I can count on one hand the number of times that I have met
someone in an elevator or similar space and had them instruct
me to pitch them on Gender in the time that I have been
working in the WPS/ Gender space. The odds that you will have
a transactional “ok give me the WPS pitch” engagement with
someone that you want to influence are low. Though you should
prepare for them, preparing yourself to communicate interdis-
ciplinarily and spontaneously will help you make opportunities
to have a conversation about WPS, and ensure that you get that
follow on meeting or seat at the table, which is essential for
WPS to continue to propagate the WPS agenda to the widest
audience possible.
The ability to clearly and concisely describe not only the skills
and responsibilities of a Gender Advisor (GENAD), but the
value a GENAD brings to the fight, is absolutely key. Recog-
nizing the moment to ‘pitch someone’ and seizing it could
make the difference between a meeting a week from now, and a
meeting six months from now. The following are a few tools and
techniques to co nsider when preparing to pitch WPS. These
tools are based on experience from progress made in the infor-
mal meeting that are never scheduled and are largely sponta-
neous.
Become a student of the command
A lot of the success of a pitch depends on preparation and
“thought experimenting” prior to engagement. “Thought exper-
iments” consist of going through a series of ‘what if ’ scenarios
and determining how to address specific priorities based on the
tenants of the command; this is why it is essential to know the
organization inside and out. In the top-down driven world of
military, it is safe to say that every person is going to be con-
cerned with the commander’s priorities and what they can affect
within that structure.
effort and memorize them, know the theater priorities of each
commander. What keeps a commander up at night, then cross-
walk those command imperatives and identify the opportuni-
ties where WPS/ gender perspective can help. Do this at least as
a mental/verbal exercise, or write it down (this process could be
used when developing talking points) and practice articulating
it!
Try the talking points out on someone who is lower level, but
deeply involved in the command’s lines of effort. Test out the
tie-ins and arguments with these folks and, if they have an
adverse reaction, invite them to help change the narrative to
wording that will resonate with the command. How can WPS
be explained better to emphasize the WPS agenda synergy with
the command lines of effort? Make appropriate changes, then
pitch again--iterate!
Know your (potential) audience(s)
This can be the most important aspect of whether or not the
intended audience is successfully reached. In a general sense:
know the senior leaders in the command; read their biogra-
phies. Know what their roles and responsibilities are within the
command and determine their specific responsibilities from
an organizational perspective. This will drive the topics and
language when engaging with them.
This involves a certain fluidity, changing vocabulary in order to
fit the audience. This interdisciplinary communication reduces
the cognitive load on the receiving party and enables them to
immediately see the value and synergy of WPS with their or-
ganizational interests. Leveraging language as an entrée to new
audiences takes skill--but exercising this skill set like a muscle
improves its delivery.
No idea where to start? Talk with someone who is in uniform
Spending time becoming familiar with the command is not only that previously served with the senior leaders, who are the
intended audience. As uniformed counterparts, what language
a good use of time, it will also enhance familiarization with the
resonates with Intelligence Officers, for example, to better de-
organizational language used to describe the functions of the
scribe a clearer operational environment. An unanticipated side
command. Pay attention to this language and integrate it into
effect of this interaction might be the creation of an ally while
thought experiments. In order to do this well, read the strate-
determining the best way to phrase WPS in a Combat Arms/
gic documents, take careful notes of what are the main lines of
Fires/ Maneuver/ Intelligence etc way.
14