Idaho State University hosted its third Elect Her training with a full room of participants and the Anderson Center as a sponsor. It was time to inspire and prepare more women to run for campus elections!
One of the key issues for many in the crowd was the lack of overall campus involvement by students. This training was a chance for those who wanted to be more active on campus to do so and find allies in those efforts.
The participants learned key lessons from two amazing speakers!
Elect Her attendees discuss what campus and national issues inspired them to run!
Brad Christensen, Council Member, Ammon City Council explained to the participants that their key to communication as a candidate is “how not to become an internet sensation”. There are plenty of people on YouTube doing what you don’t want to do and you want to be intentional about what you do put out there as your public image. Brad described that the art of rhetoric is complicated. He said you need to be able to be calm, indignent, humble, knowledgeable, warm, responsible, and genuine all at the same time for people to believe your message. The students were able to see the challenges and benefits of creating a message that “sticks” from Brad’s presentation.
Sharon Parry, Council Member, Idaho Falls City Council provided an incredible speech about her story of political leadership on the Idaho Falls City Council. She ran against a female incumbent and two men when running for office and was clear to not “sugarcoat” the experience. She was told when she announced her candidacy that “we do not need another woman on city council.” But, her take home lessons for the students were numerous (she has a list of over 80!) and I will just highlight the ones that I scribbled down:
- In order to have an impact you need to have ideas. (and…you are one issue away from running for office)
- Harness your emotions
- Watch the top five political movies of all times to get pumped up before the campaign
- Call a spade a spade
- Develop sound bites
- Stand up for what you know is right
And “Don’t be afraid to throw up.” Sharon explained how frightening it can really be to put yourself out there as a political candidate. She said how scary it was for her but that the risk was all worth it in the end.
All of our Elect Her participants developed elevator speeches at the end of the training to prepare for their campaigns. In the campaign simulation, our final candidates gave their elevator speeches to the whole room and answered questions like a real debate. Plus, Sharon Parry offered advice on how to answer questions from a public audience and always get the last word! The winners in a tie were Mirazun Nahar Mitu and Veronica Baiz! Mirazun went on to win her race in student government elections as a Science & Engineering senator!
Many of the Elect Her participants stretched out of their comfort zones and learned new things by attending this training. We hope they push themselves to take risks and step up to be leaders on their campus in the coming years!
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