My thoughts turn to horror movies this time of year and, as a D.C. resident, I don't usually have to look much further than the Capitol for a good scare. Between arguments over health care reform, climate change and financial services, the legislative process seems a little frightening lately.
But have no fear! There are ways to "trick" your legislators into giving you what you want, and I discuss several of them in the latest edition of my Advocacy Tipsheet. Seven-year olds have mastered the art as part of their efforts to extract candy from strangers -- why shouldn't you?
Even if, in the spirit of the season, you're tempted to TP your legislator's offices, I encourage you to be the adult in this situation and rise above the process. You might just be able to make a difference -- check out my tipsheet to learn how.
Showing posts with label advocate tipsheet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label advocate tipsheet. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, September 18, 2006
Evidence that the Personal Approach Works
Long time readers of the blog and related tipsheet know that I like to go on and on about how advocates should focus less on facts figures and statistics and more on telling a personal story. Well, an article in the Washington Post offers evidence for this assertion -- and suggests that the power of the compelling anecdote goes both ways.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/17/AR2006091700401_pf.html
Studies dating back to the 1930's have demonstrated that emotional appeals are essential to any winning strategy. The aticle notes the ". . . mordern research confirms that unless political ads evoke emotional responses, they don't have much effect. Voters . . need to be emotionally primed in some way before they will pay attention."
I know this will shock you, but elected officials are people too! They respond to the same types of emotional appeals. Consider that the next time you pick up a pen or sit down in front of a keyboard to craft a message.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/17/AR2006091700401_pf.html
Studies dating back to the 1930's have demonstrated that emotional appeals are essential to any winning strategy. The aticle notes the ". . . mordern research confirms that unless political ads evoke emotional responses, they don't have much effect. Voters . . need to be emotionally primed in some way before they will pay attention."
I know this will shock you, but elected officials are people too! They respond to the same types of emotional appeals. Consider that the next time you pick up a pen or sit down in front of a keyboard to craft a message.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
What Leaders Do
My next edition of the tipsheet is out at www.advocacyguru.com/tipsheet.htm and it offers up my 10 Principles for Effective Leadership. I'm including three of them here --
How did I start thinking about this? Well, recently, my husband and I became obsessed with HGTV’s “Design Star,” one of those – you guessed it – reality shows. In this show’s iteration of that time-honored format, the grand prize for the last-standing designer is the opportunity to host their own HGTV design show. Apparently, there aren’t enough design shows in the world right now. At any rate, it’s over and (spoiler alert) David won.
In the midst of the show, however, one of the other designers was asked to lead a project. She had some very, umm, interesting ideas about what leadership means. To her, it meant telling everyone they were a team, writing them a nice note, and then hoping the project would get done. It didn’t. But the episode made me think about what leadership REALLY means. And since leadership is integral to any grassroots advocacy organization, I thought I’d give you my 10 principles for leadership.
Here are the first three -- the remainder are at www.advocacyguru.com/tipsheet.htm
1. Leaders Build and Present a Clear Vision: Leaders may not always be 100% sure of where they want to go. However, true leaders recognize that if they don’t have a clear vision, they need to work with others to build one before embarking on a project. True leaders also understand how to present that vision clearly and concisely so that everyone knows where the organization is headed. In applying this to the advocacy world, make sure you are presenting a clear vision of your overall goal, whether it’s passage of a bill, building a much larger and stronger network or world domination.
2. Leaders are Willing to Alter That Vision: If there are material reasons why the ultimate goal as originally outlined simply cannot be achieved, leaders will recognize that a change is needed. They will work with others to identify a new (and better) direction. For advocates, that means (for example) seeking a regulatory approach when a legislative avenue is closed. Or giving up on world domination and settling for peace on earth.
3. Leaders Are Benevolent, not Dictators: Many people believe they are “leading” when they bark out orders based on some plan for success that they (and only they) have in mind. They may say “well, I’m the leader and I know the plan, so people should just do what I say.” This is the “because I said so” approach to leadership. It didn’t work for your parents when you were 12. It probably won’t work for you now (except in a few high-pressure situations usually involving either the military or rent-a-cops). In the advocacy world, this translates into the “you have to do what I say, because I pay your salary” argument that some advocates make. Actually, if you live in a U.S. House district, you pay 1/750,000th of a House member’s salary. That 23 cents isn’t going to get you very far.
