Advocacy Meetings 109: Practice, Practice, Practice

There’s something we do in the military that I don’t see as often in civilian life – at least not in the advocacy world. It’s a powerful tool to help teams coalesce before an action and improvise during that mission. And when things inevitably go wrong in the field, this one tool helps everyone understand what their options are so they can react faster.

What’s the magic trick? We rehearse.

That word rehearse seems loaded. For most, that seems like practicing your lines before taking the stage for your role in the high school play. Well, that’s not quite what I mean.

In the Marines, these rehearsals are about placing yourself mentally in the terrain ahead of a mission and walking through the major challenges you could face along the way. You try to visualize weaknesses in your plan, and ask your team to do the same. You run through different scenarios so your team can help develop the responsive actions they’ll take when shit hits the fan. You’re practicing how to improvise, adapt, and overcome obstacles that you can’t see yet.

It’s less like memorizing a script, and more like learning how to play in a jazz ensemble.

These rehearsals, sometimes called Rock Walks or Chalk Talks, take different forms. At the small unit level, it could be a squad gathered around a map minutes before a patrol. Before major actions like the invasion of Iraq, massive sand tables were built in 3-D so unit commanders could literally walk the terrain (in miniature) and determine how their units would work together to effectively accomplish their missions.

As silly as we sometimes felt walking through these types of practices, we knew they were an invaluable tool. They helped us as leaders to express the most important parts our plan. They helped us determine where we needed improvement. And they helped us predict the friction points where the enemy could pose challenges.

Unfortunately, there aren’t that many in the advocacy world who practice like this.

As I work with aspiring and experienced advocates alike, the need for our own version of these rehearsals becomes more and more apparent. They’re a sure fire way too help a team of volunteer advocates gel together, learn how to cue off one another, and how to help them recover if a meeting goes off the rails. And if done right, they can help a team understand the importance of practicing the different parts of their meeting agenda.

Little things go a long way in helping your advocacy team stand out. Things like managing the meeting clock, getting to your ask, and telling a meaningful story. Missing key elements like those undermines your goals. The best way to avoid that is to institute your own form of rock walks.

So, what does that take? Here are my key elements of a good advocacy practice session.

1. A meeting plan – some kind of framework that helps communicate the key tasks within a meeting, the order in which they should occur, and who’s doing them. (If you need something like this, let’s talk – drop me a note at luke@partofthepossible.com)

2. Talking points – very brief notes for the participants to bone up on an issue quickly. This can be trimmed significantly for experienced advocates or teams dealing with issues they’ve worked on before.

3. Challenging opponents – designated players to act as the targets your advocates are meeting. These folks should have time to study the person they’re portraying – and they should imagine the types of ways those targets could derail the meeting in real life. They’re there to cause friction so the team can practice recovering.

I’m confident with these three minimum tools, any team can begin holding meaningful practice sessions to improve their performance in the room with an elected official. With the right framework, that same team can implement a professional, well thought out meeting in just about any environment. I know because I’ve done it.

Since my time in uniform, I’ve consistently tried to weave my own version of rock walks into the work I do. As many times as not, folks have rolled their eyes before a rehearsal session. The funny thing is, after a good, challenging meeting session, they almost always say their eyes have been opened. They felt more prepared and empowered to manage the chaos in their advocacy events. And they invariably credit the practice session for that empowerment.

We absolutely undervalue the benefit of rehearsals. It’s time to check our egos at the door. We all need practice when working with a team – especially in volunteer advocacy. If you want to maximize the effectiveness of your own advocacy work, it’s time to try a good old fashioned rehearsal.