Advocacy and Influencing

Are you trying to influence policy or practice? Do you depend on other people to implement your future vision? Everyone has influencing and advocacy skills but some are better at getting people to do what they want than others. Whether you work in business, government, or the not-for-profit sector, you need to have effective advocacy and influencing skills to create change.

LEAD defines advocacy as the planning and carrying out of actions that seek to change policy, attitudes and practice in favour of a more sustainable future. It can be used in a spectrum of activities from education and awareness raising to campaigning and lobbying. While it is important to have a compelling message (see Getting Your Message Across <link>), communication, rapport and relationship building skills are just as important in order to create trust and engage with key decision makers. The main aims of this module are to enhance participants’ communication and personal presentation skills, and to give them some tools to strengthen their key messages to policy and decision makers.

LISTENING IS THE HARDEST THING TO DO

In the excitement of the moment, when we are trying to get our message across, it is easy to forget that communication is a two way process. Before making a pitch, it is essential to get the trust and attention of the decision-makers. One way to do that is to show that we are ready to listen to another point of view. The starting point of this module is a group self-assessment exercises where participants reflect on, and share feedback on their personal approach to advocacy. The module is designed to maximise participants opportunities to practice their communication and influencing skills and to learn from listening and observing each other. Opportunities for participants to share knowledge and experience with each other are built into the schedule. A constantly updated range of on-line learning resources including selected articles, podcasts, books and film, supports face to face learning.