Communications Workshop - Aberdeen

Communications Workshop
July 30th, 2014 - Aberdeen, WA

Presented by Resource Media and the Surfrider Foundation

Free to those serving on coastal Marine Resource Committees (MRCs) and the Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council (WCMAC)
Agenda

10am
Message Development
Every good presentation has a single, clear message. Developing compelling messages is not intuitive for everyone. Resource Media will teach coastal leaders how to identify and develop the components of a message that will communicate the values and benefits of what they are proposing and resonate with targeted audiences. They will learn how to apply this template approach to active issue campaigns they are working on today and new ones that arise in the future. 

Storytelling
The nonprofit sector has been beaten over the head about the importance of storytelling in helping their ideas connect with their audiences. To civic-minded volunteers who are not nonprofit staffers, this is new news. We have found that more often than not the inclination is for a citizen engaging in the political process to want to be taken seriously and, thus, to master the facts and hide their personal story. Resource Media can work with a group of citizen activists to uncover their most powerful personal stories and help them to weave their main message and supporting facts into their personal story to make the most powerful “pitch” possible.

12pm - Lunch provided

1pm
Interview Skills Training
Certain coastal leaders will be called on by reporters to comment on coastal conservation efforts. These will either be designated spokespeople or others who are seen as local opinion leaders. Even the most experienced spokespeople benefit from yearly brush-ups of their skills. Participants will walk away from the training session with a strong sense of how to deliver a message “under pressure” and be prepared to deliver it in a variety of settings and how to handle tough questions and hostile reporters.

Online and Social Media
To build your base of support for your cause, you need to take your message to the places where the people you want to reach hang out. While in person is always best, increasingly you can find those like-minded people on social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and topic-specific communities. Like fundraising or in-person organizing, social networking is all about connecting with supporters around shared interests. It’s about building relationships with supporters and providing them with value through your content. We will talk about how you can determine where your target market is hanging out the most, how you can use social media to build your base of support, and spread news about your cause that doesn’t make it into the mainstream media, and answer other questions you have.

3:30pm - Adjourn

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