Pillow Talk – Advocacy Tip #2 – Know Your Peers
Last month, we begin a series on ten timely tips that will give you the confidence you need to take on a municipal advocacy effort. Tip # 1 was: Know Your Stuff. AATC will ensure you have the policy and political information you need to succeed. Tip number two is: Know Your Peers
The people around you, the other volunteers and association government relations staffs that are attempting to work together to successfully communicate a common cause; really need to know one another. It is embarrassing and frustrating to walk into a meeting and discover that each of your sidekicks is clueless or, even worse, have a completely different agenda.
To help you understand your advocacy team members’ strengths and weaknesses, and to improve your chances of having a successful meeting with an elected official, you need to know the following:
- Who is the best speaker?
- Who is a good researcher?
- Who lives in that elected official’s district?
- Who does business in that elected official’s district?
- Who can best influence?
- Who is the best listener?
- Who has the most relevant anecdote to illustrate the topic being discussed?
- Who is open to compromise?
- Who has a personal, social, business, or professional relationship with the elected official?
Always meet as a team prior to meeting with elected officials and determine who will talk about what and in what order. The more you know about each other, the better. Know your stuff; more importantly, know your peers.
Perry Pillow is AATC’s Director of Government Affairs. For more information, contact Perry at ppillow@aatcnet.org or call 817-616-0354. This article is a repost from AATC's Dimensions Magazine. View the full article here: http://dimensionsmag.org/pillow-talk-advocacy-tip-2-know-your-peers/
