ACTION LEADER PACK Congratulations on signing up to be a Say Yes Action Leader! This is an essential role, and this a historic moment. Right now politicians have left Canberra and are back in their electorates for the winter break which goes till mid August. This is a critical time where they will be looking to see what is happening in their community, and whether people are active in campaigning for a price on pollution. The final two weeks of this winter break we have planned as a Communities Say Yes Fortnight of Action. This is about connecting with your friends, neighbours and community and showing them that you support the price on pollution package through hosting an activity of your choice. We need to show that millions of Australians believe we need to Say Yes Now! During this fortnight of action you can do a range of things. We ve suggested some activities in this pack which are designed for you to get others along to. Why? Because right now we need to join together and visibly show our support for reducing carbon pollution. People out there need to see more than what is in the media we think that they trust their neighbours, workmates and friends more than they will trust the scare campaign which is why your actions are so powerful. In this Say Yes Action Leader Pack you ll find descriptions and how to guides for a variety of activities you can host during the two weeks. Your activity can be either open to the public or closed to just people you know. Either way and regardless of what you choose to organise we are here to help you make your activity a great success. Again, congratulations on being part of this historic moment! Karen, Allison and the entire Say Yes team. SAYYESAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU Authorised by Simon Sheikh, Level 5a, 116-122 Kippax St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
Communities Say Yes Fortnight of Action Date: August 1-14 What type of event can I host? Letterboxing in your neighbourhood Wear your t-shirt and wave a sign on a busy street corner A stall at your local market or in your local park with information A morning tea discussion about the price on pollution package at your workplace, mothers group, or other community gathering A phone call party In this pack you ll find more information about how to host these events. Who do I invite to come? Invite your friends, neighbours, colleagues or anyone you would like tell why you support the price on pollution. As soon as you decide on your event, we ll get it posted to the Say Yes campaign website (www.sayyesaustralia.org) and publicise it to others in your community. So even if you don t have people you know we ll help you get people along. With over 3million members there are plenty of people keen to be involved! What materials are available? We are making plenty of materials to make your event a success and spread the word that millions of Australians Say Yes to the price on pollution package. You just need to email info@sayyesaustralia.org.au and let us know what you think you will need and put to good use (or you can download material from the website). Say Yes T-shirts Say Yes Stickers 7 Reasons to Say Yes Flyer Say Yes Letter to personalise and send to your neighbours Say Yes Poster Say Yes signs/placards/banners Who can I contact for help? We are here to make your event a great success. Feel free to call Mitch Hart: 0410 161 977 Allison Lee: 0430 595 744 Karen Skinner: 0403 655 416 Want to keep the event to just people you know? or email info@sayyesaustralia.org.au with questions or for help. No problem just let us know that the event is closed to the public and we ll leave the invitations up to you. We ll still post in on the website but keep all details private. We re still keen to know what you are doing so still let us know. How will this all be publicised? You can help us make sure everyone knows about your great work and success! Be sure to take photos, videos and record stories of your events and email them to: info@sayyesaustralia.org.au. We will have our media team out in full force to make sure we get great coverage during the Fortnight of Action. We want all of Australia to know that millions Say Yes to a price on pollution.
