Communicating for Success - Reef Resilience Network (PDF)

Communicating for Success Ensuring MPA’s are Valued   Communicating for Success Ensuring MPA’s are Valued   i Ensuring MPA’s are Valued Communicating for Success Table of Contents Introduction ...............................................................................................................................iii Part 1: Developing the Plan for Outreach ..................................................................................1 Step 1: Getting Started ........................................................................................................................1 Step 2: The Approach ..........................................................................................................................2 Step 3: Create the Message ................................................................................................................4 Step 4: Packaging Your Message ........................................................................................................5 Step 5: Campaign ................................................................................................................................7 Part 2: Outreach Toolbox .........................................................................................................11 1. Print Materials ................................................................................................................................ 11 2. Media .............................................................................................................................................16 3. Events ............................................................................................................................................18 4. Exhibits ..........................................................................................................................................20 5. Online Communication...................................................................................................................21 6. Listserves .......................................................................................................................................22 7. Podcast ..........................................................................................................................................22 8. Video ..............................................................................................................................................26 Part 3: Partnership...................................................................................................................31 Part 4: Evaluation ....................................................................................................................33 Part 5: Conclusion ...................................................................................................................35  ii Communicating for Success Ensuring MPA’s are Valued  iii Ensuring MPA’s are Valued Communicating for Success Introduction Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are one of the most ef- fective tools we have established to promote conservation and diversity in the ocean today. From the clear blue reefs of the Caribbean to the icy waters of the Arctic, MPAs have made a proven difference. In a recent study, scientists explicitly identified five key features of successful MPAS: No-take reserve, well Enforced, Old, Large, and Isolated (NEOLI). The more of these features an MPA encompasses, the more successful it is. Of the MPAs with all five NEOLI features, there is a “224% increase in fish biomass; over a 800% increase in large fish, grouper, and jack biomass; and a nearly 2000% increase in shark biomass, however less than 5% of the MPAs in this study had all 5 features.” These statistics provide a source of encouragement that MPAs work and a sense of urgency to make more them even more effective. One of the most fundamental tools that managers can use incite such change is strategic communication. This guidebook outlines how to use communication as more than just a tool for outreach, but rather as a mecha- nism to catalyze change in a community’s attitude and be- havior. When using various communication techniques, it is important to regard them as tools to create change from the very beginning, rather than a way to update the com- munity on progress after the fact. Communication should not be a one sided conversation. It is ultimately a way to engage in productive dialogue with those that you are try- ing to reach. When used properly, strategic communication is more practical and effective than policy, especially when there is inadequate enforcement of the policy. This guidebook is an unprecedented effort by NOAA’s Of- fice of National Marine Sanctuaries, the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas-Marine (WCPA) to inspire a new view on communication. It will outline different types of media strategies with step-by-step instructions so that you can determine what is the most appropriate strategy for dif- ferent situations and how to effectively employ use it. We hope this is just the beginning of sharing communi- cations and invite you to submit ideas, your best practices and case studies of applied communications strategies to share with others. Please send your input to matthew. [email protected] and we will update this document regularly to share the best knowledge and practices out there.  