Public outreach: mediate, don’t sell.

Public outreach is something that — especially in the Portland region — we talk a good game about, but rarely do we do it well. Sure, we make lots of pretty brochures and web sites, but when it comes time to go out and do some face-to-face with the public time, we tend to become timid. There’s a fear of delivering hard news. There’s a fear of encountering angry people, or known cranks. But most of all, there’s the subconscious tendency to push for success, for positives, for responses that support the project we are working on.

When you’re doing public outreach in the field, it’s important to remember that you’re a mediator, you’re not a salesperson. Your job is to facilitate a social environment that will allow the project you are supporting and the community affected by it to coexist. It is not to promote, advance, or in any way market the project. You don’t work for the project, you work for the community.

This brings to mind three critical rules-of-thumb for when you are out in the field, talking with a stakeholder:

1. Don’t ever “sell” it. Craft a message, choose your words carefully, sure, but don’t ever tell a community member how a project will benefit them unless they have already figured that out for themselves. You can provide the facts, you can ask questions, but you should never, ever, ever say to a stakeholder “this project will benefit you” even if you think it is the truth. It smacks of a pitch and worse, it smacks of arrogance, as if you know what will benefit them or their business better than they do. Keep it factual, don’t offer analysis.

2. Don’t ever offer a choice if none exists. If you tell a stakeholder that you will take a certain course of action only with “100% buy-off”, then you hand away veto power. This gives you a choice: do you keep your word and allow them their veto, or do you push ahead with your plans for the benefit of the majority, but sacrifice your reputation and honesty? A an individual working in the community affairs realm, your integrity is essential. Do not put yourself in this position. Never offer more than you can genuinely give, and never, ever, ever, ever lie. Ever.

3. Listen more than you speak. Outreach isn’t about information dissemination. If it was, a simple letter or a notice posted to a sign would be enough. It’s about relationship building. You want to establish a dialogue and build a relationship, and dialogues are two-way affairs. Certainly convey the information you need to get out, but ask questions too. If the stakeholder you are talking to wants to tell you all about how their business is doing, listen to them. Show interest. Nothing is boring. It is all information that you can use to better judge the needs and perspectives of the community you are working in.

Remember, it’s not a pitch, it’s a relationship.