Listening to AfD supporters and clearly positioning yourself against the shift to the right: According to communications consultant Franzi von Kempis, this is not a contradiction. In the stern podcast “The Boss” she reveals her hacks for discussions from family celebrations to canteens.
It was only a few months ago that the far-right meeting in Potsdam, with participants from the AfD, set a large citizen movement in motion: millions of people demonstrated in many German cities for democracy, against the shift to the right. Three important state elections are scheduled soon, with alarming forecasts for the performance of populist parties like the AfD. How do we counter the shift to the right? Franzi von Kempis, journalist and communications consultant, provides answers in the stern podcast “The Boss”.
Every day, on a small scale, in private, says Franzi von Kempis, you can do something: “When picking up from daycare, at the team meeting, at the family celebration.” Because simply closing the laptop and isolating yourself from alarming news from parties like the AfD is not a solution: “Racism, anti-Semitism, hate speech against refugees – this is real and happens every day.”
“As a white woman, I am privileged”
It makes her sad that people in Germany are still surprised by so-called “Secret plans” to mass deportation. “This shows that they cannot imagine this because they are not affected. This still divides us greatly. As a white woman, I am privileged, and this gives me responsibility: I have the expectation of standing up for those who can less afford it because they are acutely threatened.”she says in conversation with the host of the stern podcast “Die Boss”, Simone Menne.
The communications consultant is not alone in this attitude. There has been a rethinking, particularly in the world of work, and a conscious approach to legal pressure: “Entrepreneurs have become bolder and are positioning themselves more, simply because of the thought: we need our diverse workforce, we need Europe, we have to ensure that our employees feel safe. That gives me hope.”
“Goodbye AfD”: Define red lines
Franzi von Kempis is convinced that as a democratic society we need to stay in dialogue with those who think very differently. However, communicating with supporters of right-wing organizations such as the AfD is not easy. Above all, this requires one’s own inner clarity: “When I enter into a conversation, I need to know what my goals are. Do I just want to object, or do I want to discuss? It is also important to define my red line, for example certain expressions, certain statements. Without this clarity, the line first turns orange, then yellow, and finally it is no longer a line at all.”
Kempis’ communications consultant is well-versed in her commitment to fighting the shift to the right. For about ten years she has been providing argumentation aids against the right, initially on her YouTube channel “The concerned citizen”later in her book “Instructions for objection”recently in their newsletter “”The result is a rhetorical toolbox for everyday use against the shift to the right. “Not everyone feels quick-witted, not everyone has the necessary civil courage, and that’s understandable. But you can learn to better prepare yourself.”
How to get allies to speak out against it, what you can do in a team or as a manager to put a stop to right-wing slogans, when interested questions turn into opposition to the shift to the right and which facial expressions you can use to wordlessly checkmate opponents of the AfD and others, is what communications consultant Franzi von Kempis tells us in the star-Podcast “The Boss – Power is Female”.
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Source: Stern
