When you’re talking about climate change, facts alone may not be enough to make a compelling argument.

“It’s not only what you say, but how you say it that’s important,” Arunima Krishna, an assistant communications professor at Boston University, tells CNBC Make It.

Krishna studies the spread of climate science disinformation, among other topics — and after conducting a recent survey, she found that 40% of respondents were “disinformation receptive,” meaning they’d already accepted some type of falsehood about climate change.

What’s more, she says, disinformation might be stifling conversation on the important topic: If you don’t believe in climate change or doubt humans’ role in accelerating it, you’re less likely to want to discuss it, according to Krishna’s survey.

That means you’ll need to find enough common ground to set the stage for a productive talk. These four conversational strategies, Krishna says, can help.

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