Successful Meetings with Policymakers TERRI R. VEST, NBCT July 12, 2016 Sponsored by Hope Street Group

Objectives In today’s session we will explore Who to contact and how What to do/say in your meeting How to maintain contacts for maximum impact Do/say= ask and elevator speech

Getting your foot in the door Contact the policymaker or their office via email or phone to request a meeting Social media can work too Qualify yourself - state your credentials Keep it short and casual DON’T OVERLOOK THE LEGISLATIVE AIDES!!! share success stories with staffers Share handout

Insight #1: Influencing policy is NOT a drive-by event One conversation changes nothing. - It isn’t about 1 conversation - Don’t try to say the hardest hitting meanest thing

Insight #2: Build working relationships Establish credibility over time. Come prepared. Build rapport. Offer solutions. Show up and follow up. Leave behind. - Over time also means writing emails regularly and creating a PR sheet to have organizations and others send information about you to the legislators - Figure out how to become involved and move the conversation, be asked back to the party

Insight #3: Preparation is paramount! Make the most of your time with a policymaker by ensuring that you ask them specifically to do something for you. In fact, in my mind, the entire meeting is about the “ask.” From a policymaker’s viewpoint, there’s really not another reason to meet except because you’re a voter. Don’t waste their time if you don’t have a clear “ask” that they can fulfill. Study the policy Study the levels of legislation Develop the ask Connect the issue to your own experience Bring the story to life with details ACTIONABLE!!!!!!! WHAT WILL THE LEGISLATOR GET FROM DOING THIS?

Insight #4: Offer what you have (that policymakers don’t): Experience and expertise Roots on the ground Emotions to support the main idea Terri to talk about expertise, not just experience. We are educational experts and most policymakers and even their advisors are not. Also, while “Heart knowledge” is important, teachers often stress it too much. Your push has to be more than emotional---emotion should support your ideas, not be your ideas.

Insight #5: Push Back Artfully Be selective. Identify common ground. Signal that you are going to press an issue. Strategies: Ask a question. Be self-deprecating. “Help me to understand…” - Policymakers fear change - Policymakers fear pushback (they think you are going to blame them and block progress) - Fear time loss (there is only a limited amount of time) - Fear looking bad - Acknowledge policymaker and principal fears - Assume good intentions - We are going to disagree about a lot of things but can we agree that: o Everyone in the room is smart o Everyone wants what’s best for students - Listen actively o You have to listen to…. Find out what there motivation o Be willing to change as much as you are trying to make change Two Common Stance Errors - Defensive and hostile - Passive - They produce the same result

Insight #6: Effectively Use Your Time Before the meeting, do your homework: Where do policymakers stand? What are their levers? What will you ask them to do? Spend more time on solutions than problems. Ask questions. Build in real time for a conversation. - Show up and follow up - Offer solutions - Build rapport - Establish credibility over time I see we are all interested in….. here are some ideas of how to get there…

Sample agenda for policymaker meeting Introductions Who am I and why should you listen to me? (Give your card to everyone in the room who didn’t come with you.) Why is this important to you? What do I want? The ask Why do I want it? (and why do you also want it?) Reasons/data/etc. Story Repeat the ask Guide the conversation Thanks. Leave a one-pager behind. Next steps--offer yourself as a resource. Terri and Monica to speak about the agenda and share agenda hand out

Insight #7: Offer solutions: Identify the problem but use most of your time and energy on solutions Remember there is strength in numbers to unify around the depth of the problem Offer yourself / group as a part of the solution

Now let’s practice. We’re going to Determine an ask. Develop a supporting story. Develop an elevator speech. Practice pitching our agenda.

Discussion What are your compelling topics for discussion with a policymaker?

Pick a Topic!!! Ask audience for examples of issues they care about, and for examples of policymakers/influencers

The Ask Select an issue that you care about, that effects your school (or community), and that you can speak to from your experience as an educator. Choose a policymaker to be your audience. Who can make a policy decision on this issue? What do you want the policymaker to do? Actionable, concrete. Within the policymaker’s realm. Give participants 3 minutes to think about this, might have post it notes around the room or on the table with topics to explore (maybe folks can look on their computers to think of statewide issues) After 3 minutes, we will hand out the sample agenda so that participants can write down their ask.

Storytelling Strategies Add a Story Storytelling Strategies Stories are about people (name names) The people in your story have to want something (goals). Stories need to be fixed in time and place (setting). Let your characters speak for themselves (voice). Audiences bore easily (keep it snappy). Stories speak the audience's language (no jargon). Stories stir up emotions (make ‘em laugh, cry, whatever). However, don’t depend on emotion to tell the story. Stories don’t tell: they show. Stories have at least one “moment of truth.” Stories have clear meaning. This slide will be up while people are drafting their ‘ask’ and then transitioning to completing the story bullet points

Sample agenda for policymaker meeting Introductions Who am I and why should you listen to me? (Give your card to everyone in the room who didn’t come with you.) Why is this important to me and to you? What do I want? (The ask) Why do I want it? (and why do you also want it?) Reasons/data/etc. Story Repeat the ask Chat Thanks. Leave a one-pager behind. Next steps--offer yourself as a resource.

Partner UP for Practice Keep your key message at the forefront of your mind Practice your story/pitch with a partner Each partner will have 5 minutes for a pitch and 3 minutes for feedback Provide constructive feedback for your partner (This is a discussion with a policymaker. Your partner may ask clarifying questions, etc.) Partner up with someone for a total of 16 minutes where 5 minutes will be used to pitch the meeting and 3 minutes will be used for feedback from partner

Practice Makes Perfect Consider the following questions when providing feedback: What grabbed your attention? What do you remember? What was the point of the story? At what point did your mind wander? What did you want to know more (or less) about? Are there any possible unintended meanings to this story? Feed back protocol and sentence stems When you are in the listening role, use these questions to guide your feedback, red is warm, blue is cool. You can also refer to the 10 Laws.

Table discussion: How did this activity go? How might you use this in the future? Give people time share about this exercise and things to think about

The Elevator Pitch/Speech What can you say during an elevator ride? You have 30-40 seconds average to grab the attention of a person. What do you say and how do you say it? Tell who you are Identify your goal (the ask) Engage with a question or story (30 seconds!) Give a card. Tell the person you’ll be following up. This must be interesting, attention-getting and FAST.

Practice Take a minute to create an elevator pitch/speech for your issue. Partner up. Tell your partner who she/he is. We will do 3 rounds—1 minute, 45 seconds and 30 seconds.

Table discussion: How did it go? What went well? What was difficult?

Final Thoughts?

Presented by Terri R. Vest, NBCT Sponsored by Hope Street Group terriachieves@gmail.com