I have another idea. Madison Avenue knows which type of message is both convincing and enthuses people. When I attended professional campaign training, I was exposed to some concepts. It was a small portion of the course, however. There must be some online sources.
Yet another idea is to investigate basic investigative journalism. The technique helps in all fields so it won't be wasted time. There will be intensive fact checking protocols and how to evaluate souces of information. One handy rule is to require several sources for a fact. I purchased a decent book on Amazon but I have not read it completely yet. Richard Bolles, What Color Is Your Parachute, the most widely read job resource book in the world, uses investigative journalism techniques. The book is very readable and inspiring.
When I look back, my process was gradual. No single event marked a great change. First, my gut told me. Second, my teachers and friends did. College helped so much. Besides the classwork, I attended a women's college. Unlikek the Witnesses, I was surrounded by a privilege crowd who felt perhaps excessive entitlement. The lesson I clearly saw was that a sense of entitlement and power gets concrete results, regardless of knowledge. I can't believe how I approach matter today compared to when I was active in the Witnesses. People with power rarely respect deferential people. One of the early criticisms of my work was that I tended to repeat what I researched rather than report my findings and filter it through my perspective and passions. A robot can do the first job.
Most of my life has been spent in world cities. A brief exile to exurbia has impressed me negatively. The exurb culture is very deferential, even among college grads. Any challenge is viewed as a serious breach of etiquette. I overhear the difference even in casual conversations. Once you are exposed to any questioning culture, you must pick up steam. The Internet provides opportunites, too, if you can't live in an urban environment. This forum is a good example.
