Talking gets a bad rap. We say things like talk is cheap and a picture is worth a thousand words. The reality is those sentiments are sometimes true, but not always. Talking should not be disparaged or underrated in many contexts and climate change solutions is one of those subjects.

Talking is at the top of the list of things people can do to address climate change. Not only is it something we all do regularly, it is effective. The more we talk about climate change the more people learn and the more attention the whole topic receives. More attention on the topic means more people talking and learning. As people learn more, they are more likely to get involved in behaviors that address climate change. Additionally, as more people are talking, there are more ideas being exchanged.

More exchange of ideas means more creativity and a greater chance of the world finding solutions to climate change. And with more people paying attention to the topic and being more informed about climate change and prepared to take actions to address climate change, there is a greater chance of people adopting and implementing the solutions generated in the course of exchanging ideas. With implementation of more solutions, there is greater mitigation of the consequences of climate change.

All of that from the simple act of talking.

While talking is itself a simple thing to do, talking about climate change may not be so simple. How do we add our voices to the conversation? One way is through stories. Stories are a powerful communication tool promoted by many climate activists and organizations. Stories are effective because by speaking from personal experience we make an intangible, often distant and overwhelming situation more real, more relatable, and more concrete.

Even though climate change is touching each of us, albeit to varying degrees, it is not always apparent that is the case. A person’s climate change story can connect listeners to climate change through their connection to the storyteller and the story. In telling a climate change story, the key is to be descriptive, personal and use your own voice. You can speak specifically about your lived experience of climate change which could be living through a severe storm like Superstorm Sandy, a flood event, or suffering health effects related to extreme or extended heat.

You can speak about how you draw on your self-awareness of the kind of person you are to apply your skills to address climate change. You can focus your story on your view of the world and your vision of a better world and how climate change is disrupting that view and vision and what you are doing to realize your vision in the face of climate change. I offer these only to get you thinking. They are not prescriptive but suggestions for framing what you want to say to others when you talk about climate change, because talking about it is crucial to doing something about it.

When I talk about climate change, I focus on the message that every individual can make a difference. Our individual actions address climate change and help to mitigate its consequences. It’s probably no surprise that this is what I talk about as it’s typically the message of this column – there are actions we each can take every day that make a difference.

I came to this belief in elementary school when I approached my parents about changing schools and they agreed to let me. Since then I have had little doubt that I can make a difference in the world. My belief in the power of an individual to make a change drives me to this day and is what makes me believe that we will address climate change and preserve this planet for future generations.

Life is not something that happens to us. We live our lives through our choices and our behavior. We have control over both, and both can be powerful agents of change. So this month I am encouraging you to talk about climate change. Tell your story, tell someone else’s story. The important thing is to talk about it. Make it a topic that is uppermost in people’s minds. That’s how we start to get people to pay attention and then take action. If we’re not talking about it, people aren’t thinking about it and they’re not doing anything about it. And there’s so much people can be doing.