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STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION

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KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

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Know Your Audience: Ed Boards, Legislative Visits, Panels & Interviews

Decide whom you are targeting within the larger audience.

• Who is going to be there? • How many people? • What are their interests? • Why have you been asked to participate?• What is your goal with your target?

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Know Your Audience: Ed Boards, Legislative Visits, Panels & Interviews

Who are the other speakers or interviewees? • What are the strengths and weaknesses of their publicly

stated positions? • What points will they cover?

Who is the moderator or leader of the discussion? • Is the moderator balanced or biased, skilled or a novice?

Who are your adversaries and who are your allies?

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Know Your Audience: Ed Boards, Legislative Visits, Panels & Interviews

Adapt your leave behind to the needs of the audience

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SHAPE THE FORMAT OF THE EVENT

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Shape the Format of the EventAsk key questions about the proposed format

• Will you have an hour? Twenty minutes? Two minutes?

• If for television and radio, will it be taped or live? If taped, will it be edited?

•If an ed board, are you on the record?

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Shape the Format of the EventYou can request changes

• Understand which formats are preferable and why• Organizers will often respond to reasonable requests • Inexperienced organizers will welcome your advice

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Shape the Format of the EventTry to be the only speaker on your content area

• It is best not to share space with an adversarial speaker

• Don’t be afraid to ask for that format• Look for opportunities to be the sole speaker

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Shape the Format of the EventSet ground rules that make you comfortable

• No visual aids for speakers on television• For call-in radio programs:

ask for time before the calls beginlimit the time for calls to ten or fifteen minutes.

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PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE

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Prepare, Prepare, PrepareGet clear on the controversial issues

• Know what you think and feel about the issues you will discuss

• Any uncertainty or confusion will show

Get clear on the other side’s core arguments• You need to know your opposition’s topline

arguments and be able to summarize their points and yours succinctly

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Prepare, Prepare, PreparePrepare 3 main points and drive them hard

• Adapt them to the other speakers and the audience• Write them down and practice speaking them• Aim to make those three points more than once

While people will expect you to be the expert, many audiences will want you to simplify the issue

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Prepare, Prepare, Prepare Explain – briefly – why your facts are true and your adversary’s are false

• Acknowledge that legislators and reporters get conflicting reports full of numbers, both from “experts.”

• Without going into much detail, explain why your numbers are reliable and the others are not.

• Stress that you welcome any questions, no matter how hostile.

• Mention external validation for your views – e.g. they’ve been published in peer-reviewed journals.

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Prepare, Prepare, Prepare Have the last word

• Prepare the final point you want to leave your audience thinking about

• Make this last point big, strong and positive• Make sure your leave behind echoes this point

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Prepare, Prepare, PreparePractice pivots

• Before you present, practice how you will respond to off-topic questions and those for which you don’t have an answer

• Consult with your colleagues if there is a joint presentation on who will answer what topic area and how you will avoid select questions

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LEAD, DON’T FOLLOW, THE DEBATE

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Lead, Don’t Follow, the DebateTake the lead

• Shape the discussion or debate from the very beginning• Don’t simply respond to adversaries or their framing –

use bridging and pivot techniques to reset the discussion on your core message

Change the course if getting out of control• “Let’s return to the real question”• “I think we can all agree what’s foremost on people’s

minds right now is….” 

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Lead, Don’t Follow, the DebateRespond to questions; you don’t have to answer them

• Use questions to make your points• Some questions don’t lead where you want to go

Don’t repeat accusations and misstatements

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Lead, Don’t Follow, the Debate Do not get lost in the weeds

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TALK TO YOUR AUDIENCE, NOT YOUR ADVERSARIES

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Talk to Your Audience, Not Your Adversaries

You are there to convince the undecided in the audience

• Don’t expect to change the mind of a convinced opponent

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Talk to Your Audience, Not Your Adversaries

Who is your target audience? • People who are ambivalent or undecided• Passive supporters whom you want to mobilize to action• Advocates who need information and arguments

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Talk to Your Audience, Not Your Adversaries

Before any interview or debate• Find out who is the most important segment of the

audience • Adapt your talk to that audience

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CREATE A PERSONAL BOND WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

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Create a Personal Bond with Your Audience

Show your humanity• You don’t have to have all the answers – and even if

you do, people only want to hear so much

Give yourself room to not be the expert but a concerned citizen

Establish common ground• You struggle with the same concerns • Start with a value you and questioners share

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Create a Personal Bond with Your Audience

Adapt your messages to the characteristics of the audience

• For example, some audiences are mainly seniors or retirees who do not want an exhaustive account of the nuance of the issue. Others are peers who expect you to go toe to toe.

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BRING YOUR AUDIENCE INTO THE DILEMMA

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Bring Your Audience into the DilemmaLet your audience share in thinking about and answering hard questions

• “That is an interesting question; how should we think about that?”

You can give your answer, but you’ve invited them to answer it too

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ASK DIFFICULT QUESTIONS

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Ask Difficult QuestionsAsk your adversary hard questions

• Know what questions your opposition has trouble answering – or questions that put them on the defensive

• The questions should not give your adversary the opportunity to promote him- or herself

• Prepare a tough response to what your adversary is likely to answer

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SAY SOMETHING FRESH AND UNEXPECTED

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Say Something Fresh and UnexpectedAvoid standard answers

• People will stop paying attention

Show your own thoughts and struggle• Acknowledging that the questions are tough can be

disarming

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USE HUMOR WHEN APPROPRIATE

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Use Humor When AppropriateLook, not everyone is funny.

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Use Humor When AppropriateReally.

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Use Humor When AppropriateBut having a sense of humor can make a connection and wake up your audience

• If you are completely solemn and serious all the time, it is harder for audiences to pay attention in some venues

Make fun of a position, but never a person

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BE PREPARED FOR PERSONAL ATTACKS

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Be Prepared for Personal AttacksYou may be called awful names and viciously attacked

Stick to your points and real concerns• This weakens your adversary• Remember: your cause is just

Have an answer to the question “Aren’t you a paid mouthpiece for Big Labor?”