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	Revised Case Statement

Key Message Training

Enhancing the Awareness of Voices for Ohio's Children

On Friday, April 20th, Margie Flynn and Hallie Rich of Brown Flynn Communications conducted training for Voices board, staff and public policy partners regarding Voices key messages. In an effort to increase its sphere of influence for children, Voices sought the expertise of Brown Flynn to develop messaging, vehicles and strategies that resonate with the “grasstops” – a vital audience of potential supporters. Brown Flynn agreed to assist Voices in developing appropriate communications messages and making the compelling case that child advocacy fits into business values.

Key messages are important because they:

Reflect the mission, vision and positioning statements
Consistently reinforce themes to anybody you interact with regarding Voices
Are not required to be expressed verbatim

Each person conveying these messages should bring them to life in ta way that best fits their area and their audience.
This enables the messages to remain fresh and dynamic, which critical because they will be used over the next few years

To reinforce that the messages need not be expressed verbatim in order to have meaning, Margie and Hallie had the group draw 3 simple pictures with crayons on a sheet of paper: a tree, a house, and a cow. This demonstrated that the entire group understood the concepts of these 3 simple items, but brought their own personal "style" in illustrating them.

Key messages serve as a general guideline of how to speak about Voices so the messages communicated are cohesive. However, they should be flexible enough for each person to interpret and apply them in their own way. The messages are given greater power and resonance by sharing examples of how Voices lives out the messages each day. Whether the example is based on a personal experience or an experience of a peer, the enthusiasm behind the example will strengthen Voices' message.

These are the four key messages for Voices developed by Brown Flynn:

Message #1 – Value Proposition
Investing in children’s well-being now is critical for the long-term health of our communities and our economy.

Message #2 – Unique Service Provider
Voices for Ohio’s Children serves as the non-partisan voice of nearly 3 million Ohio children.

Message #3 – Inform Public Policy
We provide information, education and recommendations about children’s policy issues to government, community and business leaders.

Message #4 – Collaborative Approach
We work with more than 100 collaborative partners to impact public policy changes that improve the health, safety, education, family stability and childcare of Ohio’s children and their families.

All four of the above messages need not be conveyed in one opening statement. It is appropriate and prudent to weave them into the conversation in a way that flows naturally. However, Margie and Hallie demonstrated a concise "Elevator Pitch" that incorporates elements from all four key messages into one brief statement:

Elevator Pitch
We are the non-partisan voice of Ohio’s nearly 3 million children. With more than 100 collaborative partners, we impact changes in public policy that improve the health, safety, education, family stability and childcare of all Ohio children and their families.

Since the work of Voices is rather comprehensive in scope, it is always recommended to direct interested parties to the Voices website for more detailed information about the focus of Voices' issue areas as well as board, staff or partner listings.

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The links to the right provide the materials distributed during the training. If you would like to receive a "Key Message wallet/tip card", please contact the Voices office.

877-881-7860
info@vfc-oh.org