Shine at Candidate Forums

(Source: South Whidbey Record, October 5, 2016)

With the General Election in a month you likely will participate in forums where candidates for local races present their platforms and participate in question-and-answer sessions before interested audiences. Make it your business to participate in such meetings.

Though large crowds seldom attend, you can still count on key opinion leaders and media representatives to be there. Regardless of the turnout, drive home that you are more, or most, qualified for the office.

It is your media or campaign manager’s responsibility to coordinate all of your public appearances like candidate forums. If yours is a small campaign in a small district, the job falls to you. Regardless of who coordinates, the goal is that you are kept in the loop and appear before voters, opinion leaders, and newspaper reporters at every opportunity.

• Contact each organization which held a candidate forum last year to see if one is planned for the current election cycle by organizations such as:

• Fraternal groups

• Local weekly newspaper

• League of Women Voters

• Service clubs like Rotary or Kiwanis

• Neighborhood homeowners associations

• Ask the organization’s event coordinators these questions:

• What date, time, and location?

• How will is the event be publicized?

• How many attendees are expected?

• Are campaign literature and signs allowed in the meeting room?

• What are the time limits for opening and closing comments?

• Are questions of an opponent allowed? How about follow-ups?

• Are questions from the audience permitted? If so, are they verbal or written?

• Are there other conditions I need to know about?

• Contact recent past candidates who presented at the event in the past to learn if they encountered any hidden agenda or other unfriendly activities such as:

• Bias against candidates with similar philosophies?

• Last-minute changes to event format?

• Other tactics that put a candidate at a disadvantage?

• Decide whether to attend.

• Review your research.

• Confirm your decision in writing or via email.

• Keep a copy of your commitment letter and email confirming your participation.

Be Prepared for Curve Ball Questions

As previously mentioned candidate forums often are sparsely attended but those who do take notes. So avoid an unprepared response to a seemingly expected question such as your position on a controversial candidate or issue by being prepared in advance. Do not do as a candidate did at an October 2016 candidate forum:

“None of your damn business!”

(Said by an incumbent Island County Republican Commissioner at a candidate forum in response to a question asking her which presidential candidate she would be voting for.)

South Whidbey Record, October 5, 2016

The better approach is to have prepared in advance for such questions so that your response is measured and thoughtful. Similarly, develop short, logical responses to all issues facing your community and do what Ben Hogan admonished.

Practice, Practice, Practice

“Golf is all about luck, provided you practice."

(Attributed to Ben Hogan, legendary golf professional)

And campaigning is all about practice. Once you know your time limits for opening and closing remarks compose your presentation with an introduction, a body, and a close. Ask key campaign supporters to review every word and confirm that nothing important is missing.

Practice your presentation until you have it memorized and need only minimal notes. Deliver it with feeling, and you cannot help but impress audiences.

Practice and polish your presentation until you conclude with a few seconds to spare. But use every minute of the time permitted you. Public speakers often stray from their scripts and pause now and then wasting valuable time. When you practice and hone your presentation and stay on script, you never run overtime. You come across as capable and confident, a professional.

• Start by thanking those putting on the event. Then thank the audience for showing up. Tell them that you are pleased to be there. Convey a relaxed sincerity.

• Follow with your presentation in which you summarize why you are running. Emphasize benefits before features. Be clear. Use everyday language. No jargon. No acronyms. You want your message understood by all. Describe your experience and how it translates to success in office. Tell why it makes you the better, or best, candidate for the position.

• Close by repeating certain earlier points to drive home what sets you apart from your opponent(s). Bring your message full circle by thanking the audience once again and reaffirming how and why you are the better, or best, candidate.

• End by asking for their votes on Election Day. Always ask for the vote!

Preparing for the Event

• Have your supporters attend speaking events with you.

• Furnish them with questions: Positive ones for you; pointed ones for your opponent, if appropriate; and identical questions for you and your opponent(s).

• Ask them to wear your campaign T-shirts and/or name badges showing that they support you.

• Do these on the day of the forum:

• Have eight hours of sleep the night before.

• Take a short nap that afternoon.

• Wear appropriate attire that presents a professional image.

• Eat a meal beforehand which emphasizes protein and goes light on carbohydrates.

• Bring your own bottle of water to be sure you have one during the meeting.

• Avoid fluids an hour or so before the event to keep from needing to use the bathroom during the event.

• Use cough drops to curb pre-speaking jitters.

• Arrange for someone to drive you to events and use the commuting time to concentrate on your message and presentation and to relax.

• Budget enough travel time to allow for unexpected traffic delays and to permit you to arrive well ahead of time.

• Get to the hall early enough to secure the room by:

• Checking seating the arrangement and number of chairs

• Seeing if you are to present with or without a microphone.

• Determining whether you are to present standing or sitting.

• Claiming the best table for your campaign materials and signs and setting them out.

• Placing some of your signs outside the entrance to increase your name familiarity.

• Do these things once the event begins:

• Be courteous to your opponent(s) and shake hands with him, her, or them. Otherwise you diminish your image.

• Recognize the master of ceremonies and thank the event’s sponsor right after you are introduced.

• Take a sip of water, before you begin speaking, followed by a slow, deep breath as you scan the room for a second or two.

• Buy yourself a few seconds to respond when asked a curve ball or difficult questions by starting with “That’s an interesting, important, or, key etc. question.”

• Move your focus gradually around the room as you speak. Look at faces in your audience, or just above their heads, if that is easier.

• Project a professional image by staying at the lectern or podium until the moderator approaches to introduce the next speaker.

• Once the formal meeting has ended, do not let down your guard. Treat the microphone as if it is still on and avoid it. Mingle with the crowd making good eye contact with everyone you meet. Keep comments about your opponent(s) to yourself. Let down your guard only when you have left the meeting hall. Save comments about the event or your opponent(s) for when you are in the car and out of the parking lot.

If you do the recommended actions and activities discussed in this blog, you will leave any campaign forum satisfied that you did your best. The confidence you convey not only wins the minds of many voters, it wins their votes as well.

“Do Your Homework!”

(Attributed to the 12-year-old son of David Brooks, syndicated political columnist, regarding former GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry’s fumbling the three US cabinet departments he would abolish if elected.)

January 20, 2012 on National Public Radio evening news

The Take Away

Candidate forums offer down-ballot races like yours a valuable way to get your message out to interested citizens and local newspaper reporters, so participate. Make yourself and your message stand out as you drive home the benefits you offer if elected. Do your homework. Then take advantage of every opportunity to speak publically.