eliciting positive behavioural change

An Interview with Heather Dahl and Chase Cunningham


In this episode, we find out how Heather and Chase are eliciting positive behavioural change in kids and their parents by engaging with them creatively and emotionally. We invited them on the podcast because we felt that there will undoubtedly be something for us to learn as security professionals from their experiences.

Heather Dahl and Chase Cunningham are the co-founders of The Cynja, a comic series created with the aim of “[engaging] children… To teach them how to make smart choices [when they encounter the internet], practice online security, and enable privacy protection as they practice cybersecurity in their digital lives.” Heather and Chase bring a variety of work experience to the area of cybersecurity awareness and education and seek to bring a fresh, entertaining perspective to an otherwise drab communications M.O.

 “…Sometimes in our families, it’s our kids that are educating the adults on the world that’s out there, and we can’t underestimate the role of comics in this sense for kids in educating all of those that are around them that may not be as digitally savvy as they are.”

Eliciting Positive Behavioural Change

In this episode, Bruce, Heather, and Chase discuss how creativity, emotion, and excitement are necessary ingredients in cybersecurity awareness/education materials, especially if the aim of those materials is to elicit positive behavioural change from an audience and boost engagement. In the same vein, they also discuss the power that lies in communication efforts that take into consideration the way a certain group of people speaks and engages with their world.

 “And if you look to the world of marketing for example and how organizations market their products and services, and what’s the brand, there IS some of that excitement…If you want to sell a product, you connect with people on an emotional level.”

PROJECTS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED:

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