MANIFESTO GUIDE – HOW TO WRITE AN IMPACTFUL MANIFESTO So, you’re thinking of running for election? Great! One of the most important things you’ll need right away is a manifesto; this tells voters what you’re going to do for them if elected. We want to take you through the four steps of writing an impactful manifesto and help get your message over effectively to the student population. STEP 1 – GATHERING IDEAS First thing first, you need to ask yourself two very simple questions – ‘Why am I standing?’, and ‘What do I want to achieve?’. These two will form the starting point of your manifesto. Your manifesto should then be broken down in to three sections; (roughly) 100 words about why you’d be good for the job, 100 words about why you’re standing, and 100 words about what you want to achieve! Once you have done this, it’s time to start brainstorming ideas and do a bit of research. You might want to consider...
›› The Students’ Union’s strategic plan ›› Checking out the policies coming out of ‘Your Big Ideas’ ›› What matters to you, your friends and other students ›› Looking at the specific role descriptions STEP 2 – BOILING DOWN YOUR IDEAS At this point, you should have loads of ideas about what you want to put in to your manifesto. It’s time to start the cull; some of your ideas, whilst brilliant, might not be realistic. For example, building a giant slide through Student Central will (probably) never happen. Remember; you only have 100 words per section so use your words wisely! Tip – When writing the section on what you would like to achieve, we advise breaking down your ideas to 3-5 bullet points, each no more than 20 words. It’s both easier for you to explain and for voters to understand.
HUDDERSFIELD SU ELECTIONS OCTOBER 2016
STEP 3 – LET’S GET SMART We’re not talking ball gowns and bow ties – save that for results night! ‘SMART’ is a tool that will help you focus your objectives and will make sure that you have clear manifesto points. So, what’s SMART?
›› S pecific – Are your points clearly defined? ›› M easurable – Can you measure whether or not they’re successful? ›› A chievable – Are they actually going to happen? ›› R elevant – Do students actually care about them? ›› T ime-bound – When will you have them completed by? An example of a SMART manifesto point might be…
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By the end of the academic year 2016/17, 50% of all sports teams will be led by women. STEP 4 – TAKE IT FOR A TEST DRIVE
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Now that you have something down on paper, it’s time to go out and find out what students think of it. Speak to your friends, classmates and students across campus to find out their opinions. This is a key part of the writing process because it will give some feedback and help you to see if you’re on for a win.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact Campaigns Coordinator Freya Govus at f.govus@hud.ac.uk
HUDDERSFIELD SU ELECTIONS OCTOBER 2016