Campaign communication: Stalls

Cardiff University P&P ran stalls for their Go Green campaign and got thousands of signatures on their petition

Every active campaigner will, at some point, find themselves responsible for a stall. Don’t just dive in, make sure you’ve prepared how you’re going to communicate your campaign message to passers by.

Go get ‘em!

• Be proactive and approachable. Don’t sit behind the stall looking bored and wait for the public to come to you (they probably won’t). Rove. Grab your clipboard, or your leaflets and engage them as they approach, then walk them back to your stall.

• Smile and be friendly, and don’t get rattled by hostile reactions and comments. It’s not personal.

• Some people are just plain argumentative. Don’t let them get to you. There’s nothing worse than a heated argument in front of your stall to put off the punters! Agree to disagree, and move on quickly.

• Some people are shy or don’t want to initiate a conversation. Try to spot the ones who are hanging around a little longer, make eye contact and ask them a question or make a comment on one of the things they are looking at.

Opening lines

It’s worth taking time to perfect your technique. You have to sound positive, and say what action you want your fellow students, or members of the public to take in a few short seconds.

• Emphasize accessible words, like “developing countries”, “HIV/AIDS” or “climate change”, that will grab people’s attention.
• Don’t simply say “would you like to sign our petition?” - they could just say “no”. Engage them first.
• Don’t try and crowd your opening lines with facts and figures.
• Avoid using abbreviations or jargon - not everyone understands campaignspeak!
• If they stop to sign or read a leaflet, keep talking and fill in the gaps. Smile and thank them - offer to keep them informed and steer them to your group sign up sheet.
• Some people are naturals, and others often struggle. Take time to watch how someone is succesful. Look at their body language and facial expression as well as their words!
• You’ll often be asked “will it make any difference?” One answer to that is “doing this might make a difference, not doing it definitely won’t.”
• Don’t apologise for what you’re doing. Some people think you have to be an expert before you can hold an opinion. You’re an intelligent, concerned member of the public, and that mandates you to take action!
• Stickers can be really useful: if you give them out to people, it will remind them about the stall later, advertise the stall to other people, and stop you approaching the same person twice!
• If someone seems interested or sympathetic, invite them to join your group. Tell them how great it is, when it meets, and get their contact details.