Please share this webinar with anyone who may be interested! Watch all our webinars: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4dDQscmFYu_ezxuxnAE61hx4JlqAKXpR In this webinar, you will learn: ● The skills required to have effective in-person meetings with decision makers, including the development of their personal stories. ● The step-by-step process of getting a meeting with government officials, preparing for their meeting, conducting that meeting and following-up to ensure maximum impact. ● The pitfalls to be avoided to ensure substantive outcomes when meeting with decision makers. View the video: https://youtu.be/EMfvH2NTQ7o Follow our social media accounts: Twitter - https://twitter.com/survivornetca Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CanadianSurvivorNet Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/survivornetwork YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/Survivornetca

1. Engaging Your Local Political Representative
Ryan Clarke
Monday, November 14, 2016

2. Overview
• Quick Review: How to develop an effective
advocacy plan
• Telling your personal story
• Advocating in person

3. How to Develop an Effective Advocacy Plan
• Key message development
• Development of your tools
• Development of your one ‘ask’

4. Key Message Development
Identification…
– Requires that you be able to take an array of information
and distill it down to its simplest form
– Requires that you separate fact from fiction
– When advocating on behalf of a group, consensus on the
issues is required

5. Key Message Development
Framing…
– Develop 3 key messages that explain the salient points of
your issues in simple language
– Each key message should be 25 words or less
– Must always be clear, compelling, concise and consistent
– Practice presenting your key messages to someone with no
knowledge of your issues

6. Advocacy Tools
The means of delivering the messages…
– As a process, three steps must be followed regardless of
the tool being utilized to get to the advocacy stage:
Educate, Demonstrate, Advocate®

7. Your One ‘Ask’
The objective or goal of the plan…
• ONE – because you are going to ask for what you need, not a
list of what you want
• Requires one to make choices and potentially reach a
consensus (just as it does when developing your 3 key
messages)
• Sometimes opportunities will present themselves that will
make the ‘ask’ very timely

8. Why Meet With Your MP or Provincial
Representative?
• Health care is largely a provincial matter, and so
any health care issue that you have involving
government should likely be brought to your
MPP/MLA/MNA/MHA
• As your elected representatives, you will need to
have (and foster) working relationships with these
individuals if you are going to advocate to
government
• Face-to-face meetings are one of the most
impactful forms of advocacy, allowing you to tell
your personal story to someone who is
responsible for representing your issues

9. Preparing For The Meeting
• Develop your 3 key messages (i.e. what you
want to say) about the issue of concern to you
• Decide what your one ‘ask’ will be (i.e. what
are you going to ask this decision-maker to do
for you)
• Determine who will be attending the meeting
with you
• Write out the version of your personal story
that your want to deliver
• Request the meeting

10. Telling Your Personal Story
• Review of how to tell your personal story in the context of a
face-to-face meeting with a decision-maker
• It is means by which your issue comes to life and is made
real
• It is also the most powerful point at which you can connect
with a decision-maker

11. Telling Your Story
• At some point during any meeting, you or someone you’re
with must take the opportunity to tell their personal story
• What is a personal story:
• A summary of what has happened to you as it relates to the issue at hand
• It is your perspective on the issue based on your experience, feelings and
attitudes
• It is emotional
• It must demonstrate how gov’t action/inaction/policy/etc. has directly
impacted your life

12. Telling Your Story
• You’ve got two choices:
– Tell a summary of your entire story as it pertains to the issue
– Tell a portion of your story that focuses on one or two aspects of the
issue
• Must fit within the amount of time you have (i.e. 5 minutes)
• Must conclude with why things need to change and bridge to
the ‘ask’ that you have

13. Telling Your Story
• Essential elements:
– Name, age, where you live
– Occupation (former occupation) and family
– Timing and circumstances surrounding your diagnosis
– Challenges faced as a result of the disease, particularly around the
relevant issue
– What you believe gov’t needs to do to help you and others
– At every point, how you felt

