This is a must read PDF for advocacy and communication staff. What things do you need to think about as you draft strategy for engagement? Many of the things are not earth shattering . They present stages to successful persuasion ...Stage One: People need to know, believe and care enough to want to act., Stage Two: People must have the will to act. Stage Three: Once people act, they must be rewarded for doing so. However, it is nice to get people to focus on the basics. There is also some great stuff in the report that is well researched and noted...
• Hope is the only absolutely, positively essential ingredient to campaigns trying to inspire action. You must make people believe that the situation will get better –with their help.
• Timing is everything. Deciding when it is the right time to persuade people is a critical factor to defining an activation point – and can be very tricky.
• Understanding an audience’s comfort zone is key. There are clear limits to what even the most passionate people are willing to do, especially if the “ask” is outside their comfort zone. On the other hand, asking people to do things within their comfort zone allows them to feel good about helping without putting themselves at risk.
• People are selfish. They need to feel an issue is directly relevant to their own lives before they will act.
It is really good. Please read it. I was a part of bits of the process and I was very impressed with the rigor and horsepower in the room that worked on this. It is a nice contribution to the field.