Letterboxing Sign Waving Letterboxing your neighbourhood is one of the best ways to spread the word that you and others Say Yes on the price on pollution. You can do this at your leisure on your own or recruit a few friends or neighbours to join you. You can even make it a public event and we ll do the work to get volunteers to show up and help! Sign waving is as simple as it sounds but is a very effective means of increasing our visible support for the price on pollution package. Just gather a few people together, grab a t-shirt and a Say Yes sign and stake out a busy street corner. Put on your smiles and wave your sign. It s that easy! Letterboxing just means that you put a Say Yes leaflet in letterboxes of your neighbours. You can do as big or small an area as you have time to letterbox. It s up to you to pick the area and streets. If you invite people to join you or make it open to the public, you might want to create a map or assign streets. Make sure you set a time and place to meet. What do I need? We ll send you leaflets to put in the letterboxes. Keep a list of the streets you cover and let us know where you letterboxed. Wear comfortable shoes and take some water along. Bring your smile and a story to tell of why you support the price on pollution in case you meet some people while you are letterboxing. Most importantly have fun! Sign waving involves gathering a few friends, neighbours or volunteers together who are willing to give a few hours to hold a sign on a street corner. Busy times of day are best (morning or afternoon rush hour, lunch time, or weekends). You are in charge of picking the street corner, day and time and bringing the signs and t-shirts. You can invite people you know or make it open to the public and let the Say Yes campaign find volunteers. One person can do this activity but it is more fun and effective if you have three or four. What do I need? Not much! You will need to bring the signs and t-shirts we will send you enough for everyone who has signed up to help. And make sure you collect them at the end of the activity so we can use them next time. Bring a camera and take some pictures so that we can add them to the celebration!
STREET / MARKET STALL Organizing a stall is a great way to get your message around the neighborhood. Just think- a few hours at your local market or on a busy street corner and you can be spreading the positive message of Australia s clean energy future to hundreds in your community. Hosting a street or market stall simply means you gather a few friends, neighbours or volunteers and set up a table on a street corner, in a market, or at a park with leaflets and information. This activity is about visibility as well as getting information out into the public about why support the price on pollution. Where to hold? Chances are you already know at least one weekend market in your area. These are usually managed by the local council. A quick search online should find you details of how to apply to be a stallholder. The council may request a letter from Say Yes confirming that you are part of the campaign. If so, let us know and we ll fix this up for you. We can also help with costs if there is a fee for holding a stall. Alternatively, you can hold a street stall. Pick a busy street corner in your area, perhaps near the main transport hub or along the main shopping strip and you ll be sure to attract attention! Again, you will need to seek permission from your local council first. Flyers, sign-up sheets and other materials. This is the easy part as we ll be getting it all organized for you! Once your stall is confirmed we ll be sending out a stall pack with signage, sign-up sheets, stickers and our clear and compelling 7 reasons to put a price on carbon pollution leaflet. You may wish to add to your stall with your own signs, pictures, and other materials. Table. Some markets provide tables for you. For those that don t, a trestle table is often best as it is easy to carry to and from the venue. If holding a street stall, often a small card table is all you need. Optional extras. A gazebo is a great extra, particularly if you re worried about rain or bright sun and your venue doesn t have cover. You may also like an easel or some sort of stand for your sign. Perhaps you d like to make a big Say Yes board that people can add their names too. It s your stall so feel free to be as creative and imaginative as you like! Some extra tips If it s a busy market and you have a few extra volunteers, you may like to ask some to wander through the grounds handing out leaflets or collecting sign-ups. Make sure you bring enough water and snacks for the day. And most of all make sure you have fun! Remember getting out on the street and talking to people is one of the most powerful things you can do to build understanding and grow support for putting a price on carbon pollution. What will I need? Volunteers. First, think about how many volunteers you will need. For example, if you plan to have a stall for the whole day you will probably want at least four people in total, with two to be on the stall at any one time. It s a good idea to do up a roster so that everyone gets a break and your volunteers know exactly when you re counting on them to be there. Worried about finding enough volunteers? Do not worry as we ll be connecting you with others in your area.
