Wednesday, November 20, 2019

How to Open Doors

After my sister moved back to Michigan she gave me a box of files which contained some of my parent's writing. In that file I found this gem from 1968. I am posting it for several reasons. First and foremost, although he gave this speech in 1968 this still applies - to all the women of the world. Second, I have been thinking that perhaps I should create a website where many of my parent's unpublished works could be made available to people world-wide, and I am very interested to see what kind, if any response I get from that idea. And last, because this is a primary historical document which should not be buried, recycled or shredded without it being made available for people to read.

Please read it and let me know what you think about the idea of publishing other works.



HOW TO OPEN DOORS

By
Dr. George H. Axinn
Professor of Agriculture
Assistant Dean of International Programs
Michigan State University



An Address Given To
Associated Country Women Of The World
September 2, 1968



HOW TO OPEN DOORS

            When your committee asked me to address myself to the topic – How To Open Doors – I was not at all sure what they had in mind. They explained, however, that part of your task would be to open many doors that have never opened before in your own countries, and the committee asked if I could not provide some suggestions to make this process easier.
          My first would be, fear not the door. Think of the door not as a gate to keep you out, but as an entrance through which you may go.
          Another way of looking at the topic is - - how to make sure that people who can make things happen understand you and your message, and will be able to help you make the right things happen.
          And this brings us to our first real consideration - - have a message.
That is, as you have been discussing during the program today, decide what needs to be done. Search out the significant. Separate the significant from the insignificant. Do those things which need to be done.
          By message, I mean the changes in behavior that you would have others make. It may be that you want certain individuals in your society to understand things they do not now understand. Perhaps you merely want them to know certain information they do not already know. Or, perhaps you are interested in changes in attitudes towards women, toward organized women’s groups, toward problems of children, or areas like literacy and adequate food supply. Perhaps you are interested in changing peoples' actions - - perhaps family habits in regard to nutrition, sanitation, safety, or child care. Whatever the message, a first important step is to analyze the barriers. That is, why is your goal not already achieved?
          That is, whatever you decide upon as the significant thing which needs to be done - - why has it not already been done? Here is where intensive analysis will bear fruit. If you can provide accurate answers to this question of why, you have gone a long way toward solution to the problem.
          Then, if you can specify who needs to understand what; to do what - - you have a message. It has been helpful to some to organize this development of a message as follows:
1.     Decide what needs to be done.
2.     Study - - why has it not already been done - - analyze the barriers
3.     Identify  key people  - -  individuals and groups whose behavior must be changed,
4.     Decide what change needs to be made by each.
5.     Separate changes in  - - thinking  - - feeling  - - action.
Then if you can specify who needs to understand what; to do what; to know what  -- you have a message.
          From a public relations point of view, for your organization, there are certain messages which must follow the work that you do. In this sense, first do good works, and then tell people about them. If you can see to it that your organization continues to do good works, and continues to make sure that people know about them, its public relations will be good.
          Now to the second major task - - analyze your audience.
          By audience, I refer to the individuals or groups at whom your message is aimed. The audience for many of you will be the power structure of your particular country. Who are the key people? Who are the people who make a difference? These will be leaders of various kinds. They may by office holders or they may be office seekers. If they are seeking office, they are particularly vulnerable to groups like yours at election time. It is effective policy for pressure groups to attempt to elect their friends, and to defeat their enemies, in all political parties. That is, if your group can avoid attachment to any major political group, but bring pressure to bear on those seeking office on both sides of every contest, the group will do well in the long run.
     Another consideration in terms of the audience is the timing. What is the best time for any particular individual or group in your audience? Choosing the “right” time may be as significant as anything else in the strategy you develop.
          Keep in mind that each human being sees the world from his own individual and unique perspective. Therefore, if you can divide your audience into smaller groups, or ideally into individual persons, and deal with each appropriately, you will be most effective.
          Thus, remember that the individuals you choose as targets are just as human as you are. Often working through the wife or the children may be more effective than working directly. Particularly for women’s organizations such as your own, the wife of a political leader or office holder may provide access which you cannot get directly. Thus the wife or children may become major targets in your audience.
          Having specified the audience, the next step is to select a variety of channels.  That is, will you merely call on individuals by going to their offices, or will you call them on the telephone? Will you write letters, will you put stories in newspapers, will you attempt to use the radio, will you call people at their homes, will you stage meetings and get groups together? There are many different kinds of channels  - - that is the tool or means you use to get your message to the audience. Deciding which channel to use for which message aimed at which audience is one of the crucial tactical decisions in the grand strategy of getting your message understood.
          Personal contacts are critical. Sitting down with another individual and talking face-to-face is probably the most important kind of thing you can do if you want to ensure understanding by the other of whatever message you are trying to convey.
          In using face-to-face communication, my general suggestion is to come often and not stay too long any time. That is, as you make visits to government officials, politicians, businessmen, and others, in general, I would suggest that you visit them often - - but make each visit a rather brief one. But remember, there are many other channels you can use in addition to these face-to-face visits. If you have access to a telephone, it can be an excellent channel. Organize in such a way that many members of your group are making phone calls systematically to the audience you are trying to reach, and you will find the telephone relatively inexpensive and highly efficient.
          The same can be said for mail. If you have access to machines like cyclostyle or mimeograph or duplicator - - such that you can prepare a letter and make many, many copies of it - - usually pays for your group to develop a mailing list of key individuals in your audience. The mailing list can be organized in such a way that you do not mail to each person each time you mail. Rather, each mailing can be directed to those people on your list for whom a particular message is important.
