Developing a Speakers Bureau
To heighten your community's sensitivity to citizenship requires both actions and words. Specifically, words from speakers who are conversant with your efforts and who feel comfortable addressing diverse audiences of different ages and backgrounds.
Below is an effective method of recruiting, briefing, and promoting a corps of speakers to inform the community about the national Citizenship Through Sports Alliance (CSTA) efforts, your local activities and events, and how important citizenship is to the fiber of the community.
1.Target your audience. In order to determine who your speakers will be, concentrate on the audiences you wish to address. Match the speaker with the audience appropriate to his/her talents, background, and expertise. Here are some examples:
- Teachers. They serve as an all-important link to students. Request an opportunity to address teachers at one of their workshops. A fellow teacher is the best choice to address his/her colleagues.
- Coaches. It's difficult to get coaches together during their seasons, so you may have to divide the coaches into two groups, addressing half in the fall (for spring sports) and half in the spring (for fall sports). Your contact person for this would be the school's athletic director. If possible, ask a coach, an athlete, or a teacher to address this audience.
- Parents. We suggest you address school-based parent groups. In secondary schools, where such structures may not exist, check with school authorities to determine if parents convene for other purposes. A fellow parent, a respected business person, or a school administrator are the best choices to speak with parents.
- Government Leaders. You'll need their help to publicize your activities and to further foster community support. Use the public comment section always on the agenda at the Board of Education, Board of Aldermen, and State and County Legislatures meetings to speak briefly about your efforts, goals, and activities. If you can harness the services of an elected official to make this presentation, do so. If not, recruit someone who is recognizable in the community and respected for his/her commitment to the area.
- Senior Citizens. The power of senior citizens to galvanize and spearhead community support is great. They have two precious resources many lack: time and experience. Seek an audience with seniors and utilize the speaking talents of one of their peers to address the audience.
- Civic Groups. Make a list of all appropriate organizations by seeking input from your start-up Citizenship Team members, many of whom are likely to belong to one or more of the groups. Since these groups are accustomed to having guests at their meetings, any well-versed and well-prepared speaker is ideal for these engagements.
2.The topic of the talk should be prepared based on "talking points" appropriate for the audience. Don't lock your speakers into giving "canned" presentations - allow them the flexibility to tailor their remarks to suit their style. Ask them to speak on the following points:
- How and why the national CTSA effort evolved.
- How and why your own local organization was formed.
- The goals of your Citizenship Team.
- The national and local activities designed to build citizenship through sports.
3. Customize each speech by adding the following information:
- For teachers, provide examples of how they can illustrate citizenship in the everyday work of the classroom.
- For coaches, point out how their sports provide a "living laboratory" for them to teach citizenship.
- For government leaders, stress how good citizens build good communities and point out specific ways your group is accomplishing that objective. Don't be afraid to ask for their support.
- For senior citizens, remind them of the strong, unthreatening influence they have on their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
- For civic groups, use the same approach as for government leaders. Remind these organizations that you are building on the values they also promote in the community.
For each group, be certain to be ready to provide specific ways the group can help. Ask for volunteers, for input, for advice, and for mentors.
Building a speaker's bureau is an excellent way to capture community talent, promote the cause of citizenship through sports in your community, and help cast a wider net throughout the community by targeting specific groups that can help.
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