How To Win An Election Masterclass: 5 Strategic Steps to Victory

i'm jay townsend and i'm here to talk about how to win an election every year a lot of people try and do that and most who try fall short they don't lose because they're stupid even bright passionate people running for the best of reasons sometimes come up short and lose elections they could have won during my lifelong career working for political candidates i've been involved in more than 300 campaigns of all shapes and sizes most won some lost a while back i pulled out the files of those who won and went looking for what the winners had in common today i'll share what i learned with you what i call the five strategic steps to victory in a political campaign i'll start by telling you exactly who this is for so that you can be sure that watching it is a good use of your time if you're running for office it's for you pay very close attention to what you hear and see because every bit of it is relevant to what you're doing right now if you plan on running anytime soon it's for you i'm going to teach you some things about running for office you've never heard before and you'll be able to start using it right now if you're planning on running for office someday you'll see first hand how smart candidates have used these steps to jumpstart their campaigns and win close elections and if you're just interested in politics and want to help good people win what you learn here will make you invaluable to the people you're trying to help this will take about 40 minutes and i'm going to show you some things that may surprise you how you can prove to voters that you're qualified to run for office and hold an elected position even if you don't have a long resume how to use your story to prove to voters they can trust you even if you've never held office before how to demonstrate to voters why you're the best choice without running a negative campaign how you can deliver a compelling speech one that will attract volunteers and campaign donors even if you've never done it before how to find the donors you need to get your campaign off the ground even if you don't like asking for money and i'm going to show you how to win an election against an entrenched incumbent even if you are outspent i'll make one promise if you stick with me to the end of the video by the time we're done you will know how to jump start your campaign easy steps you can take so that you can win an election and make a difference as an elected official if you are a candidate or ever have been see if any of these sound like you do you feel overwhelmed by all the things you have to do to get your campaign started and not always sure where to turn or who to listen to do you sometimes feel that you're running in circles jumping from one task to the next never sure about what's most important or what to do or how to do it do you sometimes worry about what somebody might say about you or some dirt they're going to dig up from your past are you nervous about debating your opponent or fear that you're going to say the wrong thing to a tv or newspaper reporter have you ever struggled with finding the right words to say to an audience do you worry about how you're going to raise the money you'll need or fear that you'll be left with a stack of unpaid bills are you afraid of losing or being ridiculed because you tried to win an election and came up short if any of these sound like you uh you're not alone there is some good news those things i just mentioned are not the real problem they are symptoms of a very different problem and once you take the steps that i'm going to show you these problems begin to disappear when we're done you'll know what to say to almost any audience even on a moment's notice you'll start your day knowing what to do with a good idea how to get it done you'll no longer dread asking people for money you'll know how to overcome problems in your past and how to deal with an attack that comes your way you'll welcome the chance to debate your opponent or talk to a reporter you'll actually look forward to every new day because you'll have confidence in your message confidence in your cause confidence in yourself and instead of being worried about losing your fear will disappear and you'll be able to imagine yourself giving a victory speech a quick note about who i am i was raised in indiana on a farm growing up i did what farm kids do there were chores before and after school we raised pigs grew corn soybeans made hay in the hot sun my dad was an ex-military intelligence officer he expected the chores to be done but he was also a voracious reader of history he insisted that i be well read and every night at dinner he would pepper me with questions about books he assigned me to read at age 17 i discovered my passion i became fascinated by how men and women lead the words they used how they inspired voters and prevailed in the marketplace of ideas it became my career helping candidates win elections that and raising five boys with my wife rebecca these five strategic steps to victory i'm going to walk you through is the same process i've used to help u.s senators governors candidates for president members of congress mayors and county executives these five steps to victory work my clients are proof some were democrats some were republican men and women young and old black white and brown in large cities the countryside and the suburbs this is what they all had in common they sincerely believed in their cause they had concrete ideas on how to improve the lives of those in their community city or state they were problem solvers not bomb throwers they had integrity and a strong moral code they did not win by spewing hate or reciting some party-line talking points but they did have a clear and compelling message a unique and interesting