If you’re wanting to learn how to grow your following on Instagram or negotiate a brand deal for the latest collagen powder, this is probably not the article for you. However, if you’re looking to make a difference in your community and make your voice heard, keep reading!
At Global Research, we analyse submissions for council and government department engagements across New Zealand and Australia, reading and organising every single response into different themes to report them back to the organisation and community. This means that we’ve read tens of thousands of written comments over the past decade. Along the way, we’ve learned a few qualities that make some submissions more useful and easier to deal with than others.
We’ve got three tips to help you get the most out of your next public engagement submission opportunity.
1. You don’t need to be an expert to be worth listening to
Most people aren’t experts on town planning, but they are experts on living in a town. You don’t have to be a chef to know that pineapple doesn’t go on pizza, or a fashion designer to know that skirts over trousers should not make a fashion revival – likewise, your opinion is still valid even if you don’t have specific training or qualifications related to a project. People who regularly use an area often notice aspects that a planner might not, like the bins constantly overflowing in a park because there aren’t enough of them, or traffic flow issues on certain streets at certain times.
You understand what it means to live in your area, and ultimately, you are the ones who will be impacted by changes that result from these consultations.
So the first key point is, don’t be afraid to actually make a submission.
2. Stay within the project scope
A key thing to remember when submitting on a public engagement is to stick within the project scope. It might feel like a good idea at the time, but using your opportunity to comment on the proposed design for a new park in your suburb to ask Council to close down a local hotel because they owe you a refund and blocked your number (a real-life example) is not a good use of time – yours, ours, or the council’s.
Public consultation is an important step in the change-making process, and it is important for government organisations to capture and understand how the community feels on certain topics. To this end, anything that is out of the project scope rarely makes it to the eyes of the decision-makers. You’d be best to submit feedback that’s relevant, and then switch to a new tab and leave that review of the hotel for Tripadvisor.
3. Be focused like a laser
The most important thing about making a point, is actually making a point. State your stance at the top of your paragraph – saying whether you support or don’t support a plan or project from the get-go makes your argument clear and helps put the rest of your remarks in context.
Keeping your comments succinct is also useful – while a well-placed personal story or a strong piece of supporting research can back up your point, don’t go overboard. Too much information can mean the most important points get swamped. We’ve all been to a wedding where the best man spends the whole speech talking about his own relationship with the groom rather than the happy couple. Try not to be that best man – remember why you’re here, and stay on topic.
Image: Lucy Gray’s ‘Fire the Laser’ NZ flag submission