Designing Advocacy Strategies with Public Policy Makers

A working programme in policy maker advocacy for managers who have to deliver with existing resources.

📍 Tripoli🗓️ 5 training days📚 4 modules🎓 Accredited certificate
5intensive training days
4scientific modules
8training sessions
32detailed points

Course Overview

Silence during a crisis involving policy maker advocacy is itself a statement. The first version of a story about this strand of communications and media practice tends to become the reference version. Discussion is anchored to worked examples of the practice within communications and media practice rather than to abstract argument. Participants develop a defensible line of reasoning for the choices they make about policy maker advocacy. Participants who influence this area of communications and media practice without directly controlling it will find the content directly usable. Moving the communications and media practice discipline from written policy into daily practice is not achieved by a single decision. Where policy maker advocacy is measured, it improves; where it is only discussed, it drifts. It treats this aspect of communications and media practice as an operating discipline and equips participants to run it as one. Participants finish with a short, specific brief on this part of communications and media practice ready to put in front of a decision maker.

Expected Learning Outcomes

01

Measure the effect of communication on policy maker advocacy beyond volume of coverage.

02

Build community and stakeholder engagement around policy maker advocacy.

03

Write materials on policy maker advocacy that a journalist can use without rewriting.

04

Assign clear ownership for each element of policy maker advocacy across the functions involved.

05

Distinguish the parts of policy maker advocacy that must be standardised from those that require judgement.

06

Design the crisis response plan for policy maker advocacy with named roles and pre-agreed authority.

07

Anticipate the objections that policy maker advocacy will attract internally and answer them in advance.

Who Should Attend

01

Public relations and communications managers responsible for policy maker advocacy.

02

Marketing staff coordinating with communications on policy maker advocacy.

03

Compliance and governance staff whose remit includes policy maker advocacy.

04

Content producers creating material about policy maker advocacy.

05

Government relations and public affairs officers covering policy maker advocacy.

06

Quality staff verifying that policy maker advocacy performs as designed.

Course Modules

01

Policy maker advocacy: monitoring, sentiment and early warning

2 sessions · 8 points

Session 1What has to be agreed before work on policy maker advocacy starts

  • Build a stakeholder map for policy maker advocacy and the message each needs.
  • Archive every statement issued on policy maker advocacy with date and approver.
  • Remove steps in policy maker advocacy that add effort without adding assurance.
  • Set the response time target for enquiries about policy maker advocacy.

Session 2Coordinating policy maker advocacy across markets and languages

  • Distinguish symptoms from causes when policy maker advocacy underperforms.
  • Sequence internal notification about policy maker advocacy ahead of external release.
  • Establish what evidence demonstrates policy maker advocacy is under control.
  • Reduce the variation in how policy maker advocacy is carried out between teams.
02

Policy maker advocacy: crisis preparation, roles and authority

2 sessions · 8 points

Session 1Where policy maker advocacy typically breaks, and why

  • Localise messaging on policy maker advocacy without fragmenting it.
  • Review whether policy maker advocacy is aligned with the objectives of the communications function.
  • Rehearse the hostile interview on policy maker advocacy with a real challenger.
  • Rank the weaknesses in policy maker advocacy by consequence rather than by ease of fixing.

Session 2The three messages on policy maker advocacy you will not move from

  • Draft materials on policy maker advocacy that need no rewriting to be published.
  • Check communication on policy maker advocacy against legal and regulatory constraint.
  • Define what success in communicating policy maker advocacy looks like, numerically.
  • Agree the indicators that will show whether policy maker advocacy is improving.
03

Policy maker advocacy: measurement beyond coverage volume

2 sessions · 8 points

Session 1Correcting a false story about policy maker advocacy without amplifying it

  • Draft the minimum viable communications plan for policy maker advocacy.
  • Debrief after each significant episode involving policy maker advocacy.
  • Arrange the handover of policy maker advocacy so capability survives staff changes.
  • Write the three key messages on policy maker advocacy and test them against hard questions.

Session 2Building the method for policy maker advocacy step by step

  • Confirm that reporting on policy maker advocacy reaches the people who can act.
  • Identify single points of dependency in policy maker advocacy and reduce them.
  • Record what was learned when policy maker advocacy did not go as planned.
  • Map the handovers in policy maker advocacy between functions and secure them.
04

Policy maker advocacy: recovery and rebuilding credibility

2 sessions · 8 points

Session 1Telling staff about policy maker advocacy before the press does

  • Define acceptance criteria for policy maker advocacy in advance.
  • Check that policy maker advocacy still works when volumes rise unexpectedly.
  • Decide in advance when to correct misinformation about policy maker advocacy and when not to.
  • Set escalation thresholds for policy maker advocacy that work out of hours.

Session 2Monitoring policy maker advocacy in time to act

  • Plan the recovery sequence after a reputational event involving policy maker advocacy.
  • Prepare the holding statement for policy maker advocacy in advance.
  • Prepare the acknowledgement for policy maker advocacy that does not evade responsibility.
  • Review whether coverage of policy maker advocacy changed anything that matters.

Choose the package that suits you

Silver Package

At least 3 people

USD1,250
  • Workshop or Program Participation
  • Airport Transfers
  • Customized Badge
  • Expert Mentorship (Private Sessions)
  • Supervision & Secretarial Services
  • Accredited Certificate of Participation
  • Complete Training Kit
  • Coffee Break
  • Closing Ceremony

Gold Package

At least 3 people

USD1,850
  • 5-night stay in a 5-star hotel
  • Workshop or Program Participation
  • Airport Transfers
  • Customized Badge
  • Expert Mentorship (Private Sessions)
  • Supervision & Secretarial Services
  • Accredited Certificate of Participation
  • Complete Training Kit
  • Coffee Break
  • Closing Ceremony

Complete your registration

We will contact you within one business day to confirm.