Improving Citizen Participation and Feedback in Your Bagh: AManual on Town Halls
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• Using issue relevant exercises and/or worksheets. For ex-
ample, meeting participants can help identify funding pri-
orities by choosing among a pre-determined selection of
programs.
III.Organizing your town hall meeting
Preparation is key to an effective town hall meeting. Cit-
izens and civil society groups that are attending the meet-
ing will not always be on your side and support what you
have to say. There will always be people who criticize you
and are against you, so preparing for the town hall meeting
is crucial. The topics and issues to be discussed should be
studied carefully as people will ask difficult questions. If
you are not able to answer those questions, it is an opportu-
nity for your opponents and detractors. In addition to prepa-
ration on the meeting topic, a certain degree of organiza-
tional preparedness is needed, such as ensuring that meeting
announcements are sent, the moderator is informed of his/
her duties, and that the meeting minutes will be recorded.
Five steps to get started
To help you get started on planning your town hall meet-
ing, we’ve outlined some basic key steps for you to think
about:
1. Analyze the needs of the community where the meet-
ing will take place to ensure the elected officials in at-
tendance possess the credentials necessary to address
citizens’ likely concerns
2. Coordinate the event details: arrange for a time/date
and venue, invite all relevant officials, visit the ven-
ue to guarantee it is suitable and prepared, confirm all
details regarding the venue and event with key stake-
holders and the elected officials
3. Meet with department heads and staff relevant to the