iv Communicating for Success Ensuring MPA’s are Valued  v Ensuring MPA’s are Valued Communicating for Success   1 Ensuring MPA’s are Valued Communicating for Success STEP 1: GETTING STARTED Communication is the process of transmitting ideas and information. There is a direct relationship between how you are perceived, accepted and valued. Putting good efforts into com- munications planning can drive how your MPA is perceived, valued and accepted. Whether you are planning a new MPA or communicating the value or actions of an existing MPA, investing time, effort and funding into communications can have a direct result on your success. Commu- nication can take many forms, including: ■ Word of mouth ■ News stories/press releases ■ Print materials ■ Presentations ■ Special events To communicate effectively, it helps to plan out what you want from your communication, and what you need to do to get it. WHAT IS A COMMUNICATION PLAN? Planning is a way to organize actions that will lead to the fulfillment of a goal. Your goal in this case is to raise aware- ness about your long-term benefits to your community. ■ A plan will make it possible to tar- get your communication accurately. It gives you a structure to determine whom you need to reach and how. ■ A plan can be long-term, helping you map out how to raise your profile and refine your image in the community over time. PART 1: DEVELOPING THE PLAN FOR OUTREACH ■ A plan will make your communica- tion efforts more efficient, effec- tive, and lasting. ■ A plan makes everything easier. If you spend some time planning at the beginning of an effort, you can save a great deal of time later on, because you know exactly what you should be doing at any point in the process. Like any strategy, communication should have a clear outcome or expec- tation. The implementation of a com- munications plan should identify exact- ly what it is you want to achieve. A few reasons for communication include dis- persing information, increasing aware- ness, influencing policy, increasing visi- bility, educating, and changing behavior. Specific reasons include: ■ Government leaders want to announce plans for new marine protected areas; ■ A MPA Manager wants to alert gov- ernment leaders of a growing crisis with illegal fishing; ■ A MPA Manager wants to ensure that a presentation to a neighboring school is inspiring and age appropriate. To get started, consider the following questions: Question Example Your Cause What do you want to commu- nicate? I want to communicate the status of the declining fish population in my MPA. What background information may be driving or influencing that communication? Over the last 6 months there has be an observed decline of 60% in our fish population. Why is there a need for the communication? This fish population is important to sustain biodiversity and a last- ing ecosystem. Why is the communication im- portant at this time? There has been a recent feature in the national news about pollution and its effects on fish population. What or whom am I trying to influence? I am trying to influence the gen- eral public and possibly the policy makers in my area What action am I trying to in- spire? I am trying to inspire the people to stop dumping waste down street drains that ends up in the ocean What outcome do you want? I want the fish population to rise and the pollution to fall. Once there is a clear idea of what you want to communicate and why, this guide- book will help you in making your idea into a reality.  2 Communicating for Success Ensuring MPA’s are Valued include a time frame as well as a result. This approach will make it easier for you to stay on track and accomplish your ob- jectives. Once your objectives are defined, you need to prioritize them. You should evaluate which objectives are most im- portant by determining which ones will best help you meet your overall goal. The ranking and weight you put on each objective may change over time (i.e., po- litical, economic, or climatic influences) B. WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE? Now that you have determined your goal, you need to determine who you are trying to communicate with. It is crucial to identify which audiences you will target, and your goals and objec- tives for each. In some cases your au- dience might be obvious, but in other cases, you will only be able to identify it after conducting research about the demographic. The messages that you develop should be tailored to the different seg- ments of the community you wish to reach. For example, to engage the pub- lic during a management plan review, you must address how MPA manage- ment affects—and is affected by— dif- ferent potential audiences. Those who access the MPA for research may have different concerns and interests from those who access the MPA for recre- ation. Both are important participants in the public processes that help in- form management, however the most effective methods to reach them differ due to their backgrounds. C. TYPES OF TARGET AUDIENCES This section of the guidebook has been broken into three main target au- dience components: Key Constituent Outreach, Community Awareness, and Media and Staff Training. While read- ing this section, think about how your goals and objectives may be affected depending on these components. Key Constituents Targeted constituent groups include users, conservation and other interest STEP 2: THE APPROACH A. WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE? Now that you have determined what makes your communication important, you should refine the exact message you are trying to spread. You will need to create goals and objectives. The dif- ference between a goal and an objective lies in the tangibility. Goals are general, overarching statements that express the broad focus of your effort. For example, a goal may be: I want to communicate that there need to be more sharks in our reefs. Objectives however are devel- oped to achieve a goal. They should be Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Time-focused (SMART). An example of an objective for my goal is: By the end of next week I want to produce a fact-sheet to display in the Marine Protected Area Visitors Center to explain why we need more sharks. It is imperative that your goals and objec- tives remain consistent with each other. Creating SMART objectives 1. Specific – Objectives should speci- fy what you want them to achieve. 