The Voiceshare Initiative
Who Gets Heard Matters
When it comes to building powerful movements and capturing public opinion, who gets heard matters. That’s why ReThink Media works to address what we call “voiceshare”—a quotation-by-quotation rundown on who is heard in the media and, by extension, the public.
While our work to strengthen voiceshare varies widely across each of our issue areas, two critical components remain the same:
- Centering the voices of those who are most affected by the issues and policies in question, and
- Ensuring that our spokespeople are trusted by and representative of the people we need to reach.
Learn how the Voiceshare Initiative can help power your movement.
Read more about Zahra’s story:
Our Signature Spokesperson Training Gets Results
Journey Story: Zahra Jamal
We first trained Zahra Jamal, the Associate Director at Rice University's Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance, in Houston in 2018, and have continued to work with her since on building her media presence. We worked with Zahra to improve her expert profile online, develop content to pitch and find news hooks to tie it to, and prepare for on-camera interviews.
Since the training, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Policy magazine, Slate, and The Hill. We also worked with her to get the attention of a producer at BBC World News, leading to a live interview. The segment aired both on BBC World (with 101 million listeners per week) and CBC Radio One (with 7.7 million listeners per month). It also reached 7,300 people through Zahra’s social media posts.
“Thank you for believing in me and helping me believe in myself,” Zahra said after the segment. “I am so grateful, as a woman of color and religious minority, to finally have the training and chance to amplify my voice despite its co-optation by others for decades."
What does the VoiceShare initiative look like?
Our top four objectives for advancing this work include:
- Identifying, training, and supporting more early-mid-late career BIPOC leaders, advocates, and experts as spokespeople.
- Positioning these spokespeople as go-to sources for journalists and creating more opportunities for BIPOC spokespeople to be published and heard, ideally bootstrapping initial media hits into subsequent coverage and “thought leadership.”
- Working with reporters and outlets to provide a growing list of diverse experts, creating more demand for a greater diversity of sources and increased accountability for more representative coverage.
- Conducting a media audit of the current diversity of spokespeople in this field to establish a benchmark, set goals, and create collective accountability for progress.
Ask us about the progress we’ve seen across our sectors in whose voices are heard.
WHY Voiceshare = Movement Building
We help amplify the diversity of voices that make up our movement. With more perspectives heard—from people whose lives are directly impacted by various policy decisions—we can continue to work for a safer, more just, more reflective democracy.
While diversity and inclusion are unquestionably values in their own right, they are also an imperative to be politically relevant. To achieve social change, our movements and messengers must represent and reach a broad section and breadth of perspective of the American public.
Learn more about how to use the Voiceshare Initiative to power your movement.
I’ve attended a few media trainings, and this one was more helpful than most because it was tailored to the audience, both by bringing our public personas into the content and because it was tailored specifically to our challenges as women of color. I appreciated the recognition and embracing of individuality even as you provided best practices. Additionally, the ability to ask questions and share our experiences really enriched the experience.”
Training curriculum
No two workshops are alike, but we do have a core curriculum of sessions developed in response to the stated needs of the groups we work with. Below are short descriptions of sessions we commonly lead, but you are equally welcome to inquire about a unique need or situation that your organization faces. You’re also welcome to browse our selection of white papers and top tips and use what you need.
Building Your Expert Profile
We will audit each person’s social media presence and provide individual tips on building their expert profile for added media visibility.
Interviewing Skills
Learn the rules of effective interviews – how to pivot to drive your message, understanding journalist’s needs, and connecting with your audience.
Journalist Panel
We will convene a special guest panel of relevant journalists and editors will offer first-hand advice for breaking into news and establishing yourself as a source.
On-Camera Interview Simulation
Practicing on-camera interview techniques and providing structured feedback from peers and ReThink Media staff, this workshop will also address body language, eye contact, vocals, and tips for making your remarks memorable.
Op-Eds & News Values
We will unpack why op-eds are a powerful tool for your organization and your career, what editors are looking for in a good piece, and the nuts and bolts of getting your commentary published. We will also address how to maximize the use of your piece for building your reputation and visibility.
Reporter Relations
How to best identify the top reporters on your issue and build relationships, best practices for engage reporters on Twitter, and developing and practice your pitch.
Spokesperson of Color Panel
A special guest panel of BIPOC spokespeople to share their first-hand experience and best advice for advancing as a spokesperson on these issues.
Talking Points, Proof Points, & Sound Bites
Understand how to craft talking points that genuinely drive your most important messages, back them up in ways that build their power, and make them memorable for audiences.
Values-Based Messaging
Communications experts know that values transcend barriers. This workshop will teach simple techniques for using values to frame your message and reach your audience.
But our training is only the beginning
ReThink Media continues to work with spokespeople in one-on-one consultations; pre-interview coaching sessions; assistance with editing, pitching, and placing op-ed content; and more!
"I believe the true success of your model is the 1-1 coaching, following the training, when opportunities arise. Without that, I would be lost." –Zahra Jamal, Rice University's Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance
JOURNEY STORY: Tyler Lewis
“One of the great advantages of working in partnership with ReThink Media is getting to take advantage—and steal from—their media and spokesperson trainings. They break elements of message development and public speaking into snackable bites that really help participants learn how to be better communicators. I’ve been training for over a decade and I overhauled all my trainings after my first ReThink training!”
After taking part in ReThink Media’s training series, Lewis commissioned ReThink Media to offer the series again, this time specifically for a cohort of spokespeople associated with his organization.
Tyler Lewis was the Director of Coalition Communications & Research at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Learn more about the Voiceshare Initiative
If you work for a foundation and want to learn about what we can do for your sectors and your grantees, please reach out.
If you work for a progressive organization and want to find out about training your spokespeople, please contact us.
If you want to learn more about how building spokespeople’s voiceshare contributes to movement-building and winning on a policy level, please let us know.