14. Getting the Meeting
• ‘No’ is not an option
• Make an initial telephone call
• Have a letter prepared to e-mail that briefly outlines why you
want to meet with that person
• After the letter goes, follow-up repeatedly until you get the
meeting
• You may be offered a meeting with someone else – you
should generally take these opportunities, but continue to
pursue the person you need to see

15. Before The Meeting
• Provide any material that you want the decision-maker to
read ahead of time (keep it brief)
• Advise whom you will be bringing, and ask for information on
who will be attending for them
• If possible, gather knowledge about the participants
• Know how long the meeting is scheduled for
• Contact the person you are meeting with just prior to
confirm…and be on time

16. Who Should Attend
• Generally 3-4 people at the most
• Everyone who attends needs to have a role to play
• Purpose is to paint a complete picture of the issue for the
decision-maker, from several perspectives
• One combination – patient organization, physician,
patient/caregiver
• Make sure someone takes notes and observes the dynamics in
the room

17. At The Meeting
Good news…
– You’ve got your 3 messages, you’ve got the right
combination of people in front of the decision-maker you
need to see and you’re prepared
Bad news…
– You’ve got 1 minute…who are you, who you represent,
why are you there, what do you need this decision-maker
to do for you (and how), what can you offer in return

18. Presentations
• If you use PowerPoint, make it brief (10-12 slides)
• Build it around your 3 messages and repeat those key
messages throughout
• If you don’t use PowerPoint, consider bringing a one-pager
with the highlights so that everyone can follow along and you
have a leave-behind
• Remember – technology can fail!

19. Presentations
• Conclude with your ask and how you propose it be done
(come with solutions)
• Check at the beginning of the meeting how long the decision-
maker has and adjust your presentation accordingly (leaving
enough time for discussion)
• Have someone assigned to watch the time
• Don’t go off, or get pulled off, on a tangent

23. In The Meeting
• Let the decision-maker with whom you are meeting,
speak
• If you are unclear about something, ask for clarification
• Be patient – your 3 messages are three of many that
decision-maker will hear that day
• Establish clear follow-ups, with timelines

24. Sample Agenda
• Introductions and delivery of key messages/’ask’ – usually by
attendee from the patient organization (5 minutes)
• HCP (5 minutes)
• Patient organization (5 minutes)
• Patient/caregiver (5 minutes)
• Discussion (10 minutes)

25. After The Meeting
• Provide any further information that may
have been requested right away
• Call, write, text or e-mail to thank the
decision-maker for meeting with you
• Follow-up shortly thereafter to track
progress and advise of what you are doing to
move your 3 messages forward

26. Advocating to Politicians
• Ensure that your key messages are clear, compelling concise and consistent – with
one ‘ask’
• Assume they know nothing about your issue
• Find out everything you can about that person and their potential link to your
issue
• Where possible, link your issue to their stated political objectives or public policies
i.e. Families First
• Bring your issue down to the riding/personal level
• Position your issue within the context of the election cycle
• Position your issue as a political ‘win’
• Selectively engage the opposition to leverage the gov’t
• Keep them informed of your engagement with the bureaucrats
• Be prepared to be assertive/aggressive if necessary

27. Advocating in Person
What NOT to do…
– Threaten
– Make an appointment to go and talk to someone in government
when you only have an idea, but no context or message
– Meet with a decision-maker when you have no clue why you are
doing so ie. you have no ask
– Make a technical presentation to a policy-influencer who has no
background in the area

28. Advocacy Solutions®
Contact Information:
Ryan Clarke, LL.B.
t. 905.891.0311
f. 905.891.0366
ryan@advocacysolutions.ca
www.advocacysolutions.ca

29. Canadian Cancer Survivor Network
Contact Info
Canadian Cancer Survivor Network
1750 Courtwood Crescent, Suite 210
Ottawa, ON K2C 2B5
Telephone / Téléphone : 613-898-1871
E-mail jmanthorne@survivornet.ca or mforrest@survivornet.ca
Web site www.survivornet.ca
Blog: http://jackiemanthornescancerblog.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @survivornetca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CanadianSurvivorNet
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/survivornetwork/