Do you also find yourselves defending communist positions because they are misunderstood by most people? Do you also find yourselves specifying the type of anarchism you refer to because most people have a conception of anarchy as simply chaotic rebellion?
Personally, I find it more effective to define myself as an anarcho-communist in order to emphasize the concept of anarchy as a structure and to highlight the concept of communism as a proletarian organizational tool.
Assuming we are talking about meatspace here…
I just tell people I am an anarchist.
They then nearly always project some insane nonsense onto what they think that means, and then I understand at least 80% of their worldview in about 30 seconds.
I am done explaining things to angry morons with no curiosity or humility.
I actually do not care what they think, I have better things to do with my time.
If they present humility or genuine curiosity, well then, that’s probably a person worth at least a bit of my time.
Alternatively, I tell people I am an ex-corpo cyberpunk, because I literally am.
If they don’t understand that, or laugh at it, I act confused, or laugh at them.