Welcome to Ambassador Basic Training, and thank you for your willingness to advocate on behalf of the superintendent profession. Now, dive right into the first session, What Ambassadors Need to Know.
Presented in partnership with Bayer.
To be an effective advocate, you'll need to know about the basics of government. But don't worry, you don't have to be an expert. You just need to know enough to talk to the right people about the right things at the right time.
Working with Congress can be tricky, but there are four keys to effective advocacy you should keep in mind – know what you want; know who you are talking to; know how to talk to them; and know how to best follow up with them. This video will guide you through these steps.
Only when you know your specific goal can you be sure that you’re talking to the right audience. In addition, they need to know what you want them to do. While this section refers to Capitol Hill meetings, the principle of "know what you want" can be applied to any advocacy situation.
Understanding what gets your audience up in the morning, and what keeps them up at night, dramatically increases your effectiveness. This video suggests ways to better understand who you are talking to and working with.
In these two videos, you’ll discover how to develop and deliver a story that will resonate with your lawmaker and his or her staff. Whether through an email, phone call or meeting in person, these tips will help you consider how to communicate and connect with your audience.
In this section, you’ll learn how to track down contact information, request a meeting, and communicate using a legislators website, through email, or through phone calls.
Use this checklist to do a self-check and review all the material covered previously. Once you have a good grasp of these basics, you’re ready for Ambassador Advanced Training. If you have any questions, contact Michael Lee, manager, government affairs, at 800-472-7878, ext. 3612.