Mastering the Toolkit: The Benefits of Message Training
While some people may have an intuitive sense of how they can use a messaging platform, most don’t. Once they’ve been given your organization’s messaging guide—which is intended to serve as their communications toolkit—they will almost assuredly have questions, concerns, or doubts about its use, or perhaps even its utility. Training is the best way to address this.
Training gives colleagues an opportunity to connect their work and experiences to the messages articulated in the platform, and creates a framework for storytelling collection and curation.
(This article focuses on the benefits of message training; if you don’t have a messaging platform and you’re wondering whether you need one, check out this article.)
A message training workshop usually takes place after the messaging platform has been approved; that platform typically includes some combination of a positioning statement (the “elevator pitch”), key messages, and supporting messages. The workshop generally lasts between 60 and 90 minutes, and is delivered in person or on Zoom; the number of participants can range from as few as 8 or 10 to as many as 50.
The session typically includes an overview of the guide that emphasizes the positioning statement and several key messages, breakout sessions where participants connect elements of the messaging to their work, and a concluding section where sample stories are shared back with the full group. Most of the time, participants include trustees, fundraisers, or communications staff.
So why conduct a message training workshop?
It greatly increases the likelihood that the platform will be broadly implemented.
Messaging can seem abstract or amorphous. It’s a word that often means different things to different people. Giving team members opportunities to master the messaging platform demonstrates your commitment to your investment in the platform (and to helping them communicate more effectively).
It establishes a personal connection between the participant and the platform.
We once created a campaign platform for a state university that served many low-income students. “Why should donors invest in supporting scholarships at this institution?” I asked a faculty member during one of our interviews. “Because I taught a student this morning who slept in his car last night, and I want him to complete his degree,” she replied. Stories like these bring abstract concepts, like notions of “the importance of student support,” into vivid relief. How vivid? I remember that story more than a decade later.
It affirms board members’ commitment to your mission and fosters cohesion.
We’ve conducted a number of workshops for board members of organizations in the process of launching a fundraising campaign. Having trustees participate in exercises where they share a story about their personal connection to the initiative not only reminds them of why they become involved with your institution or organization; it affirms their value to the campaign as both volunteers and donors. Giving board members the opportunity to share stories with colleagues also promotes a spirit of collegiality among trustees who are new to the board, or who are participating in a major campaign for the first time.
It provides staff with a forum for storytelling.
Most staff members seldom have the opportunity to hear their colleagues share a broad sampling of stories from across their organization. They’re grateful for the opportunity to learn about (and celebrate) the daily efforts their coworkers make to deliver on your mission. We’ve worked with several clients to develop strategies for capturing the stories shared during their workshop so that they can be curated and used in external-facing communications.
It’s fun and worthwhile.
Participants really appreciate having the chance to reflect on why their organization is worth supporting, what brought them to the work, and why they remain committed to it. Virtually everyone we hear from characterizes the workshop as a worthwhile experience, and almost every workshop provides a story that stays with you.
And speaking of stories…
Two of the most memorable stories from the workshops I’ve led involved the same client: a hospital in the quiet stages of a capital campaign. The first workshop we led was for major gift officers. After I had taken the participants through the elevator pitch and several key messages, one of the participants raised their hand. “I was actually working on a donor proposal yesterday,” she said, “and I realized I could incorporate some of the content from the messaging platform into the proposal. Would it be OK if I shared some of what I put together with the group?” I quickly responded yes, after nearly falling out of my metaphorical chair. This is exactly why it pays to have a platform, and to train your team members in its use.
Part of that campaign was focused on constructing a building that would provide psychiatric services to children and adolescents. During a training for board members, I noticed that one of the trustees had a photograph of Big Bird sitting on a park bench as his Zoom background. When the time came to share his story with the group, he began by saying, “See that image of Big Bird? That’s what it’s like to be a young person experiencing mental illness. You feel ridiculous. You feel conspicuous. You feel incredibly self-conscious. And you feel utterly alone.” Moments like those embody another benefit of a messaging workshop—and perhaps the most important one: hearing stories that move you—and stay with you long after.