          Then there are many, many other channels. Exhibits at certain events have proved useful. The same can be said for posters and other kinds of display. The newspapers and radio and television are among other channels you can use. This brings me to another critical step.
          Treat the message on each channel so that it will penetrate the audience. That is, you will achieve a high impact on the audience… you will have a greater chance that your message will get through to the audience …. if you treat the message in such a way that it is believed and acted upon. The message is a statement of your intention for the audience. The treatment is the content. It is the design that you give to the message. For example, have a trademark. That is designate your organization in some way that you can have a visible symbol – the 4-H clubs in this country have that in a clover that they use. Your country has a trademark or symbol in your national flag. I am suggesting that your organization should have a trademark – a visible symbol quickly understood both by literate and non-literate groups in the audience – and which would identify you or your organization with the message.
          Then, particularly with respect to the personal visiting you will do, but on all other channels as well, create a friendly atmosphere. A friendly atmosphere is the universal solvent for all human problems.
          Bonds of friendship are built on links of common interest. So, no matter how different from you the individual you meet seems to be, try to find some link of common interest that you have with him or her. It may be place of origin; it may be the school you went to. It may be a common taste for a certain kind of food, it may be participation in some other organization of which you are both members. Study your audience. Find out as much about him or her as possible in advance, and then look to links of common interest – so that you can treat your message in such a way that you build bonds of friendship with the audience through these links of common interest.
          Another general suggestion is to be persistent. Keep at it. If you need to see a very important man, and he is too busy to see you on a particular day, keep coming back until he does see you. And then, if it is necessary, see him again, and again, and again until he understands your message, and does the things you want him to do. Be persistent. Repeat, and repeat, and repeat.
          Another good rule to keep in mind as you attempt to have others understand you and your organization - - do not judge another person until you have walked in their shoes. That is, try in your mind to put yourself in the place of the other.  Listen to the way the other speaks, and to his or her choice of words. Then you try to use the same words to have the same meanings.
          One way to do this is to ask questions. It is a good general strategy, or treatment, to ask questions in your interview anyway. That is, instead of telling the other person what he or she should do, ask questions which will lead him or her to conclude that he or she ought to do what you would like him to do. Seek advice. Many people like to give advice, and if you seek advice the other person will probably give it to you. Having given you the advice, he may be identified with your cause.
          For example, if you are trying to get money for a literacy campaign, and you are visiting businessmen in your community – I would suggest that you first ask each businessman, during your first interview, for his advice as to how you should go about financing the literacy campaign. Once he has given you his advice, use it as much as you can, and you will probably find his willing support in your effort.
          Another useful technique is the reverse question. When an individual asks you for information, turn the question around and say, “How would you do it?” … or “What do you think we ought to do about that?” Also build as much common interest as you can in the questioning. And above all, be sincere. Be interested in the answers that you are getting from the other person, and ask questions which are seriously related to your message.
          It is difficult to listen. Many people have trouble listening. But, in interviews of this sort, I would urge you to listen most of the time. It is hard to find out what the other person is thinking if you are talking all the time. Again, be sincere; try to feel the feelings the other person is feeling as he speaks – that is, try to put yourself in his or her place. And then occasionally give a listening response. Repeat the essence of what the other person has said in your own words so that he or she will know that you do understand what the other is saying.
          While we are talking about treating the message - - I would suggest a variety of treatments. Don’t treat the same message the same way each time. If you are sending a duplicated letter through the mail – perhaps illustrate it – or maybe used a different color paper each time. If you have a trademark so that each one will have the same trademark, but come on a different color piece of paper each time – you will have both the repetition of your symbol so that they know who you are, and you will have the variety of treatment by changing the color of paper. The same is true of your meeting or personal interview or telephone call. Vary the length. Make some short and others long. Don’t ask the same question each time. Sometimes come with a friend – other times with more than one. In other words – change the treatment from time to time to make your presentation interesting.
          And then get some feedback from your audience. Try to determine whether or not – or to the extent to which – your message is getting through. In a personal visit if you concentrate on the face of the other person, and listen carefully to what he or she has to say, you will know whether or not you are being understood. The same can be done with a little less effect on the telephone. If you send letters or broadcast on the radio or put items in the newspaper – then you might use the telephone or  personal visits to find out how well your message is getting through. If you mail a letter to 300 people – pick ten or fifteen at random from the group and visit them – and in this way you will be able to estimate how effective you have been with the total group.
          And then remember to follow up. If someone promises to send money to your organization, and does not do it in a certain amount of time, call again and remind them of the commitment. It may be necessary to do this many times – but your follow-up will pay.
          Now I have said many things, and perhaps I have said too much. In a way, it can be summed up in three short sentences. That is, keep it simple; say it often; and make it burn.
          If your message is highly complex, deal with one item at a time, so that you can keep it simple. Do not be afraid to repeat the message as often as necessary until it is clearly understood or accepted by your audience. And then make it burn. Make it as human and as touching and as dramatic as necessary – so that you can make it burn.
          Again, keep it simple; say it often; and make it burn. As I said in the beginning fear not any door. Remember, it is not a gate to keep you out, but an entrance through which you may go.


GHA
August 28, 1968