The Art of Advocacy The “Top Ten Mistakes People make when engaging with elected Decision- Makers”
Dealing with Elected Officials Speak their language: Votes Jobs in their constituency Government money into constituency (Sugar) The power of money and/or the power of many!
What a Politician Thinks About…
TEN Only talk to a politician when they have a serious problem. They learn to expect this and will have their guard up!
NINE Fail to identify yourself in a clear and detailed manner. Politicians are trained to act like they know, and remember, everyone. Take the time up front to tell them who you are, what you do, etc.!
EIGHT Do not state a CLEAR objective. If I tell you that I definitely want to be helpful, I am really not being all that helpful!
SEVEN Talk in antagonistic tones. Everybody in politics is convinced that they are doing the right things for the right reasons!
SIX Fail to define/describe your issue in a comprehensive way. Issues that are “black & white” from your perspective, may be “grey” from the politician’s perspective. They will always anticipate the “push back”!
FIVE Refer to Bill numbers and/or clause paragraph references. A politician will rarely admit that they don’t know something!
FOUR Use unfamiliar acronyms. Unless you want your KSM to be lost PDQ!
THREE Give them “not completely correct information”. Public policy is about finding balance points, the easy decisions have been made!
TWO Don’t follow-up the meeting with a letter. We are building a relationship, thank them, praise the staff, and re-state any commitments made during the discussions!
ONE Stay past your allotted time. A politician will generally not throw you out, but you are causing someone grief!