be having a very different conversation. Maybe her being a Baroness has a role to play. But the point in fact is, we need to make it deeply personal.
Insight: The Neuroscience of Why Story Changes Everything
When we hear a fact, our brain activates Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas - the language centres. When we hear a story, our brain does something else entirely.
If a story includes smell, the olfactory cortex lights up.
If it includes movement, the motor cortex engages.
If it involves emotional tension or fear, the limbic system is activated.
If it evokes taste, the gustatory cortex responds.
If it includes sound, like a voice cracking or a siren in the distance, the auditory cortex engages.
This is how the brain experiences stories: not as information, but as simulation.
We live the story in our minds. We feel it. And that’s what makes it stick. This isn’t metaphorical resonance - it’s biological alignment.
Storytelling builds trust, empathy, and belief at the deepest level.
Not because we want it to. But because we are wired for it.
For Founders: A Better Way to Lead Through Story
If you want people to care about your mission, product, or vision, you need more than a message. You need a moment. A reason to believe.
Too many founders describe what they do.
The great ones reveal why it matters.
Here are three essential stories you can develop to help you build emotional connections with your audience.
1. Your Origin
This is not your timeline. It is your turning point. The moment something changed.
Ask yourself:
What did I see, hear, or experience that made the problem real?
What made me say, “someone has to fix this, maybe it’s me”?
How did I feel, and what shifted in that moment?
Abbreviated Example:
“In 2017, while travelling through South America, I saw wild ecosystems thriving next to degraded land. I couldn’t unsee it. That moment planted a seed that became our mission.”
2. Your Purpose
This is your emotional and moral why. It is not about your company.
It is about what your company stands for.
Ask yourself:
What part of this work keeps me up at night?
Why does it matter to me beyond the market or the tech?
Who loses if we do nothing?
Abbreviated Example:
“Our purpose is simple, to restore balance. We believe regeneration must serve nature and the people who protect it. That belief drives everything we do.”
3. Your Vision
This is what you see on the horizon. It should feel real, ambitious, and human.
Ask yourself:
What future can I see that others can’t yet?
How will people’s lives change when we succeed?
Why is this the only path that makes sense?
Abbreviated Example:
“We imagine a wilder Earth where people and nature thrive together. A world where stewardship is rewarded, and stories of recovery replace stories of collapse.”
These stories are not just for your pitch deck. They are tools of alignment.
They build belief inside your team, confidence in your investors, and clarity in your brand.
Your job is not to communicate. Your job is to connect.
Story is how you do it. But this is just one side of the coin. These stories are about building emotion, where-as when it comes to marketing, it’s about driving action.
Every time you are working on communications, whether it's a pitch, a landing page, or a policy announcement, come back to this:
Am I offering facts, or am I creating meaning?
Am I informing, or am I connecting?
Does this message explain something, or does it make someone feel something they will not forget?
That is the power of story. And it is where real change begins.
A First Look: Our New Website
We’ve just launched our new website. For us, this isn’t just about a new design. It’s about showing the standard we hold ourselves to, and the reason founders and leaders choose Brighter Future when the stakes are high.
Not every studio is built for this moment. If you’re launching something first-of-a-kind, entering a high-stakes room, or trying to make a complex idea land, you need more than good design. You need:
Clarity in complexity: simplifying without dumbing down, so intelligence is accessible.
Credibility first: design and story that earn trust at every stage.
Builder energy: fast, focused work that creates momentum, not noise.
Proof, not promises: track record of launches, LOIs, and raises shaped by story.
This is what makes us different. We don’t just polish. We solve the business-critical problem of belief.
Explore Our Services
Whether you’re just starting or striving for new heights, these services are built to deliver results.
Communications Consulting, Content Development & Execution: High-trust, high-impact strategic communications to sharpen your voice and align your message across channels, from newsletters to social, speeches and more.
Investor & Partnership Storytelling: Success fee driven pitch support that helps you earn belief from day one, whether for pitch competition, partnerships or investment rounds, we’ve got you covered.
Brand and Identity Design: Strategic and visual foundations to help you show up with confidence and coherence across every touchpoint; from logos to brand systems, we build the assets and structure to scale.
Website Design: Tailored Webflow builds that communicate your credibility and value.
High-Level Design Support: Need reports, investor updates, or partner materials? We offer tailored design execution across your business-critical communications.
Know Someone Who Needs Support?
Refer a founder to Brighter Future Studio and earn a 10% commission on their first project. Let’s help more purpose-led teams win with brand and story. If this story resonated, or if you’re preparing for a high-stakes moment of your own; we’d love to help.
Thanks for reading.
If you’ve made it this far, feel free to share this with a founder, partner, or investor navigating these challenges. Or reach out directly to talk.
Best,
Aaron C. Leaman
LinkedIn | Capabilities Deck
Founder, Brighter Future
Personal: www.aaroncleaman.com
Company: www.BrighterFuture.Studio