Research and empirical evidence suggests that just about everyone agrees that the way we do campaigns and elections in most democracies could do with a serious rethink and overhaul. The trouble is that there’s no real consensus on what and how things should be improved. Some of the best public ...
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One of the public engagement techniques that we explain and discuss in our training classes is the Citizens’ Jury. It was developed back in 1971 in the U.S. but interestingly doesn’t seem to be as embraced in America as much as it is in some other democracies. It’s a ...
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Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has been a particular topic of conversation for us in recent months because we’re finally paying it the attention that it’s deserved but hasn’t gotten. More and more of the students and clients that we work with are making it a priority in their communities ...
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As you’re reading this, the fall campaign cycle in the U.S. will be in your rearview mirror, although I’m confident we’ll still be knee deep in the nasty aftermath. This will likely go down as the ugliest, most vitriolic campaign cycle in recent memory and it’s widened the gap further ...
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We know through research and empirical evidence that likeability is a strong, positive factor when it comes to building trust and credibility, communicating effectively, and influencing people. Yet whenever I point this out to clients or students, I’m frequently met with a smirk or casual eye roll which says that, ...
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The pandemic halted face to face meetings, but we adapted and video conferencing became mainstream. Office buildings turned into ghost shells for nearly two years until employers began slowly enticing people out of their bathrobes and back to an agency/business desk, for at least parts of the week. We’re now ...
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For the past several weeks, for a variety of reasons, I just happened to have had the personal opportunity to experience more than my fair share of customer service. I’ve been dealing with phone automation and front line script readers in utilities, health care, real estate, government and an assortment ...
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There’s no question that the last half century in the United States has seen a steady, consistent erosion of trust in institutions – particularly government. We’re at the point in this remarkable disconnect that exceptionally smart people who are not typically prone to hyperbole are beginning to question whether ...
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One of the challenges that public involvement people face is embedding what they know that works into a system of government that is often less than enthusiastic about the whole idea of sharing control. Officials aren’t often very keen about giving the public any power or influence over their predetermined ...
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Online or in person, public participation planning is essential to (re)building or maintaining public trust, reaching the people who need to be engaged, learning the issues, finding the doable level of influence, and getting honest, usable input from people. Knowing and following the basics of good public involvement drastically improves ...
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