How to Better Communicate Theory to Young People
Youth are the "youthful bridge" that allows the Party's innovative theories to enter the grassroots and saturate the hearts of the people. As a generation that coexists with the internet and moves in synchronization with the times, youth are naturally immune to rigid preaching yet possess a powerful thirst for vivid ideas. They bear the mission of learning and practicing the Party's innovative theories, and moreover, they possess the unique advantage of interpreting theory through a youthful lens and disseminating ideas using youthful discourse. Entering the New Era, faced with the overall strategic situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the world's profound changes unseen in a century [1], unifying thought, will, and action with the Party's innovative theories is both a compulsory course for the growth of the youth population and a responsibility of the times.
At a time when the whole Party and the entire nation are deeply studying and implementing the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee [2], the youthful theoretical propagation forces—represented by the "Yanhe Lecturers Group" of Renmin University of China—have stayed close to the Plenary Session's arrangements, integrated their professional strengths, and ignited youthful passion. They have fully utilized their role as a "light cavalry" [3] of youthful theoretical propagation, entering the front lines of primary and secondary schools, communities, villages, and enterprises. Through their unique advantages and innovative practices, they have provided inspiring answers on how to carry out theoretical propagation in a manner more consistent with the cognitive characteristics and receptive habits of young people.
1. Resolving the estrangement between theoretical discourse and youthful life
For vibrant youth who emphasize practical experience, abstract expressions detached from reality and grand narratives detached from life find it difficult to truly enter their hearts. The root cause of some ineffective propagation lies in the failure to cross the chasm between "document language" and "language of the masses," and between "theoretical logic" and "life logic."
The Yanhe Lecturers Group takes the refinement of propagation content as its core foundation, persisting in staying one step ahead in study and learning one level deeper. They exert simultaneous effort in framework design, expressive transformation, and quality control, striving to unify "accurate, deep, thorough, and vivid" explanations. In content organization, they create curriculum modules, design themes, and form a specialized course matrix, distilling representative propagation case studies. Regarding expressive methods, they emphasize "using facts to explain principles," connecting the Plenary Session's arrangements with real-world issues such as development and reform, social governance, technological innovation, and ecological civilization. Using a narrative chain of "theoretical points — real-world scenarios — case illustrations — action inspirations," they transform macro expressions into understandable, discussable, and relatable life topics. By using colloquial language such as "the construction of ecological civilization is not a 'solo' by the government, but a 'grand chorus' of the whole people" and "youth are the vibrant 'chess players' in this game," they transform theoretical cognition into perceptible and actionable declarations. By promoting a "re-translation" of theory for the masses within specific contexts, they achieve innovative creations that are more persuasive and infectious while maintaining the scientific and truthful nature of the popularization of theory.
2. Resolving the "battle for attention" between theoretical propagation and the modern communication ecosystem
In an era of information explosion and scarce attention, digital communication methods such as short videos and social media have profoundly changed the information reception habits of people, especially the youth; they prefer fragmented, visualized, and highly interactive content. In this context, traditional "I speak, you listen" lecture-hall style propagation faces severe challenges. As the saying goes, "even the scent of fine wine fears the deep alley" [4]—the profound connotations of theory require attractive communication carriers.
The Yanhe Lecturers Group has not clung to the "one mouth, one script, one-voice chamber" model, but has instead reshaped communication paths through online-offline linkage and multi-scenario coverage. Online, they use platforms as "entry points" for booking lectures, unified acceptance of needs, and coordinated dispatch of forces. With the efficiency of "finding the right person, matching the right topic, and scheduling the right session," they have pushed propagation from "centralized arrangement" toward being "demand-driven." Offline, they persist in "sinking" [5] to the grassroots, moving from "lecture halls" to front-line sites like communities, villages, and enterprises, enhancing the sense of presence and gain through closer physical distance and a more equal atmosphere of exchange. More importantly, they promote the extension of propagation from "organized listening" to "organized life," emphasizing synchronization with the study arrangements of grassroots Party and League organizations and theme Party (or League) Day activities. Relying on carriers such as the Party and League "Three Meetings and One Lesson" [6], they have formed a chain-like arrangement of "introduction before study, propagation during study, and exchange after study," transforming one-off lectures into routine learning. Through innovation in organizational methods and communication scenarios, they break through spatio-temporal limitations and attention barriers, allowing theoretical communication to both "expand its surface" and "take root."
3. Resolving the supply-demand mismatch between homogenized supply and diversified needs
The audience for theoretical propagation is diverse. Groups from different industries, ages, and intellectual backgrounds have different points of focus, doubts, and modes of reception. Even for the youth population, while they share a similar background of the times, their needs are actually highly diverse: university students care about academic frontiers, postgraduate entrance exams, employment, and personal growth; young professionals focus on industrial policy, career development, and rights protection; youth returning to their hometowns focus on rural revitalization, entrepreneurial support, and resource docking. Young people from different majors and fields have vastly different points of interest and receptive styles regarding theory. However, much propagation suffers from homogenized content supply and singular expressive methods—a single script "traveling the world" and one set of discourse "handling everything." This "flood irrigation" [7] style of propagation appears to have wide coverage but actually possesses poor targeting, making it difficult to respond precisely to the personalized needs of different groups.
The Yanhe Lecturers Group takes "suitability" as the key to improving the effectiveness of propagation, implementing "lecturing based on the topic and preparing based on the person" across the three stages of docking, lesson preparation, and presentation, driving the shift from "unified supply" to "precise docking." Relying on online reservation information, they clarify the audience type, organizational scenario, and focus points before the lecture, forming a preparation list of "audience profile — content arrangement — key point prompts." Within the same theme, they match topics, replace cases, and adjust expressions to ensure the lecture hits the concerns and strikes the key points from the very start. At the same time, they embed problem-awareness into the propagation structure, transforming topics such as development, reform, governance, and people's livelihoods into "answerable questions." Through the narrative mode of "proposing a question — policy response — action inspiration," they enhance explanatory power and persuasiveness. Furthermore, based on "menu-style" specialized supply, they have formed "propagation packages" that can be combined as needed, achieving "the same theme, different approaches." By flexibly responding to individual needs through their identity as youth, they use precise and vivid interpretations to build a bridge of theoretical communication across different social strata.