MORNING TEA Hosting a morning tea gives you a chance to talk directly to people around you in a comfortable setting. Coming to a morning tea is a way for people who might not otherwise engage on this issue to do so with a trusted person like you in a relaxed way and have their questions answered. This sort of activity helps build your community, it s a really powerful way for people to come up with a plan that works for them. The aims of the meeting are to share your story and about why this is an issue for us all in this workplace/community, discuss the carbon price package and get questions, and to get the group to make a decision on what they are going to do to spread the word to Say Yes by taking action. Hosting a morning tea simply involves gathering your colleagues at morning tea time in your workplace and engaging them in a discussion about why you support the price on pollution. Or engage your friends and neighbours at a regularly scheduled morning tea such as a mothers group. You can even host your own morning tea and invite people you think would want to know more about this critical issue. What do I need? Not much! With the guide below you are pretty well set. We ll provide you with up to date talking points to lead your discussion and we ll send you some leaflets and posters to hand out at the end of tea. We also have a range of trained presenters. If you d like to host a morning tea and invite and expert external presenter then email us. What do I need to do beforehand and how do I get people to come? Familiarise yourself with the materials. Put up our Morning Tea poster in a prominent place or workplace. If you are holding a discussion within a regularly scheduled meeting, talk to the host and pick a time on the agenda. If you are hosting the tea, pick & book a venue. Make sure you think about how many people you are expecting, what other facilities you might need, how easy it is to get to, what catering needs you will. Send out an invite (text below) give people enough time beforehand so that they can come. Set a clear RSVP date so you can arrange things. Encourage people to bring along a plate, you might want to think about making it a sustainable morning tea? Send out a reminder the afternoon before that it s on and say just how excited you are about it. Got any questions? Email us: info@sayyesaustralia.org.au Suggested text for an email Invite Subject- Will you Say Yes to a chat and a cuppa? Dear Friend, I want to invite you to join me to come together to discuss an issue that is important for Australia. We always end up having a chat about all sorts of things here at this workplace, I thought it makes sense to arrange an opportunity for all of us to get the latest and hear what is at stake for our Australian community. INSERT DETAILS- Where, when, what, why, where you ll put up the poster. RSVP Date Will you join me for a chat and a cuppa? I feel like that we just hear so much negativity, so few facts and don t hear enough from people like you about the things that matter. For me, it s about protecting our farms, sticking up for our kids future, creating more Aussie jobs and our Australian lifestyle. This sort of thing isn t something we talk about a lot here, but I know many of you want similar things to me and have so much to add, whether it s at work or in our community we do a lot of great things together. Now is a really important time for us to cut through all the noise we hear in the media and to get together have a chat and talk about what we can do here. That s why I m asking you along to this morning tea Having a morning tea is a great way to share some food and share ideas on what this means. I ll share with you what the price on pollution means to me. What food can you bring? What ideas (or questions) will you bring along? If you can RSVP to me by INSERT RSVP DETAILS that would be great. I hope to see you there, Regards, NAME
CONTINUED Last minute Preparation If you are having a workplace morning tea, have a chat to people earlier in the morning with a friendly reminder about the meeting and that you re excited to see them there. Rock up to the room early to see if there are any last minute issues, get some help from a mate to move things to sort the number. If you re using any technology get in there and see if everything is running smoothly. Check this a day before as well. Get in there and get it happening! How to do I engage people in this issue over morning tea? You might start out with something like the script below. But most importantly talk about why you personally are engaged in this important issue. Thanks for coming along today to our Say Yes Morning Tea. It s great to see so many here who want to find out more about what carbon pricing means for them and for our environment. I know that many of you have been talking about this a fair bit lately, there has definitely been a lot in the news lately. Whilst this has been happening, the urgency to act to cut pollution in Australia has increased. Acknowledge, any responses about the carbon tax. Talk about what it all means. Explore their responses. Check out the talking points that you have with your kit. How do I get others engaged at the end of the discussion? Ask people to help spread the word! It s really been really awesome to hear your thoughts on what it all means and to discuss these first steps our country is close to embarking on after all of these years. It s been hard work to be in this position, due to the efforts of thousands of Australians. Now we need to think about what we do next. There are several options for us to add our voices to the campaign and other action that is being taken by other supporters of climate action. What can you do? Some things you can do that others have been doing to help spread the word Leaflet your street Call your MP and let them know how you feel Talk to your friends, family and workmates Share your thoughts and your stories on your local media outlets. Share your story (tell a story about why you think this is important, the great things that you have all done together previously, why you think it s vital that you have this discussion now, how it makes you feel) Give people a bit of background so they know what you are talking about. We re here today to talk today about the recent plan to cut pollution and build a clean energy Australia. What have you heard about the recent announcement? Anything else that you think will be exciting, visual and perhaps even a bit of fun for you and your colleagues. Be sure to take note of those people who want to become more involved and get their details so we can help you keep them up to date on the campaign. Pass out the materials we send you and ask that people post a flyer or a poster at their workplace. Congratulations on a job well done! Together we are building a community for action.
