RESULTS Making the Most of Town Hall Meetings and Other Public Events Meredith Dodson Director of U.S. Poverty Campaigns RESULTS.

RESULTS

Making the Most of Town Hall Meetings and Other Public Events

Meredith DodsonDirector of U.S. Poverty Campaigns

RESULTS

Purpose This training is designed to:

Share tools and tips on making the most of town hall meetings and candidate appearances

Demonstrate a useful exercise on speaking effectively you can use to trainothers Answer your questions

Working to create the political will to end hunger and worst aspects of poverty

Empowering individuals to have breakthroughs in exercising personal and political power

Over 30 years of advocacy experience Time tested strategies and tactics Active and engaged network that builds relationships

with legislators, media and local communities

What We Do

RESULTS Activists 800 active volunteers in about 100 communities around

the country Everyday people who want to make a difference In 2011, our activists had…

Over 250 meetings with congressional offices, including 87 face-to-face meetings with U.S. House members and 23 face-to-face meetings with U.S. Senators

215 strategic media placements, including editorials, Op-eds, and letters to the editor

Over 100 outreach and community events around the country

Why Advocacy?

We stand by as children starve by the millions because we lack the will to eliminate hunger. Yet we have found the will to develop missiles capable of flying over the polar cap and landing within a few hundred feet of their target. This is not innovation. It is a profound distortion of humanity’s purpose on earth.

– former Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-OR)

Why Advocacy? Advocacy is creating political will

Telling decision-makers what their priorities should be If we want something, we have to ask for it

Every idea must have a voice Decision-makers are not all knowing Many times, they need to be educated just like

everyone else Ultimately…it’s about change

All major changes in social or economic policy, good or bad, happened because advocates did not give up until it happened — it’s a long-term project

Status quo, i.e. inertia, is a powerful force

Why Getting Face-to-Face with Policymakers Matters

97 percent of Congressional staff say that in-person issues visits from Constituents influence policymakers, with 46 percent reporting it has a lot of influence. (Source: poll of more than 250 congressional staff by the Congressional Management Foundation)

Find Your Members of Congress and Congressional

Candidates• Schedule a face-to-face in your District office • Town Halls • Candidate Forums and Debates• Other Public Appearances

• County/State Fairs• Local events

• Resource to locate your members of Congress: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov

Make the Most of Town Halls and Public Events

Research: ask the RESULTS staff and coalition partners for insights and check out past votes on our website .

As a group, prepare your key “laser talks”. Get there early to scope it out: Sit in the front. If they are taken

written questions, many places go in order of when questions were written.

Spread out, but sit strategically: go to the front and near microphones

Make sure you get called upon: be “first, fast, high!” This means raise your hand immediately when it is time to ask questions, and keep it up there

“Work It” at Town Halls and Public Events

Work the line: introduce yourselves and follow up, or ask your question if you could not during the meeting.

• Handshaking Trick: Don’t let go until you’ve said your piece Work the staff: Swap contact information and any additional material

you brought with you. Have a one or two page, easy-to-read sheet you can leave with their

staff that outlines the issues and your request or “ask”, see this example

Bring local data and stories Work the media: Find the media to share your laser talk to shape the

coverage. Follow up!

Follow-up Follow-up can be almost as important as the meeting itself It further develops the relationship Contact staffpersons who handle your issue to see what

progress has been made on your request Be sure to send a thank you note to whomever you met

(handwritten is more personal, e-mail is faster) Send supplemental information, if appropriate

If sending information, follow up a week or two later to see if they got it and to answer questions

Offer to be a resource on your issue

After the Event

RESULTS: www.results.org Take Action Now:

http://www.results.org/take_action/us_poverty_actions_and_news/ Activist Toolkit: http://www.results.org/skills_center/activist_toolkit/ Elected Officials: http://capwiz.com/results/dbq/officials/ Issues: http://www.results.org/issues/us_poverty_campaigns/

Meredith DodsonDirector of U.S. Poverty Campaigns

[email protected] / @DodsonAdvocate

Advocacy Resources and Contact Info

You Can Make a Difference!

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

— anthropologist Margaret Mead