Planning Worksheet

Who will be the audience of the document you want to write? Name a specific person or group.

• The audience for my lay document will be my peers (other students within CU's collegiate community). The audience for my expert document(s) will be my hypothetical boss and my client (my peers).

What specific problem, faced by the audience, do you hope to solve through your document?

• With my lay document I hope to solve the "so what's next" problem by providing my audience with a document that will demonstrate to them how to build upon the lobbying basics that they already use in their daily lives when lobbying for and/or against change in politics and public advocacy.
• With my expert document I hope to validate my lay document by employing both the theoretical and practical components of the document in a lobbying campaign of my peers choosing. In other words, I'm going to lobby for my peers to lobby all the while lobbying for their (our) cause. How am I going to accomplish this task? The answer is simple. I'm going to challenge the "I'm just one person" mentality that prevents so many of us from taking action and replace it with an empowering message--a message that you, that i, that we can make a difference.

How do you know the problem is a pressing problem for the audience? List particular difficulties the audience faces as a result of the problem.

• I know the "so what's next" problem is a pressing problem for my lay audience because I often find myself engaged in deep philosophical discourse with my peers following a speech, an article read in a newspaper, or something of the likes... We're enraged and we're complaining. We know exactly what needs to happen. To us it makes so much sense. How can the politicians, administration, whomever get it so wrong. We have strong opinions and great ideas and that's where it ends. We don't know what to do with those strong opinions and great ideas. We don't know what's next; because we don't know what's next we do nothing and nothing changes.
• I know the "I'm just one person" problem is a pressing problem for my expert audience because they need people who will not only receive their message but who will ultimately take action. They need people who not only know what to do next but who realize that they have something to contribute; that everyone has something to contribute. People who understand that the biggest part of lobbying is getting the message out there while enlisting others along the way and taking action. If the "I'm just one person" problem isn't addressed then my expert audience faces the problem of trying to envoke action in a society that is indifferent because they no longer believe in the political endeavors they studied in their history books. They "know" better now--no longer do they believe that every vote counts, every vote is equal. So...why bother voting, right?

What type (genre) of document do you want to write?

• Both my lay and expert document(s) will be informational documents. The lay document will be a "how to" document and the expert document will be a "how to" applied document.

How will the document reach the audience? If you hope the document will appear in a larger publication, name the publication and explain how you know the publication will reach your intended audience. If the document will stand alone, explain how you hope to get it into the hands of your audience.

• My lay document will stand alone. I will distribute copies of the document to CUSG. The reason I chose to distribute the documents to CUSG is because they lobby along side their fellow classmates in both Columbia and DC throughout the year.
• My expert document will stand alone as well. I will be "pitching" my expert document(s) to my client/boss. This can be done in a board meeting, at a business lunch, etc. I will also attempt to utilize some of my expert documents such as t-shirts, fliers, posters, and articles on campus. I will enlist my friends in my lobbying effort by having them help sell t-shirts, hang posters, distribute fliers, spread the word...

How exactly will the document alleviate the audience's problem? Describe specific outcomes that you expect.

• My lay document will be utilized in a workshop to teach the first time lobbyist what lobbying is and how to lobby effectively all the while reinforcing what the old timers already know. Hence, you'd know longer have students who although very passionate about a particular cause have no idea how to lobby it to Congress or the Senate. In short, my lay document will alleviate my audience's problem by teaching them how to "unite wisdom with eloquence." After all, it doesn't matter what you know if you can't communicate it effectively (effectively being in a way facilitative of understanding and then action).
• Anyone can complain... we complain about the increase in both instate and out of state tuition every year, we complain about the parking situation (or lack there of) on campus, we complain about the cost of textbooks, we all complain. How many of us seek action? You'd think since we all complain that we'd all take action. Unfortunately more often than not that's not the case. My expert document, therefore, will alleviate the audience's "I'm just one person" problem by showing them how I--just one person--made a difference by lobbying. Hopefully, my showing them this will not only empower them but will also drive them to act.