Want to hear the rest? Go to www.advocacyguru.com/tipsheet.htm
How did I start thinking about this? Well, recently, my husband and I became obsessed with HGTV’s “Design Star,” one of those – you guessed it – reality shows. In this show’s iteration of that time-honored format, the grand prize for the last-standing designer is the opportunity to host their own HGTV design show. Apparently, there aren’t enough design shows in the world right now. At any rate, it’s over and (spoiler alert) David won.
In the midst of the show, however, one of the other designers was asked to lead a project. She had some very, umm, interesting ideas about what leadership means. To her, it meant telling everyone they were a team, writing them a nice note, and then hoping the project would get done. It didn’t. But the episode made me think about what leadership REALLY means. And since leadership is integral to any grassroots advocacy organization, I thought I’d give you my 10 principles for leadership.
Here are the first three -- the remainder are at www.advocacyguru.com/tipsheet.htm
1. Leaders Build and Present a Clear Vision: Leaders may not always be 100% sure of where they want to go. However, true leaders recognize that if they don’t have a clear vision, they need to work with others to build one before embarking on a project. True leaders also understand how to present that vision clearly and concisely so that everyone knows where the organization is headed. In applying this to the advocacy world, make sure you are presenting a clear vision of your overall goal, whether it’s passage of a bill, building a much larger and stronger network or world domination.
2. Leaders are Willing to Alter That Vision: If there are material reasons why the ultimate goal as originally outlined simply cannot be achieved, leaders will recognize that a change is needed. They will work with others to identify a new (and better) direction. For advocates, that means (for example) seeking a regulatory approach when a legislative avenue is closed. Or giving up on world domination and settling for peace on earth.
3. Leaders Are Benevolent, not Dictators: Many people believe they are “leading” when they bark out orders based on some plan for success that they (and only they) have in mind. They may say “well, I’m the leader and I know the plan, so people should just do what I say.” This is the “because I said so” approach to leadership. It didn’t work for your parents when you were 12. It probably won’t work for you now (except in a few high-pressure situations usually involving either the military or rent-a-cops). In the advocacy world, this translates into the “you have to do what I say, because I pay your salary” argument that some advocates make. Actually, if you live in a U.S. House district, you pay 1/750,000th of a House member’s salary. That 23 cents isn’t going to get you very far.
Want to hear the rest? Go to www.advocacyguru.com/tipsheet.htm
Friday, August 11, 2006
Newest Tipsheet Posted / What if Congress Engaged?
I hope you'll take a minute to review my newest tipsheet at www.advocacyguru.com/tipsheet.htm In it, I talk about how you can actually do something with the do nothing Congress. Take a look!
In other interesting (hopefully) thoughts on the Advocacy front, I was talking in my other blog (http://engagism.blogspot.com/) about the newest, fasting growing sites on the Internet, and what they have in common with one another. Essentially, they all seek to engage the user in some way, such as by finding and rating news stories (Digg.com) or allowing users to create their own profiles and collect a network (myspace.com). I was thinking... What if Congress figured out a way to do that? What if, instead of worrying about logic problems and math puzzles, members of Congress figured out a way to use new technologies to let constituents rate what problems they think are most important or what solutions they think are most viable. Sure, it sounds like fancy polling, but what it really might do is give real live people a way to become more engaged in the policy process. Perhaps, just like people are flocking to Digg.com (their subscribers are doubling every day), people might flock to a real, viable site where they actually have some say in what government is thinking.
Someone get on that, OK?
In other interesting (hopefully) thoughts on the Advocacy front, I was talking in my other blog (http://engagism.blogspot.com/) about the newest, fasting growing sites on the Internet, and what they have in common with one another. Essentially, they all seek to engage the user in some way, such as by finding and rating news stories (Digg.com) or allowing users to create their own profiles and collect a network (myspace.com). I was thinking... What if Congress figured out a way to do that? What if, instead of worrying about logic problems and math puzzles, members of Congress figured out a way to use new technologies to let constituents rate what problems they think are most important or what solutions they think are most viable. Sure, it sounds like fancy polling, but what it really might do is give real live people a way to become more engaged in the policy process. Perhaps, just like people are flocking to Digg.com (their subscribers are doubling every day), people might flock to a real, viable site where they actually have some say in what government is thinking.
Someone get on that, OK?
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