What to do in Meetings with Policymakers

Regardless of whether you will be conducting your meeting as a team of one or a team of several, assign team responsibilities and play those parts. Key roles in meetings with policymakers include the following.

1. Meeting leader/facilitator: Who gets the meeting started, prompts others to contribute, and ensures that follow up is done?
2. Storyteller: Who tells a relevant personal story that will resonate with the policymaker in question.
3. Subject matter expert: Who explains how a policy will affect people the Member represents?
4. Reporter: It’s important to debrief ASAP after each meeting. Assign 1 person to serve as the reporter to compile and share key information, take aways and follow-up actions from each meeting.
5. Clean up crew: Follow up is what turns a one-time meeting into a relationship, so it’s important to assign someone to take the lead on doing follow up.

To learn more, watch the video below.