People pay closest attention and respond to the things that scare them; we’re just wired that way. So, the people who want to get your attention and keep you responding to whatever they’re selling will continually tell you things to make you believe you’re going to lose something or get hurt if you don’t follow them or buy whatever idea they’re selling. It just works. People respond more to what we might lose or what might harm us than we do to what we might gain. News media focuses on failures, tragedy and negative news stories because that’s what people are wired to want to read, watch and hear about – to find out what’s wrong, not what’s right. So, people and communities tend to engage more and show up at your public meetings because they’re mostly afraid of what they might lose from what you’re planning to do more than they’re coming to find out what they might gain. The most effective community engagement comes from understanding these emotional triggers and biases.