story and a well-executed strategy what i'm going to share with you comes from a life spent helping candidates advance a worthy cause i've seen candidates in their best and worst moments the fast learners and those who struggled the good speakers and the not so good the wealthy and the barely scraping by people from different backgrounds and ideological persuasions those who won competitive elections shared certain traits they successfully navigated the five steps i'm going to share taking those steps helped them to overcome fear and uncertainty it gave them the confidence they needed on bad days and win elections even when they were outspent a lot of them made profound differences for people in their state city and community these are five strategic steps you must take to put your campaign on the road to success i'm going to walk you through them and tell you why step one is that you must commit to integrity at the outset of your campaign every day voters see stories of public officials who violated the public trust fraud deception indictments politicians who steal money politicians who spew hate betray their cause pretend to be somebody they're not politicians who betray those who elected them for the wealthy donors who fill their campaign coffers they see it on tv in the newspapers and on facebook these bad apples give public service a bad name and of course these bad apples are the ones who make the news therefore office holders and politicians are not held in high regard by voters because voters have been lied to their expectation is that you may also be someone who doesn't tell the truth because voters have seen candidates betray their community their expectation is that you might betray them because voters have seen candidates break their promises their expectation is that you may not keep yours for these and other reasons the minute you become a candidate you'll find that voters are very suspicious of what you say skeptical of promises you make cynical about your motivation for running therefore it is imperative that you never give voters reasons to doubt your honesty character or integrity they will quickly find reasons to vote against you if they catch you behaving like the candidates and office holders who've disappointed them in the past which illustrates why you must be honest and trustworthy voters are looking for authenticity they want to know that you are the person you say you are they want to know that you're a person of character someone they can believe they want to know that you are a person they can trust to make important decisions on their behalf if at any point in a campaign you say or do something that suggests that you're not the person you say you are or that you're pretending to be someone you are not or that you can't tell the truth voters will quickly tune you out and cease to listen to anything you have to say even worse when voters spot a candidate they think is a con artist they're quick to talk about it on facebook does this mean that you cannot run if there is a mistake in your past no voters know you're human and they will be very forgiving of your past mistakes if you are truthful and forthcoming they will not forgive you lying about it the second step on the road to success is simple straightforward yet something that many candidates don't do well or fail to do at all tell voters what you want to do and how you're going to do it a lot of candidates get this completely and utterly wrong they think their campaign is all about them their great resume and their endless list of qualifications they think voters should hear their hardship stories what they've been through or what they had to overcome they think they have to mention every good deed they've done in every identity group they belong to they think it's about the jobs they've held and the awards they've won to voters that is irrelevant blather until they know the offer you're going to put on the table and what you're going to do for them even experienced candidates fall into this trap a few years ago i was asked to attend the announcement speech of a candidate for governor in the state of vermont well respected a longtime legislator self-made businessman who had made an honest fortune his speech was a disaster by the time he'd reached the two-minute mark in his talk he used the words i me and my more than fifty times i could see the reaction in the crowd people started pulling out their cell phones to check their email by the time he was done everyone in the room was looking at their cell phone instead of him i also noticed something else when the event was over in an audience of 300 people filled with friends and well-wishers only two people stopped to sign the volunteer sheet on the way out the door nobody signed up because his speech was all about him so here's a hard truth that all candidates should know voters do not care about you until they know you care about them therefore what voters want to know before you say anything else is what you're going to do for them your campaign is not about you it's about wrongs you're going to write in injustice you're going to correct the problems you're going to fix how you're going to improve the quality of life for voters in your jurisdiction make it easier for their kids to go to college or fix a troubled school or create new jobs or improve health care or build a new park where kids can play until voters know what you're going to do for them they do not and will not care about you meet john tisic at the age of 28 he decided to run for mayor of a large city in new york's hutson valley the city was on its knees gangs roamed the streets at night the city coffers were empty streets were dirty not even the parks were safe we crafted a slogan that he used in all of his advertising and he started every stump speech