Public Meetings (Campaign Toolkit)
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This page is part of the Campaign Toolkit.
Quick Links: Planning | Media | Internet | Public Meetings | Street Campaigning | Printed Material | Volunteers | Third Parties | Politicians
Contents |
Introduction
Public meetings provide an open-access forum to air your campaign's messages.
Public meetings have declined in popularity over the past few decades, as mass communications have replaced meetings as a way of communicating with groups of people. But many contemporary campaigns use public meetings as part of their toolkit to great effect, especially if used as a way of generating media attention.
They have the benefit of being an opportunity to gather all your supporters in a single place, creating a sense of momentum and common cause. Some public meetings can be charged with excitement and emotion, spurring your supporters and volunteers to greater efforts, and winning over doubters or waverers to your side.
The disadvantages are that an open meeting provides a platform for your opponents to attack or criticise you, and can be easily disrupted by a dedicated minority. If attendance at your meeting is small, the implication is that your cause does not enjoy much support, even if the opposite is true. Similarly, even if a thousand people come along to your rally to clap and cheer, there may be ten times that number at home who disagree with you.
Venues can range from swanky hotels and conference centres to local church halls, trade unions offices or community centres, depending on your budget and the style of the campaign.
Preparation: Venue
Choose a venue which is big enough, has disabled access, is central and well-known, which has power points if TV crews turn up, and kitchen and toilet facilities.
Decide whether you want a 'theatre-style' meeting, with a top-table, backdrop, and seats put out in rows, or seats in a circle, or even a stand-up reception-style meeting with a short speech from the floor.
Do you need microphones for the speakers, and a 'roving mike' for questioners?
Do you need a hearing loop or sign-language interpreter?
Have a welcome desk with a signing-in book and maybe name badges
Arrange for volunteers to staff the entrance, act as stewards, and be ready to deal with questioners
Book guest speakers well in advance, and brief them fully on the time, date and place, who else is speaking, and how long they should speak for.
Preparation: Publicity
Mail out and email all your supporters well in advance with the date, time, venue, and names of speakers.
Posters can be put up in local shop windows or community centres
You can leaflet high streets, stations, shopping centres or door-to-door
You might want to do a ring-round a day or so before to ensure the stalwarts are coming.
Post the details up on your website.
If you have a 'big name' speaker, use their name in the publicity as a 'draw' to attract extra people. A famous MP or local celebrity can boost turnout.
Tell the local media - alert the 'what's on' section editor and the newsdesk and get them to plug the meeting in advance, with full details or a contact phone number.
If journalists come along, offer interviews with your campaign spokespeople. Speeches
Decide how many speakers you want, what they should say, and for how long.
Ensure that the speeches are not too long or technical.
Leave plenty of time for questions from the floor
Each speaker should be fully briefed about the campaign and your goals, and what the other speakers are going to say.
Copies of the speeches can be made available to the audience and journalists, and posted up on your website.
Making a Speech
Prepare your speech in advance and practice it - even the most talented public speakers rarely speak genuinely 'off the cuff'.
Decide on the few simple messages that you want to get across and build your speech around them.
Find out in advance how you are expected to speak for, and in what circumstances (whether you're on a top table, with others, on first or last, and so on).
Vary the style - use anecdotes, rhetorical questions, jokes, and real-life examples to give your speech 'shade and light'.
Avoid jargon, cliches, technical language and confusing figures or statistics.
Introduce yourself and say what you intend to talk about.
Your speech might follow the traditional format of 'tell them what you're going to tell them; tell them it, and tell them what you've told them.'
Once you've started, look at your audience, make eye contact, and read their reactions - can they hear you at the back, are you going on too long?
Try to avoid distracting body language such as waving arms or scratching your nose.
Be prepared for interruptions and heckling, but don't be thrown off your track.
Be prepared for questions at the end.
Chairing the meeting
The Chair of the meeting is in charge. Choose someone with experience and authority.
The Chair's job is to ensure the meeting starts and finishes on time, to make sure the speakers keep to time, and to invite questions from the floor.
The Chair should start the meeting with a welcome to the audience, an explanation of the purpose of the meeting and the campaign, and an introduction to the speakers.
The Chair should end the meeting with thanks for all involved and information about what happens next with the campaign. The Chair can ask for the audience to show their appreciation 'in the usual manner' to elicit a round of applause.
Questions From The Audience
Allow people to ask questions and make points - but watch out for lengthy speeches and people on their soapboxes.
You can have stewards with 'roving microphones' going to each questioner, or have mikes set up at strategic points around the hall for questioners to stand by, or you can rely on questioners' own vocal projection.
The Chair might ask questioners to give their name and organisation or area they are from to help the speakers answer appropriately.
The Chair might take questions in 'rounds of three' to allow the speakers some latitude in their answers.
You might want to line up some questions from supporters in advance if there are areas of the subject you want to cover in the meeting. Have some 'planted questions' ready.
Dealing with Hecklers
There might be attempts from members of the audience to disrupt the meeting or destabilise the speakers. This might be from individuals, or part of a co-ordinated group.
Experienced speakers are used to dealing with hecklers - they ignore them, or have an armoury of put-downs to shut them up and win over the audience.
If the speaker is interrupted or loses their flow, the Chair might have to step in and ask for order and request that the heckler be quiet. The audience usually sides with the Chair in such situations.
If the heckler continues, the stewards should step in, and request that the heckler be quiet and sit down.
As a last resort, the person can be asked to leave the hall.
If a group of opponents really want to disrupt your meeting and co-ordinate their tactics, they will usually succeed. All that can be done is for the Chair to make it clear to the audience who is to blame for the disruption, and close the meeting.
Fundraising and Follow-up
You might want to organise a 'bucket collection' at the end of the meeting to help meet your expenses
You might send some sheets of paper round during the meeting for attendees to put their names and addresses for more information about the campaign.
You might want to organise a 'bucket collection' at the end of the meeting to help meet your expenses
Position someone on the exits to hand out campaign literature as people leave.
Use the names and addresses from the signing-in book for a follow-up mailing.
If you can identify prominent supporters who did not come to the meeting, send them a note of what happened, and make sure they are invited to the next one.
Checklist For Organisation Of Public Meetings
Before The Meeting:
- Have you booked the room and got the key to get in?
- Is the room prepared with seating, table, back-drop and catering?
- Have you sent out publicity to all interested parties?
- Do the speakers know where to go, what they are expected to say, and for how long, and what time they will be able to leave?
- Do the speakers need transport to and from the station, or expenses for a hotel?
- Have the speakers been offered food and drink?
- Are your stewards fully briefed?
- Do the microphones work?
- Is there a signing-in desk?
- Do you need to book a photographer?
During The Meeting:
- Make sure the chairing is firm but fair.
- Start and finish on time.
- The Chair should establish the point of the meeting and introduce the speakers.
- Make announcements about future activity.
- Take questions but avoid speeches from the audience.
- Deal firmly with hecklers.
After The Meeting:
- Write and thank your guest speakers and volunteers.
- Write to attendees and non-attendees.
- Phone round your target journalists and tell them about the meeting.
- Ensure all speakers' expenses have been met and room hire and catering paid for.
- Arrange for a small group of supporters to evaluate the success of the meeting and plan for the next one.
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