2. Measurable – You should use measurable parameters so that you can determine whether you are meeting the objectives or not. 3. Action-oriented – Know what ac- tions you need to take. 4. Realistic – Make sure that you can realistically achieve the objectives with the resources you have avail- able. 5. Time-focused – Identify when you want to achieve the set objectives. It is likely that you will develop several objectives for each goal you are trying to achieve. A good way to ensure effec- tiveness in your goals and objectives is to keep the desired action in mind. Do you want to create more awareness and more knowledge, or do you want to inspire action among the target audi- ence? It is very important to make your objectives as specific as possible, and to groups, elected officials, and govern- ment agencies. Constituent contacts should be divided into main groups, including (but not limited to): 1. Government agencies (federal, state, and local); 2. Recreational fishing; 3. Commercial fishing; 4. Volunteers; 5. Conservation groups; 6. Non-consumptive recreation groups; 7. Business and industry (fishing, oil, gas, mining, etc.); 8. Elected officials; 9. Ports and harbors; 10. Education/ and outreach groups; 11. Research and academia; 12. Military; 13. Cultural interests; 14. NGOs; 15. Skippers or fishermen; 16. Tourists/visitors Each of these groups may have opin- ion leaders (whose ideas and behaviors serve as a model to others), dissemina- tors (who communicate ideas to and from the group), and gatekeepers (who influ- ence what information gets in and out) who will influence the target audience and possibly aid with communication. Community Awareness Targeted audiences include com- munity groups, business associations, school groups, volunteer groups, and members of the general public. Com- munity audiences should be divided into main groups, including (but not limited to): 1. Chambers of Commerce and trade groups; 2. Community service groups; 3. Youth groups/clubs; 4. Park auxiliary/volunteer groups; 5. School groups;  3 Ensuring MPA’s are Valued Communicating for Success 6. Community fairs, etc. 7. Religious leaders 8. Women groups 9. Teachers association-group Media Targeted media may include local, regional, national, and international re- porters and editors for print and elec- tronic media, as well as “new media”, such as social networking, blogs and online news outlets. Staff It is important to remember your MPA staff as a target audience. Your MPA staff is the key to promoting your message so it is important to ensure you are presenting a clear and cohe- sive message. The MPA site may want to consider offering specific training to volunteers or friends groups. Goals for staff may include: ■ Increasing staff awareness and understanding so they can be informed and effective facilita- tors of public outreach and when responding to public inquiries; ■ Ensuring individual staff members fully understand their role; ■ Establishing a consistent voice among staff when communicating with the public; ■ Expanding upon internal communi- cation and team building skills so the site is working more effective- ly; and ■ Building upon external staff com- munication skills in order to more effectively communicate with the public. D. ANALYZE YOUR AUDIENCE The two most important things to identify about your audience are: 1. What they care about (i.e. What aspect of your campaign is the most important to them? 2. How to reach them (e.g., How do they get their information? Signs? Brochures? Media? Other meth- ods?) Process Checklist: Identifying and Analyzing the Target Audience ■ Have I defined the audience in a way that separates it from the general public? ■ How many target audiences or segments have I identified? ■ Have I identified the opinion lead- ers, information disseminators, and gatekeepers in the target audience? ■ Have I divided the target audience into distinct subgroups? ■ Are the objectives for each target audience and subgroup sufficiently defined? ■ Have I identified the most effective communication channels to use with each target audience? ■ Have I collected enough data to understand the target audience? ■ Do I know what is important to the target audience? ■ Do I know what barriers prevent the target audience from changing its behavior? ■ Are the objectives consistent with the planning team’s goals? ■ Are the objectives specific, with time limits and measurable com- ponents? ■ Will the objectives be accepted and understood by the people who will be affected by them? ■ Will I be able to evaluate whether the objectives were accomplished? ■ Do I have the resources to accom- plish the identified objectives?  4 Communicating for Success Ensuring MPA’s are Valued STEP 3: CREATE THE MESSAGE A. WHAT IS A MESSAGE? Messages are general themes that guide your audience to a particular result. They are broad but simple and should give the audiences an under- standing of your mission. A message… ■ Is closely tied to your goals and objectives; ■ Delivers important information; and ■ Compels target audience to think, feel, and act. Remember: The more frequently and consistently messages are repeat- ed, the more likely it is that the audi- ence will absorb them. B. MESSAGE DELIVERY Messages can be delivered both ver- bally and visually in many ways, including: ■ Presentations ■ Interviews ■ Written materials ■ Images ■ Through actions and behavior ■ Appearance, visuals ■ Body language The amount of detail and length of your message varies with the method of delivery. If you are writing a press release or article, you may go into de- tail to define your message. If you are preparing displays or signage, you will want to limit the amount of text you use, so messages will need to be simplified. Process Checklist: Create the Message ■ Is the message relevant and ac- cessible to the target audience? ■ Is the language of the message ap- propriate for the target audience? ■ Is the message specific for each audience, and will it resound with each? ■ Can the target audience under- stand the message? ■ Is the message vivid and memo- rable? ■ Have I included personal goals in the message? ■ Have I road-tested the message with members of the target audi- ence? ■ Can the target audience respond to the message in an easy, conve- nient way? ■ Have I successfully identified which behaviors to ask the target audience to change? ■ Does the message motivate be- havior or attitude change? ■ Have I considered how the mes- sage will be delivered? ■ Have I defined clear, actionable goals for my target audience through the message?  