PHONE PARTY Hosting a phone call party involves securing a location where supporters can gather together and phone people on their own mobile about why the price on pollution is critical to Australia s future. Many people are hesitant to phone people they don t know, but if you are all doing it together it can be fun! Personal phone calls are one of the most effective ways to communicate our message. It is best to hold this type of event on a weeknight or weekend day. What do I need? Not much! We ll provide you with a script you can distribute and a list of people to call. You ll just need to make sure there is space for people to make calls. Snacks or drinks are a plus but not mandatory. Your phone call party can be either open to the public or just for your friends and neighbours. What to do when people arrive? You phone party guests will need a brief introduction to the activity. You might try something like this: First of all, congratulations on joining me and making this event worthwhile. I m looking forward to getting some action happening with you over the next few hours. So what are we doing? Today, we are going to call our friends, colleagues, anybody that you know that you think wants to be engaged. In reality, even people you aren t sure will be up for it are worth trying with, you never know if you don t try. This is about friends calling friends because you think it s important. Tell your story about how you think this is a major issue for all Australians and that you are asking them to join you in stepping up to this challenge. Don t get frustrated. The reality is some people might disagree with you, stay calm, respectful and explore what they are saying. Give the What, why, when, how a go and see if you can find the heart of the objection they might be raising. Be confident. People don t expect you to know everything. Grab a few key facts and talk about how people feel and what that means for them. Be polite, and smile when you re on the phone. It sounds silly, but it makes a difference. Next, read out the script. Ask people how they are feeling about the action? What question do people have? Practice practice practice. Do a practice yourself as the leader of the party with another keen person. In front of the group. How confident are people feeling about the conversation? Great, let s break up & give it a go with another person and model the conversation. Let the person know how they go with some feedback at the end. Model the conversation as close as possible to a real conversation you think you might be having. Any final questions? Let s do it. Getting Started with that First Call What better way to reach out and see how you re going then to get things started. Make that first call and keep going. Explain to people that you re a volunteer and that you re calling because this issue is really important- you want to give them the chance to be part of building a clean energy future as well. Ask people to keep track of a few things so you can see how awesome the effort you all made was. No. of conversations Messages left People who committed to Say Yes People who are unsure/ want more information People who say NO Major issues/objections you may have had Check out how it went & Celebrate Finally, when you re all done make sure you allow some time to see how everybody went with the activity. Congratulate everybody on their efforts and make sure that everybody knows the difference they have made and feel part of the broader campaign. Go around the group and see how they went. How did you go? What was your best conversation? What was your most difficult conversation? Congratulations on a job well done! Together we are building a community for action. Photo by t0mash. Licencedunder Creative Commons.
CONGRATULATIONS Congratulations on taking the step of becoming a Say Yes Action Leader. Because you ve been one of the most active people working to achieve a carbon price over the past few months, your help is so important to making sure your neighbours and our politicians know that there are millions of Australians who support the price on pollution. We can t let this historic opportunity fall to pieces now because the voices of reason, optimism and hope for our future were shouted down by a loud and angry few. We re facing an unconvinced public, a hostile media environment and an big polluters doing everything it can to wreck the deal. But I know we can change things, because we have you and tens of thousands of other ordinary Australians who care about a sustainable future and are far more influential among their friends and family than a scare campaign. HERE s to yes!