5 minute read
Speak Up and Don’t Stink
BY: AARON ALEJANDRO TEXAS FFA FOUNDATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Texas is blessed with three vital, and renewable, resources: youth, agriculture, and leadership. Agricultural science education, and the Texas FFA, combine all three to field incredible young leaders today who will become dynamic influencers in the future. Our Texas FFA members are using STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) to solve real-world problems. I really enjoy promoting our students, teachers, sponsors, and stakeholders. I am a full-time advocate.
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In this issue of Growing Our Future, we are taking a deeper dive into the topic of advocacy, so let’s look at the difference in marketing and public relations when it comes to sharing our Texas FFA story.
Let’s start with some simple strategies for effective advocacy. son. Be clear, concise, nice, factual, approachable, and transparent. You may be the only expert in farming, ranching, or food production they have ever met. Make a great impression.
BE POSITIVE…RESPOND
Some people will be encouraging, others will be negative. Thank those that encourage and be prepared to stay positive in the trenches with those that are negative. Remember when challenged you have the choice to react or respond.
Here’s an example to better understand the appropriate response. If you go to the doctor and she gives you medicine and then reports your body is reacting to the meds … this usually considered not good. You want your body to respond to the meds. We want to appropriately respond to negative forces.
Be confident and stand firm in the truth. Stay focused and positive on what you know and are prepared to share. Stick to your talking points. Remain passionate and smile.
BE READY TO SHARE
Know what you want to say, why you want to say it, and what supporting information you have that validates your perspective.
THEY ARE LOOKING AT YOU STAY IN YOUR LANE AND PROTECT YOUR BRAND
When you interact with the public, you are the face of the Texas FFA or agriculture for that perSo many issues in today’s culture/news are tied to social concerns. Be diligent to keep your 38
personal brand and agricultural brand focused on what you are hoping to assimilate and steer clear of discussions that take you outside your brand. Stay with the facts, experiences, and best practices that make your testimony powerful and convincing.
It is important we know the difference between our marketing and public relations strategies.
Public Relations: The professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company, other organization, or famous person.
Marketing: The action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.
The main difference? Marketing is focused on promoting and selling a specific product, whe-
reas PR is focused on maintaining a positive reputation for an organization, local FFA chapter, or company as a whole.
Since we don’t have marketing or public relations departments at the local FFA chapter level … we have to do both.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Abraham Lincoln once said, "What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself."
Public relations is how we keep a positive image in our local communities. If we don’t brand ourselves in our local communities and maintain the brand, someone will do it for us and we may not like the way they do it. Here are a few tips on local PR.
Be a patient storyteller. Tell the right story, at the right time, to the right people.
Know the difference between stories and news. Stories have a cascading effect and maintain the necessary elements for driving reader engagement. Great stories are shared. News announcements are fleeting, and at their worst, inconsistent over time. Press do their homework and it’s very easy for them to dismiss “another press release” as noise, versus something of substance that they need to take an interest in, following and sharing with their readers.
Have a call to action. Once you have someone’s attention, how will you keep them engaged? This is crucial.
Public relations is not an island. Great PR is woven into the organization from day one.
We are part of an extraordinary Texas education experience that is agricultural education. We have a brand in FFA that commands respect, invokes excellence, and encourages opportunity. We are the keepers of the brand. Our job is to steward the brand and leave it better than how it was given to us. We must speak up in sharing our brand and protect it from ever stinking.
MARKETING
A son wanted to buy his mother the perfect Mother’s Day gift. After strolling the mall, he was headed out when a bird in a pet store caught his eye. It was an African Grey Parrot that had a 1,000-word vocabulary. He thought, “this is the perfect gift.” He had the bird carefully couriered to his mother as the perfect gift to keep her company.
After a couple of weeks, he was surprised he had not heard from his mom so he gave her a call. The son asked, “Mom, I just wanted to make sure you received your Mother’s Day gift. What did you think?” The mom replied, “Thank you, son. The bird was perfect and absolutely delicious!” After a long pause, he said, “Mom, that bird was expensive and had a 1,000-word vocabulary! You ate it?!” She said, “Yes, he should have spoken up.”
We cannot hide the light of the Texas FFA under a basket. We have to speak up and share the greatness of agricultural science education and the leadership development activities through the FFA. Here are a few tips to market your local FFA chapter.
Develop a student, parent, or teacher referral program. According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising.
Send out a survey to ask how’s the chapter doing?
Make chapter infographics. of commerce or other business-to-business organizations. Connecting will give your FFA chapter more visibility in your community. A local FFA chapter as a member of the Chamber of Commerce will draw attention.
Hold a town hall meeting or talk about an agricultural issue.
Establish your chapter’s social media presence.
