Thursday, January 13, 2011

Presenting to boards and councils

I am reading a new guide by Michael Wade entitled How to Make Presentations to Councils and Boards. The book is a great tool if you want to learn to be effective making presentations to boards and councils. For many new activists out there who are speaking up at city council meetings, school boards and other political arenas, there is a lot of good advice packed into a very short and succinct guide (57 pages). Wade focuses on some psychological techniques such as not worrying about being smooth or flawless. Rather, "a speaker who is not perfect can project a genuine nature that wins over the audience." Techniques and approaches that are unique to council and board meetings are prevalent throughout the book, and even work for meetings that are less formal. So even if you just want to give a persuasive talk to your Home Owner's association, this book might help.

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3 Comments:

Blogger Michael K said...

Having spent years on a city planning commission, I would offer one piece of advice. Try to keep your presentation to five minutes and then ask for questions. Droning on for a half hour does not improve your case.

11:45 AM, January 13, 2011  
Blogger Dr.Alistair said...

learn the buzz-words that the specific board or council uses by going to their website or other publication and regurgtating those words back to them in whatever presentation you give.

they`ll love ya baby!

2:02 PM, January 13, 2011  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this, Dr. Helen. So many think their passion for the topic will carry the day. Wrong. You might want to check out the Thirteen Tips series I posted based on my experience presenting before City Council at our "guns in parks" dustup.
Mike

6:54 PM, January 13, 2011  

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