Yes, talking to idiots can definitely feel counter-productive.    A method that has worked for me in the past has been to take a few minutes to feel out how much a person can accept, then only sticking to elements that the person can accept.    Most people are not going to be instantly reached, but if you can get the chance to drop a seed that won't get instantly tossed aside.  They might not accept that 9-11 was an inside job, but informing someone that congressmen and senators are legally allowed to be involved in insider trading might have a different impact.  Hell, could be just as simple as exposing a media lie as an impossible story...  Also, why do you accept "conspiracy theory" as a smear??  Most of us are aware that this is a CIA invented term... get people to acknowledge that what they call conspiracy theory often is neither a conspiracy nor a theory.    It's not an easy process either way, oh and family will be MOST resistant.  Leave your family to others to redpill, or take the soft hand approach.  People on the street, maybe never see them again, family is a different story.