Community Speaker Training

I have been accepted into the close knit and small organisation and involved in all elements from participating in community speaker training, to tasks such as updating media contact lists and writing media releases.

I have found that many elements that have been taught to us in the course are apparent and I am applying in my work placement.

Anne and Paddy, who are my supervisors at Oxfam, have allocated me a climate change campaign to focus on. This campaign has the aim to lobby the government, and raise awareness in the community about the humanitarian impact of Climate Change. The aim is to influence policy makers and eventually get the Australian government to be leaders in taking action against Climate Change at the talks in Copenhagen.

One way that Oxfam is raising awareness about the issues is through their campaign called. Sisters on the Planet. (SOTP). SOTP has a focus on women who have personal stories to tell about how climate change has impacted their lives already. One standout video that has been produced, is about a lady called Ursula. Ursula is from the Pacific Islands as had had to relocate herself and her community, due to rising sea levels. Ursula is therefore an environmental refugee, and the first of many. Have a look at the videos and stories that Oxfam has produced to convey the loss of culture and identity, and hardships many people are suffering due to Climate Change. (www.oxfam.org.au.)

One of the most useful events I have been present at during my placement is the SOTP community speaker training. The purpose of these workshops was to involve passionate community members, to get involved and spread the message about Climate Change and its urgency.

The day included a discussion of key messages to be portrayed, the issues, and how to portray and influence your listeners. One lady Anne said that the key to creating action and involvement in your stakeholders is to simply think about these three steps. First, how can I get the issue into someone’s head? Second, how do I get the issue into someone’s heart, and then how do I get the messages to someone’s hands. Or simply from the head, to the heart and to the hands. I think this is an extremely important cognitive concept to think about, when developing any stakeholder relations strategy.

Oxfam provided community speakers with packages that included guidelines for presentations, PowerPoint slides and supporting materials.

It was extremely exciting to be involved in the mobilisation of public knowledge, and see how NGO’s create movement in communities in regards to issues. The atmosphere created with like minded people is electric, and it was good to see how people can be trained to speak and convey messages.