1. “The DiploMatt” or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Preachers A presentation on successful messaging By Matt Enloe

2. A bit about me I studied philosophy and psychology at Oregon State University. I’m passionate about social justice and building communities. I focus not just on what we say, but how we say it.

3. Storytelling Stories are a big part about how we see the world – and ourselves. Never doubt the power of the narrative. So… let me tell you a story!

4. Shawn the Baptist Shawn first visited OSU my freshman year. Before he left, I exchanged emails with him. The next time he visited, after a bit of conversation, we came to an agreement. I did get called “like ISIS”…

5. Ken Lightsey and “The DiploMatt” The week after Shawn, we got another round of preachers. Well, talking to him worked, so why not try it again? Whoa. Magic. There might be something to this. People seem to like it.

6. Bingo Cards and Common Ground This was the debut of my bingo cards! They were a hit – both with students, and Shawn. After talking to both Shawn and his new associate, Keith, we settled the environment a bit and had a good time.

7. Preparation We knew we’d have some more visitors in the spring. What went right? What went wrong? What did we miss? Most importantly, how do we get more students and groups involved and represented?

8. Jed Smock & Mikhail Savenko Jed announced his schedule, and we started negotiating. We invited all of the spiritual-life groups on campus, and all the others. We advertised on campus, especially in the residence halls.

9. Success! 16 pounds of candy, over 1000 bingo cards, and 8 hours of tabling and moderating later… Everything went better than expected! Administration even wanted to help us get the space again in the future.

10. So What? We made a negative environment positive. We built relationships with other campus groups. We broke stereotypes about secular groups and individuals. We helped students take the power back.

11. Context Counts Framing: The setting, scope, and context of an interaction. Arguments vs. conversations Requires influence and cooperation to be effective Affects attitudes, behaviors, perceived importance, and how opinions form

12. Unintended Consequences What makes bad framing? Personal vs. public Intent vs. impact (Mis)Representation

13. Building Bridges What makes good framing? Establish your environment Concentrate on community Invest in interfaith efforts

14. “Don’t you give me that tone!” Intentional tones Focus on cohesion, collaboration, and cooperation. These are all different things! Unintentional tones Avoid sarcasm. Trust me.

15. Read the Room Adapt your approach to your audience. Time, place, and manner. What counts as a formal setting? Informal? Just like in school, use the 5 W’s – Who, What, When, Where, Why (and How).

16. Examples? Time for a little more storytelling. Behind the scenes of our success stories… The fight for the MU Quad The fight ON the MU Quad But, most importantly…

17. Winning Hearts and Minds Speaking to the skeptics of the Skeptics. Learning and meeting the needs of our community. Constantly communicating, for publicity and for feedback. Having a good time!

18. Once more, with feeling: What did we learn? How do we want to frame our messages, and how do we actually do it? What should our tone be, and what can we do to convey it (and only it)? How do we know our audience, and how do we reach them appropriately?

19. Further resources: Where do we go from here? Find your passion, and follow it! Mark Edmundson – “Why Read?” Study community organizing, and learn from the best! Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – “A Testament of Hope” Coming soon – The “Emergency Preacher Preparedness Kit” Talk to some strangers!

20. Thanks!