with these words safer streets cleaner streets better parks more playgrounds that was his agenda his top priority he said that needed to be done first and he told people exactly how he would do it soon he had a lot of people interested in his campaign people signed up to volunteer and make phone calls knock on doors and hand out literature the perfect strangers wanted to contribute to his campaign including some wealthy ones who knew that a cleaner city with less crime would mean more business for them he became the youngest mayor ever elected in the city of poughkeepsie when voters know you care about them when they see you as someone who can fix their pain when they see your commitment to their welfare when you connect with their hopes and dreams when they see in you a way to improve their quality of life voters start to care about you and when they do good things begin to happen for you people start to volunteer people contribute to your campaign they talk about you to their friends and suddenly you have a growing network of supporters people who want to help you win an election candidates who take this step candidates who get this right candidates who demonstrate a deep commitment to a cause that will improve the way people live when elections candidates who don't get this right seldom get past first base of all the tools and techniques available to candidates and campaigns nothing is more powerful than your story it's why i call it your secret weapon very few candidates know how to do it very few candidates do it well telling your story is step three on your road to victory but there's a right way and a wrong way and most candidates get it totally wrong since our earliest days on earth we humans have communicated through stories it's part of our dna the bible is a book of stories before humans began to record history through pictures and words information was passed from one generation to the next through stories as children we ask our parents to read his stories as adults we are conditioned to better understand a subject when it is put in story form why is your story important in a political campaign when you put your offer on the table when you tell voters what you want to do for them when you have given them the benefits of putting you in office it does not mean that you have closed the sale because voters are skeptical and suspicious of promises and because they've been lied to they naturally want to know if they can trust you to keep your promises and do what you say you're going to do and it is imperative that you give them a reason they can trust you there are two ways to do that the old way and the new way this is the way most candidates try to prove they're qualified and trustworthy they talk about their fidelity to some pet cause or identity group to prove they have something in common with voters they cite some endless list of endorsements they've received thinking that support from special interest groups proves they're trustworthy they talk without end about the pain they've endured at some point in their life they cite some endless list of organizations they've been involved with or volunteered for to prove they really care you can do it this way but it is really boring tired in a good way to put people to sleep there's a new and much better way what i call your secret weapon your story the new way to answer the trust question and i'm going to explain this by first busting a myth and stepping on the face of conventional wisdom this is what your story is not it is not the place you were raised or the places you've lived it is not the jobs you've held or the awards you've won it is not the degrees you earned or where you went to school it is not the organizations you belong to or volunteered for it is not your gender skin color ethnic or identity group this is your story it's about a major event in your life that changed who you are it's about a time when something happened that changed the way you feel or what you believe or the way you think it's an event in your life that changed the way you behave it's a story that reveals your notions of right and wrong good and evil and why you act feel and think the way you do done correctly it's your way of letting voters know what makes you tick a story that lets them know they never have to worry about your integrity or whether you'll keep your promises a story that lets them know you can be trusted to make important decisions on their behalf meet christine krahulik she once ran for judge in a county known for its competitive elections and nasty campaigns a single mother with two children she was rejected by the party establishment and had few resources to work with and because she happened to be a single mother who'd gone through a difficult divorce her opponent asserted that she would not be fair to men when it came to disputes over child support and alimony payments we told her story how she'd been raised on a farm how she'd work side by side with her brothers digging ditches in the family orchard making hay in the summertime changing the oil in the farm machines how she and her brothers were treated as equals when it came to farm chores the story of a single mother who'd raised a daughter that became a star athlete and a son who was valedictorian of his high school when voters heard the story they concluded that she was grounded with a work ethic that she placed special priority on the welfare of children and most important they concluded that she would treat men and women as equals in family court because of the way she was raised her story answered the trust question and she went on to win an uphill battle that stunned the political establishment meet mike fayo a building contractor who had once had several liens placed against him for being late on payments to some of his suppliers