As a futurist, and a member of the World Future Society I read their online newsletter and magazine each and every month. They have seminars, and articles from various futurists explaining how other futurists might write articles to the public on future topics. Now then, that doesn’t mean that you need to follow all their methodology. After all, there are hundreds of people in the group, and if everyone wrote the same way, they would only be reaching the same audience. Okay so let’s talk about this for second if we might.

You see, you might be in a unique position or you might have a different audience, one that perhaps doesn’t think a lot about the future, but should. If you can reach those people you are doing a service for all of mankind, and that’s a good thing, I respect that, and I wish you all the best. Nevertheless, if you are going to write articles about future concepts you must have your facts straight. And let me explain why.

Let’s say you are writing a topic about the future of airline travel, and you are talking about new futuristic aerospace designs with new materials which weigh less, and perform better. Let’s say you’re talking about carbon Nanotubes, Graphene coatings, and new carbon composite wing components. Before you write about things like this you need to study up on the science, and understand it. No, you don’t have to understand it as much as a researcher or those in the R&D department of let’s say the Boeing Company, IBM, Dupont, GE, Intel, DOE, NASA, or 3M for instance, however you do need to know what you’re talking about.

Also, by reading this material you will also have a good chance of citing the best work, and that makes your articles look more informative, and it ensures the reader that you know what you’re talking about. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t write about it until you do, there’s no sense in wrecking your credibility or ruining the integrity of your article. Lastly, and this is something that I wish more futurists would think about. You should not interject your opinions, your political views, or your wishes for the future, unless you state that they are your opinion.

Why do I say this, because if you start predicting the future, and interjecting what you hope that future might be, all you’re doing is laying a bunch of Joker cards on the table, and eventually the reader will know that all you do is flip a coin, and that you have no crystal ball, and you don’t know what you’re talking about when it comes to future concepts, and that’s how you’ll destroy your credibility. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.