Community listening sessions

1. How Community
Listening Sessions Can
Help Your Station Serve
Your Audience Better

2. 2
 Submit questions on the right

 Tweet with #PubTraining
 Video will be on ds.npr.org

3. 3
Ron Jones
KCUR
Director of Community
Engagement
@RonJonesKCUR

4. 4
Ann-Elise Henzl
Project Milwaukee
Executive
Producer
Stephanie Lecci
Lake Effect
Producer
Michelle
Maternowski
Digital Editor

5. 5
Ron Jones
KCUR
Director of Community
Engagement
@RonJonesKCUR

6. 6
Beyond Our Borders

7. 7
Why listening sessions?

8. 8
the community
knows more than we
do

9. 9
Before: how to prepare

10. 10
1. Identify a neighborhood and related
association

11. 11
2. Find a gathering place

12. 12
3. Promote the listening session

13. 13
4. Provide refreshments

14. 14
During: how to pull it off

15. 15
1. Sign people in, ask to join PIN

16. 16
2. Delegate moderators and scribes

17. 17
3. Break into groups

18. 18
What do you want metro Kansas City to
know about your community?
How engaged are you, and how engaged
do you want to be, in your community?
4. Ask two questions

19. 19
 Make sure people know it
is off the record
 Make sure everyone gets
heard
 Stay neutral
 Keep the dialogue focused
 Train moderators
Tips to Get People Talking

20. 20
After: follow up, take
action

21. 21
1. Do a debrief

22. 22
2. Story and talk show
conceptualization

23. 23
3. Do ‘proof of performance’ on air

24. 24
4. Continue to report and tell stories

25. 25
Key takeaways

26. 26
 Believe in the process
 Include everyone at your
station
 It needs to be an
organizational commitment,
not an add-on

27. 27
Ann-Elise Henzl
Project Milwaukee
Executive
Producer
Stephanie Lecci
Lake Effect
Producer
Michelle
Maternowski
Digital Editor

28. 28

29. 29
Why a listening session?

30. 30
How can we access more diverse voices,
sources and solution ideas?
How can we reach an audience wider
than our radio listeners?
How can we build trust in community
around a sensitive issue?
WUWM had three questions:

31. 31
Before: how to prepare

32. 32
1. Find collaborators

33. 33
2. Pick an accessible location

34. 34
3. Recruit attendees, as you would find
sources

35. 35
4. Don’t forget refreshments

36. 36
During: how to pull it off

37. 37
1. Arrive early, leave extra time at end
Flickr, CC, Alex Eylar/hoyvinmayvin

38. 38
2. Resist your radio inclination to record
Flickr, CC, Alex Eylar/hoyvinmayvin

39. 39
3. Start honestly, be up front
Flickr, CC, Roger H. Goun

40. 40
4. Let it flow because you don’t know where it’s going
to go
Flickr, CC, Phil Whitehouse

41. 41
After: follow up, take
action

42. 42
1. Plan stories and show conversations

43. 43
2. Keep attending local events – don’t stop at your own

44. 44
3. Open up the conversation

45. 45
4. Give people the opportunity to tell their own stories

46. 46
Morethanmyrecord.tumblr.com

47. 47
Key takeaways

48. 48
This takes a lot of planning, especially at firs

49. 49
Start earlier, use as a way to plan coverage

50. 50
Don’t go in with a preconceived
notion of what it will be

51. 51
This is a group effort, and needs station supp

52. 52
The success of a listening session leads to
buy-in and closer relationships with the
community.

53. 53
Questions?
#PubTraining