mike was running for a job that required him to manage a large jurisdiction hundreds of employees and a multi-million dollar budget knowing that his opponent would use the liens to assert he could not be trusted to manage money we told his story he was a building contractor who'd been hired to build an expensive home the owner of the property fell behind on their payments and rather than lay off his workers and walk away from a job half done he continued doing the work on the house until the roof was completed and the house fully protected against the winter weather facing a long court battle to collect the money he was owed by the owners mike was advised by his lawyer to declare bankruptcy which would have relieved him of all of his debts he refused as soon as his successful lawsuit against the owners wound its way through the court system mike paid every single one of his suppliers in full with interest when voters heard the story they quickly concluded he was a man of integrity character one who could be trusted to do the right thing when confronted with a difficult decision told correctly this is what your story will do for you you will connect with voters on an emotional level when you trigger one of the seven human emotions you change the way they feel when you change the way they feel you create an emotional bond with them when you tell your story correctly you prove to voters you're qualified for the job even if you don't have a long resume when you tell your story correctly you prove to voters that you can be trusted to do the right thing and make decisions on their behalf i'll illustrate this with one final example not long ago i attended a candidate forum where five candidates running for office were invited to introduce themselves and given five minutes to do so i was sitting where i could watch both the audience and the candidates four of the five candidates got up and recited pieces of their life story where they were born where they went to school the jobs they'd held the clubs they joined and this is what i saw not a single one of them kept the attention of the audience they were boring dull totally uninteresting and they should have known because half the audience took out their cell phones to check their email those that didn't were staring at the floor or up at the ceiling the fifth and final speaker did something different in explaining why she wanted to make it easier for kids to go to college she told the heart-wrenching story of a childhood friend a friend who had the best grades in her high school class won top honors as a star track athlete but never went to college because her parents couldn't afford it the story of a classmate who because she could not go to college spent a hard life working in a local factory never escaped the poverty of her childhood never lived the potential she had or the promise she showed as a bright young scholar in high school it was the why of her message that all high school students who make at least a b average should have a shot at higher learning at a state college of their choice she used her story to illustrate her values principles and fundamental beliefs no one in the audience doubted her sincerity because the story was authentically hers from the moment she started speaking she had the audience in the palm of her hand all eyes were on her the entire time she spoke and because of the way she told her story everybody in the audience knew she could be trusted to advance a cause near and dear to them after the forum people stood in line to shake her hand and volunteer in her campaign several even pulled out their credit cards to make a campaign contribution that is the power of a story it is your secret weapon and when you do it right great things begin to happen in your campaign at the outset i mentioned there were five strategic steps to victory i've now covered three of them why you need to commit to integrity at the outset of a campaign why you must first tell voters what you'll do for them i just explained how to use your story to let voters know they can trust you step four is about how to enlist and leverage your network how is it that candidates who start as complete unknown seem to rise from nowhere how is it that suddenly everyone seems to be talking about them when a week before no one had ever heard of them why is it that newspapers and tv stations are suddenly paying attention to them the answer is they started enlisting their network in the early stages of their campaign there is a stark truth about politics and political campaigns nobody runs a good campaign without the help of friends or people they know who help them get it off the ground no candidate has ever won an election without the help of people in their network everybody has a network and so do you although you may not know it this is a story about mike who decided to run for mayor of a city in southern illinois he was a fresh face and because he'd never been in city hall politics he didn't know the political players in his community but there were plenty of people he did know friends family people he'd done business with people he'd served with in service organizations people in his church we decided to do a formal announcement speech he invited people he knew and they in turn invited others 400 people came to hear what he had to say he told a story about what he'd learned trying to rescue a once failing school system how that experience forever changed the way he thought about public education and the lifelong impact it had on children in his community he spoke eloquently about what he wanted to do to rescue a community that had fallen on hard times nearly every one of the 400 people who attended his speech volunteered to help in his campaign he posted the speech on facebook it was shared more than a thousand times and