Advocacy Meetings 104: Know Your Ask and Get to It

I had a healthy reminder in a meeting with a legislator recently. The group I was with was a bit…long winded…when it came to introductions. Which prompted a question I hate to hear from the elected official: “so, are you going to tell me why you’re here?”

You could immediately feel the momentum of the meeting shift. Advocates who were relatively prepared were taken off their game. They realized, a bit too late that they’d erred.

To the official’s credit, they were in no way rude – but it was clear we’d seen some precious time wasted. In advocacy meetings, this is nearly a sin. Managing the clock and maximizing the value of your target’s time is one of the simplest ways you can add value for decision makers. When we don’t, our efforts suffer.

That’s why it’s so important to know your ask, and build a plan for your meeting that allows you to get right to it. I call this meeting hack the BLUF.

The BLUF is an acronym well known to Marines everywhere. When we talk about a BLUF, we’re saying Bottom Line Up Front. That one acronym reminds us that the time we have to discuss a problem is finite, and we need to get folks thinking about the answer to that problem right away. It helps us identify and understand just what is most important for the meeting. It helps the listener understand just what we need to decide for the exchange to be successful.

Successful advocates will inherently know the value of a good BLUF. It helps set the tone for a meeting early, and allows for a planned transition away from pleasantries and toward business. The really beautiful part of a BLUF though, is that you don’t need to overthink it. Here’s what I mean:

Legislator: “Thank you all for coming in today, what brings you in?”

Advocate: “Thank you for having us today. I’m a volunteer advocate for [organization], and I’m here to ask you to vote in favor of HR 1234 that will help fix [problem].”

Yeah, you read that right, it really is that simple. A good BLUF will concisely allow you to introduce you or your team, what you want, and the specific action you’d like that decision maker to take. Let’s break it down.

Get Yourself Out of the Way

Advocacy is deeply personal. Taking the step to participate and lobby for change puts you into the ring. It’s also likely to draw you right into telling your own story. There’s nothing wrong with that – but you need to have a plan on how you’ll get there without forgetting to give context to the conversation.

Your BLUF is a critical piece to that plan. It forces you to state the matter up front, and save your story for later. Stories are powerful – but they don’t serve us well if we never get to our ask. The elected official, and their staff, are going to take better notes at the top of the meeting. Putting your BLUF ahead of yourself capitalizes on that limited window.

Know Your Ask

On the surface, this comes across as more plainly obvious than it seems to be in practice. I can’t begin to recount the number of times folks came to me as a staffer, demanding change, without knowing what they wanted to accomplish. Worse yet were the times when they’d be seeking help outside of our constitutional lane – limiting our ability to assist them.

A little forethought goes a long way in advancing your agenda. If you’re meeting with a legislator, is there already a piece of legislation you can ask them to support? Or do you need them to craft a bill? When talking to an executive agency, are you seeking a rule change or help navigating a bureaucratic issue? Knowing the problem, and crafting an achievable outcome relevant to their position will help you stand out in the crowd.

Keep it Simple

The best BLUFs, though, boil the problem down to a yes or no proposition. It can’t always be as easy as asking them to vote for or against an issue – sometimes there’s a lot more to the ask. This is especially true when you’re bringing a new problem to someone’s attention.

But where you can, the ask you make should be as simple, and straightforward as possible. Stating “I’d like you to vote in favor of Bill X” is a concrete, tangible ask. It narrows the scope of the meeting and propels you into an opportunity to share your story about the issue by getting the meat of your meeting out of the way.

A Good Habit

Getting good at BLUFs takes work. It’s a practice you have to internalize through repetition. Luckily, it can apply in just about any meeting setting – not just advocacy.

I’d challenge you to find a way to incorporate BLUFs in other professional communications. I often include a BLUF at the beginning of an email that runs longer than I’d like. It’s an easy way to grab the right attention at the beginning of the text, and before you ask the reader to dive in. Little moves like this are going to help you develop a keener sense of the value of time in your professional communication and your advocacy work.

Let me know how it works out for you!