Preparing for an MP Meeting

Know your elevator pitch

Put simply, this is a 30 second overview of your issue and ideal solution. Having an elevator pitch is crucial when meeting with senior staff and politicians as it's not uncommon for them to be abruptly pulled away from a meeting. An elevator pitch is your insurance policy that they get your message before they go.

Know who their allies are

Yes, politicians form not only political alliances but also friendly bonds with one another. A powerful way of persuading a politician is finding a trusted colleague and aligning them with your position first. While this information isn't always abundantly obvious, a good place to start is their inaugural speech. Which leads us to point #3...

Read their inaugural speech

An inaugural or maiden speech is the first speech made by a politician after being elected for the first time, and offers insights galore. Not only does it reflect a politician's values, policy interests and concerns, but also tends to have a long list of thank-yous to other elected politicians they hold in high regard (hint: note them down!)

Stay across what detractors are saying

If you're Uber, you want to know what the Taxi Council is saying. If you support lockout laws, you need to know the small business angle. Politics is an adversarial sport played out on the battlefield of ideas. There's a good chance your politician has heard from others with contrary views. Staying across those views with a robust political monitoring regime will get you ahead in the game.

Know who else in your organisation has met with them

You'd think this is a no brainer but believe it or not, even two person teams struggle to keep up with who they met with and when. It's a frighteningly simple task that's often poorly managed, if at all. If you don't have time for daily debriefs with your team, consider investing in a Government Relationship Management (GRM) tool.

Advoc8 tracks everything you need to know about an MP, from their social media feeds to their first speeches. Activate your free free trial today.