viewed by more than 20 000 people soon everyone in the community was talking about him and the hope he was giving to a city hungry for inspiration and leadership soon everybody was asking for his yard signs making phone calls and handing out literature going door-to-door sharing information about mike with their friends they were connecting mike to people that mike did not know at the outset of a campaign mike went on to win in a landslide against the incumbent mayor what mike did you can do during my days as a kid growing up on the farm i learned a few things about growing corn start with a few good seeds you plant them fertilize and water them they produce ears of corn with several seeds which you plant and water and fertilize campaigns are like that nurtured correctly you soon have a bumper crop of volunteers friends and campaign contributors everybody has a network of people they know who can help them get a campaign off the ground when you enlist your network in the right way when you properly seed and fertilize what you have and nurture your crop use your network to help spread your message and help you make new friends good things start to happen in your campaign very few candidates know how to do this well those that do win elections those that don't usually come up short the fifth and final step on your road to victory is to invest in coaching this is a hard truth about political campaigns a lot of very smart very passionate people who run for office lose in fact 80 percent of the people who try to win an election fall short they waste time and money on things that don't matter at the expense of things that do they make mistakes because they don't know what they don't know they run out of time trying to learn it on their own they watch what other candidates do and mistakenly think that what worked for someone else in a different year in a different jurisdiction will work for them it won't and it doesn't because no two jurisdictions are the same no two election years are the same and no candidate running somewhere else had a story only you can tell of all the mistakes candidates make this is by far the most common candidates without coaches make these mistakes every single day what do the winners have in common they had help developing their offer in compelling language that conveyed their sincerity and deep commitment to their cause they had help putting together their story and telling it in a way that established an emotional connection with voters they had help leveraging their network and used it to create an army of volunteers and campaign contributors they had someone to help them avoid the minefields of modern campaigns they had someone to keep them focused on what matters instead of wasting time on things that don't they had someone who had confidence in their cause someone who could take their hand and quickly solve a problem they had someone who believed in them and their dream of doing something grand there will always be people who take a dump on your dream even people you think are friends quick to tell you it can't be done quick to tell you that you can't win quick to find fault with everything you do or say good coaches are not like that a good coach has faith in you even when the chips are down even when everybody else is doubting you and your cause when i was in college i had a roommate who dreamed of becoming a civil rights lawyer and he knew that he'd have to do well on his entrance exams in order to get into the law school he wanted to attend it was a saturday morning about a month before his exam that i woke to see him sitting at his desk reading out loud jotting notes on a legal pad i found it odd because he always slept late on saturdays when i asked why he was up so early he told me it hired an expert coach to help him prepare for the test and that his new coach had completely changed the way he was preparing for the big day i have to do well on this exam he said my career depends on getting into law school failure is not an option there's one other reason passionate candidates hire coaches it's when failure is not an option they are those who are so anxious to right or wrong or are determined to correct an injustice so deeply committed to a cause that they invest in their own success knowing that when they win they will have the power to make life better for those they seek to help candidates headed into a campaign are like patients headed into heart surgery often the stakes are high the cost of a mistake can be fatal having a surgeon who's done it before and knows what to do if something goes wrong can save your life having a coach in a political campaign is nearly always the difference between those who win an election and those who fail at the beginning of this video i said i'd show you a few things how to prove that you're qualified to run for office even if you don't have a long resume how to use your story to show that you can be trusted to make important decisions how to show voters that you're the best choice without running a nasty or filthy campaign how to easily deliver compelling speeches that inspire volunteers and campaign donors even if you've never done it before how to easily find volunteers and campaign contributors how it is possible to win races against entrenched politicians even when you are outspent i also showed you the five steps on your road to success why you must commit to integrity why you must tell voters what you'll do for them how to use your secret weapon your story how to enlist your network why you must invest in coaching these are enough to get you started properly executed they are your five strategic steps to victory every candidate has a choice in a campaign one is to ignore everything you've heard and instead do it your own way you can try all of this on your own crafting your