Advancing knowledge, shaping policy, inspiring practice

1. Advancing knowledge, shaping policy, inspiring practice www.odi.org.uk

2. Policy Briefs A flexible tool for research communications Gala DíazLangou – CIPPEC Nick Scott - ODI 15 June 2011

3. Planning policy briefs: communications activities • Policy Briefs are one of many communications tools Source: CIPPEC and GDN’s Comparative Analysis of think tanks in Asia, Africa and Latin America

4. Planning policy briefs: communications activities • Timing is important • When do policy-makers use scientific information in the policy cycle?

5. Becoming familiar with policy briefs What they are, how do they work?

6. Becoming familiar with policy briefs • Policy Briefs are the most popular form of publication in think tanks. Why? Because they can help bridge the large gaps between the research and policy communities Source: CIPPEC and GDN’s Comparative Analysis of think tanks in Asia, Africa and Latin America

7. Becoming familiar with policy briefs: an exercise • Divide into groups – decide who will report back • There are covered Policy Briefs hidden on each table. DON’T LOOK YET! • When we say ‘GO’, you will have TWO MINUTES to read through the policy brief (you may want to take notes) • After two minutes, hide the Policy Brief again. Now write down (in groups) the answers to the following questions (five minutes – no peeping) ...:

8. Becoming familiar with policy briefs: an exercise • Write down (in groups) the answers to the following questions (five minutes – no peeping): • What issue is the policy brief aiming to change, validate or inform on? • What recommendations are made? • Who do you think is the audience for this brief? • Each group will present their answers (2.5 minutes/group)

9. Becoming familiar with policy briefs: types of policy briefs • Different types of policy briefs: • Policy Briefs as a memo • Policy Briefs as a publication • Policy Briefs as a marketing tool / handout • Policy Briefs as a targeted research summary • What type of policy brief developed can depend on the objectives and messages of a piece/pieces of research (for example, your evaluations), the audience identified, the authors of the brief, the specific context the work is undertaken in and what other communications activities are being planned.

10. Planning policy briefs Increasing impact by identifying audience, objectives, messages, authors, context and wider communications plans

11. Planning policy briefs: considering the objectives

12. Planning policy briefs: considering the objectives

13. Cabinet Donors Policy Formulation Parliament Agenda Setting Decision Making Civil Society Ministries Monitoring and Evaluation Policy Implementation Private Sector Planning policy briefs: considering the context

14. Planning policy briefs: considering the audience • Who is the brief aimed at? • Does the audience know us? • How much does the target audience know about the issue? • How do they perceive the issue? • What questions do need answers to? • How open are they to your message(s)?

15. The shoes of your audience

16. Planning policy briefs: considering the audience Policy-makers views: • Do present evidence-informed opinions • Don’t shy away from opinion and value judgements • But signpost which content is subjective and which is objective

17. Planning policy briefs: considering the authors • What do we know? • What are institutional limitations (knowledge, messaging)? • What are our areas of credibility? • The writers • The organisation

18. Planning policy briefs: considering the authors

19. Becoming familiar with policy briefs: our policy briefs

20. Planning policy briefs: choosing structure and content • Potential sections of a policy brief, and some reasons to include them: • Executive summary (allow people to see argument without getting put off by length: interest them to readon) • Title (punchy to attract attention or descriptive to highlight specific issue being tackled) • Introduction (explain importance of issue, create curiosity about the brief) • Policy options and costings(show the problem and alternatives has been fully considered)

21. Planning policy briefs: choosing structure and content • Potential sections of a policy brief, and some reasons to include them: • Results and conclusions (highlight evidence base) • Implications or recommendations (offer direct or indirect areas for action) • Methodology(can convey authority, credibility, weight and tone) • References and useful resources (highlight evidence base and offer routes for further reading)

22. Planning policy briefs: the role of design • Format & design can: • Engagepeople to pick a policy brief up (photographs, pull quotes) • Highlightcrucial information (title and topic, recommendation or key points, sidebars) • Separatecontent, such as core and additional text (for example, methodology and case studies) • Conveyauthority (by styling of through branding and use of logos) • Show information in different ways (for example, graphs and charts)

23. Planning policy briefs: considering the objectives

24. Planning policy briefs: presenting your argument • What do you want to say, and to whom? • Summarise the main point, argument or line of reasoning into one or two clear and accessible sentences • Messaging is about prioritisation, not about ‘dumbing down’ • Messages should be both clear and consistent,and should tell a coherent story

25. Planning policy briefs: presenting your argument

26. The elevator pitch

27. ExerciseThe elevator pitch tool • Write your 3 key messages (5 minutes) • Split into pairs – one of you is a policy maker that you meet in the lift, going from the 1st to the 12th floor. You have 2 minutes to pitch your key messages. Switch. (4 minutes – 2 minutes each)

28. Before we finish…

29. The views presented here are those of the speakers, and do not necessarily represent the views of ODI, CIPPEC or our partners. www.odi.org.uk www.cippec.org gdiazlangou@cippec.org n.scott@odi.org.uk