In my experience, people believe vegans are obnoxious and preachy.

A few years ago I messaged an old friend, we talked about how we've changed, and when I said I'm vegan, they asked if I was going to try to convert them.

That friend now is practically vegetarian (which I partially attribute to how I handled ongoing conversations about it).

I think the best thing I can do is show people that I'm not going to be an asshole, while occasionally sharing food with others to show that I can substitute almost everything.

Sometimes I get an opportunity to discuss ethics, which comes after establishing the optics of an open and a non judgemental stance.

These conversations usually end in an understanding of hypocrisy (as their own arguments inevitably fall through).

Ultimately, the burden of proof doesn't lie with me to explain why it isn't okay to exploit non-human animals, but rather, what moral basis do you have to exploit non-human animals.