message coming up with that perfect story enlisting your network and maybe in a few weeks or a few months you'll get it all figured out or you can say yes to getting some help this is what a good coach can do for you you'll get help articulating what it is you're going to do for the voters and how you're going to do it in crystal clear and compelling language you'll have help finding just the right story to tell one that actually touches the hearts of voters how to leverage your network to find contributors and volunteers and get some experienced help with your slogan deciding which voters you're going to target raising the money you'll need crafting your advertising budget and executing your strategy each week i set aside some time to talk with candidates who are looking for help or people who want to run for office someday the call is free it's your opportunity to tell me about the obstacles you face challenges you need to overcome what's working well for you or areas where you need help whatever your challenge is i've probably seen it and i'll be able to show you how to overcome it you should expect that our conversation will last 45 minutes we'll talk about how to craft a game plan so that you can win an election and make a difference if you'd like to talk click the link on the screen complete the application and i'll be in touch to schedule a call the call is free the coaching program i offer is not for everybody and i am particular about who i work with you must have a real commitment to improving the lives of people in your city state or community you must have integrity and a strong moral code you must be coachable and willing to do the work required to win you must have a few concrete ideas on how you want to fix a problem right or wrong advance a cause and improve the quality of life in your jurisdiction if you fit these criteria i encourage you to complete the application in this video i've talked a lot about what you need to do to win an election i've shared a lot about how to do it and where you can get the help you need there's also a why i do what i do and i'll share that with you i believe politics can and should be a noble profession for it is through people unafraid to live their passion that billions have been freed from the yoke of bondage freed from the chains of poverty and offered some measure of the freedom that is the inherent right of all humankind the greatest rewards i have known have come from helping good candidates prevail in the marketplace of ideas right wrongs advance a cause improve the lives of people in their jurisdiction to help good men and women reach the pinnacles of power so that they might use their god-given talents and live a life filled with passion and purpose knowing that they are making a difference if you click the link this is what will happen in the application i'll ask you a few questions so that i'm fully prepared for our call when you email it to me i'll review it within 24 hours then send you a link to my calendar so that you can pick a day and time that works for you i will then call you at the time you selected you should expect that our conversation will last 45 minutes you can complete the application right now a while back someone asked me about my favorite campaign i've had many of them but one remains near the top because it was in this campaign that i discovered the five strategic steps to victory her name was sue kelly one day out of the blue she called me and said she wanted to run for congress in one of the nation's most competitive congressional districts she had never held public office had never run for office before and she faced stiff competition in the primary against six different opponents including a four-star general a well-funded former member of congress a prominent and wealthy lawyer and a west point graduate who had won the congressional medal of honor and yet this mother of four young children easily prevailed in her primary because she clearly conveyed what she would do for her district advocating causes and issues no other candidate did she expertly told her story in a way that clearly demonstrated her deep commitment to her community and the welfare of those who lived there she used her network to create an army of volunteers who had never before been involved in a political campaign and people who had never before contributed to a candidate for congress not only did she prevail against well-funded and stout competition in the primary in the general election she defeated the son of the retiring congressman who did everything in his power to help his son win she went on to serve 12 years in congress wrote legislation that became law which improved the quality of life for everybody who lived in her district and she held the seat longer than anyone has in the last 30 years to this day i still remember what i was doing and where i was sitting the day she called me what began in that one conversation forever altered her journey took her to the pinnacles of power created a lifetime of wonderful memories and allowed her to make a profound difference for her community and her country if you would like to talk complete your application today i'm jay townsend you

Channel: Jay Townsend

Views: 18,849

Rating: 4.9277506 out of 5

Keywords: election campaign strategy, political campaign, how to win an election, how to run for public office, how to run for office, Running for Public Office, Political Consultant, Political Campaign Strategy, How to Run for Political Office, Running for Office, Run for office, How to run for U.S. Senate, How to Run for Congress, How to Run for Mayor, Winning Campaign Marketing Strategy, How to Campaign, Raise Political Contributions, Political Strategist, Campaign Message

Id: UT7iW_UIMOE

Length: 40min 26sec (2426 seconds)

Published: Tue May 26 2020