Extend Your Reach

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 We need to reach the 81 million American voters who voted against hate in 2020 with fresh pro-democracy messages.

Together, we can do it.

We can all take a few simple steps to become champions for democracy. Here’s how:

Spread the Word by Hosting a Huddle

You know the importance of effective messaging. But not everyone does. Put simply, Team YOU needs more people like you. 

The best way to start sharing your wisdom is by forming a Huddle. 

What’s a Huddle?
Huddles are small groups of people who gather to spread clear, data-driven, effective messages. Think coffee hour meets strike force, with a small group of friends, family, or co-workers who meet in person or virtually. 

Huddles for messaging are popping up all across the country. We the People are breaking through the noise of disinformation, one Huddle at a time. This is how we save our democracy. This is how we win in 2022.

There are two basic Huddle types: amplifier and creator.

Amplifier Huddle

 

Hosting an Amplifier Huddle offers you an easy first step. From the Amplify Your Impact page, select and share click-ready content and images directly to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or your texting program with just a few clicks. 

Even though anyone can use the sharing platform at any time, research shows we’re more likely to take action when we have a regular time and place, and friends to keep us accountable. Plus, it’s more fun to do social media storming in a group, watching your impact and reach add up in real time.

To start an Amplifier Huddle, just invite a handful of like-minded folks, pick a convenient day and time to get together weekly, and choose a method (Zoom, Google Meet, Facebook Messenger room) or place (could be a coffee shop, house, or library) for gathering. We suggest starting your first meeting by playing our Grassroots Messaging Works introductory video to get everyone pumped up and on the same page. Then share out the Amplify Your Impact link and start flexing your messaging muscles!

 

Creator Huddle

Hosting a Creator Huddle involves more effort than an Amplifier Huddle, but offers that much more power and engagement for your team. Instead of simply sharing out pre-written messages, you’ll work with your Huddlers to learn messaging best practices and adapt or create your own content.

Begin by discussing the five basic Messaging Principles in your group, and/or watch and discuss videos from the Words That W!N team and Ohio Progressive Action Leaders (OPAL) included in the Huddle Host Kit. Once you’ve mastered these tools for strong narrative framing, you’re ready to counter disinformation and racial dog-whistling effectively, advancing Team YOU values with confidence. 

You and your Huddlers can use your newfound powers to inform the conversation in person or on social media, and everywhere from the grocery store line to a voter’s door.

 

Huddle Host Kit

 

OPAL started their Creator Huddle pilot program in December 2021, and hosts and Huddlers alike loved that experience. Informed by program feedback, OPAL has created a Messaging Huddle Host Kit—an indexed Google Doc with weekly huddle guides and links to all the resources you’ll need to be successful. The Kit allows your Huddle to progress through the material at your own pace. You can also begin as an Amplifier Huddle and then transition to creating your own content.

 

The Huddle is the Thing

There’s no wrong way to Huddle. Amplifier? Creator? Some combination of the two? Do what works best for you and your group. What’s most important is to get started, have fun, and build Team YOU so we can take our Huddles to the field and together defeat Team Coup.

Everyone—not just activists, but everyone—can help spread the word. Author-activist David Pepper shows how to Work Your Connections in your community.