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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
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