5 Ensuring MPA’s are Valued Communicating for Success STEP 4: PACKAGING THE MESSAGE You have defined the objectives, as- sessed the target audience, and crafted the message. Now it is time to deter- mine the best package or format for the message for eventual delivery to the target audience. The information you collected in Step 2, Defining your Target Audience, will help determine the most appropriate format. When selecting your message format, think about where the target audience gets its information. A. LINKING THE NEEDS OF THE AUDIENCE TO THE FORMAT Making sure you choose the right message format for the target audi- ence is one of the most important steps in outreach. Several factors about the audience come into play: ■ Size of the audience: If the target audience is large, a door-to-door campaign might not be feasible. Perhaps, a community festival is a better option ■ Geographic distribution of the audience: If the audience is widely distributed (such as across a rural county), presentations given at workshops might not be the best choice because participants would have to travel a long distance to get to them. A better option may be a live webcast of your presenta- tion or a newsletter that could be mailed out. ■ Level of awareness and education: If the audience consists of nonna- tive English speakers, newsletters or other written formats might not appeal to them; radio or TV public service announcements (PSAs) in their native language would be a better choice. ■ Preferred formats: If the research you conducted on the audience revealed most of the audience members have access to the Inter- net and use it regularly, a cam- paign-specific Web site might be an important element to include in your campaign. B. FORMAT CONSIDERATIONS The format that you decide on will define the distribution mechanism (brochures, radio spots, public events). Keeping in mind the possibility of using multiple formats, consider the following: ■ Is the package appropriate for the target audience? ■ Is it user-friendly? ■ Does it clearly and compellingly communicate the message? ■ How will the target audience ac- cess and use the information? ■ Is it something they will see once and discard, or refer to often? ■ Can it be produced in-house with existing resources? ■ How much will it cost, and who will pay for it? ■ Are there existing formats or tem- plates that can be used? Keep in mind that the package and venue for any message are usually linked. For example, printed materials containing environmental messages are often criticized if they’re not pro- duced with high post-consumer con- tent recycled stock. Be mindful of the links between message, format, and distribution. In practice, this might mean announcing a festival on brightly colored recycled paper or reaching out to boaters on a local radio station. C. REPEATING THE MESSAGE In addition to being promotional ve- hicles for messages, formats often dic- tate the frequency of message presen- tation. Frequency is important because it determines how well the message will be remembered. Professional market- ers know the more times you see their advertisement for a product, the more likely you will remember the product and the more likely you will buy it. Educating stakeholders and citizens on ocean and watershed issues is no different: people remember what resonates with them and what is in front of them. As the say- ing goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” So if your message is short, you might want to display it on a refrigerator mag- net and keep it in front of the audience for months or even years. Other items - calendars, news media pieces, printed materials, etc. - all have their own pros and cons. Take time to explore them to see if they fit your program by linking ob- jective, audience, and message. D. CREATING YOUR CONTENT In addition to evaluating what out- reach format best suits your needs, it is imperative to think carefully about the content of your products and materials. For any outreach effort, keep in mind the type of language and writing style that will appeal to your audience. Make sure everything you write serves a purpose. Identify the purpose What are you communicating? What is the main goal of your outreach prod- uct? What should readers, listeners, and viewers know and be able to do? A well-defined project reduces stress and uncertainty by forcing staff to care- fully consider the need, function, and constraints of a project before the en- deavor begins. Simple interpretive proj- ects run the risk of being ineffective if the basic project goals and constraints have not been clearly identified. Make sure the message is clear, concise, and actionable. Consider the audience Who is the audience for your out- reach product? Is it intended for ex- perts or for people who are unfamiliar with the topic? Is it meant for those who have the time to study it or for those who will glance quickly and move on? Your text should always be clear and understandable to your audience. If you are reaching the general public, write for a 4th to 7th grade reading level. Only use technical terms if your audi- ence is familiar with them. More techni- cal language may be appropriate if, for example, you are writing for scientists Writing for the Public The following are three rules that are essential to creating effective out- reach text: