On the second day of NLAS Vasiliy Kisunko, Senior Organizing Advisor for the ACLU, taught us how to craft a message.
The first thing to know is how a message differs from a frame.
Frames are broadly shared stories and contexts. They’re very difficult and expensive to change. For example, a frame is what people picture when they hear the words “American Dream.”
Good messaging takes advantage of existing frames. It doesn’t try to create new frames or change existing ones.
An effective political message has at least three attributes:
First, it’s inclusive. It attracts people to your cause.
Second, it’s simple and clear. Learn from your local five-year-old. Their messages are simple and clear and they repeat them until they get what they want. “If a five-year-old can repeat it, it’s a great message,” Kisunko said.
Third, it’s motivational. A good message will, at the very least, tell your audience what they can do to help right now.
During the training, I began to wonder what kind of messaging would work to motivate people to help house Huntsville’s unhoused population.
It occurred to me that I didn’t need to figure out what the ideal policy solution for this problem would be in a perfect world.
I needed to know the range of solutions relevant stakeholders would find acceptable considering HNL’s limited resources. With unlimited time and money for research, messaging, advertising, events, and PR we could significantly move the Overton window. But right now our ability to change Huntsvillians’ attitudes and beliefs around homelessness is limited.
Inspired, I emailed the North Alabama Coalition for the Homeless to see whether they have access to any of this research and further coordinate on the topic.
I also started brainstorming messaging around homelessness in Huntsville. I think my favorite messages right now are “People sleep inside;” “We take care of our own, especially veterans, because it’s who we are and what we believe;” and “Housing every Huntsvillian makes every Huntsvillian safer.”
We also talked about chapter identity, and identified ways our chapters differ from other left-leaning groups. I defined Huntsville New Liberals as promoting inclusivity, diversity, a bias toward action, collaboration, evidence-based policy, and a nearly exclusive focus on local issues. We want to avoid infighting, competitive/scarcity mindset, and purity tests.
We can differ from other local groups by actively recruiting newcomers through effective use of online channels.
The big takeaway from the session on planning and throwing events for our chapters, for me at least, was that it’s super important to ask people for help. As Ben Franklin put it, if you want a friend, ask for a favor. It also helps avoid burnout, I hear.
Rob and I spent some time thinking about the leadership roles we’d love to create and fill for HNL.
By January first, we’d love to have at least one person each leading at least three of the following roles:
Events
Policy
Comms
Fundraising
Outreach/partnerships
We’d also love to delegate event tasks such as securing and coordinating with venues, recruiting new attendees, managing food and drinks, distributing materials, signing in attendees, coordinating speakers, taking photographs and videos, moderating panels and introducing speakers, taking notes, and following up with speakers and attendees.
Lastly, I’m very flattered to announce CNL membership elected me to this year’s Steering Committee! To repurpose a joke I already tweeted – I don’t drive. But I steer.
And that’s a wrap for NLAS D.C. 2023! I encourage everyone who’s interested in attending next year and/or learning more to watch the CNL website for next year’s scholarship application to attend NLAS on New Democracy’s dime! And to get email updates on HNL and CNL happenings, please sign up for our newsletter on our website.
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