Page 394 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

Making Public Presentations of the Group’s Output 377

Public Meetings

One aspect of preparing for group presentations is understanding the occasion for the
presentation. Public meetings come with their own challenges, both to the officials
who call these meetings and to the public who attend them. Let’s take a look at these
special occasions for group presentations.
Public meetings or hearings are designed to allow the attendees to be a part of
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public policy making. Public agencies are typically responsible for calling and man-
aging these meetings. They occur at the local, state, or federal level and are called
for several reasons: to discuss issues, evaluate options, provide and obtain informa-
tion, create recommendations, review projects, and make decisions. They often
have several different interested audiences, including citizen groups, planning com-
mittees, school boards, neighborhood associations, and zoning commissions. For
example, a local school board in California held public meetings to discuss whether
it should end the tradition of using Indian tribe names to refer to school athletic
teams. On another occasion, a park system solicited public feedback regarding a
proposed improvement to one of the parks.
Such meetings are part of our U.S. tradition of participatory government. They
are intended to encourage the participation of local individuals in government deci-
sion making. Unfortunately, not only is there little research about public meetings,
but there is also a strong sense that they do not meet these ideals. The public often
thinks that such meetings are held only to meet legally obligations, but that the
agencies are not really interested in the public’s feedback.
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Public meetings are often conducted using the “DAD” model. The agency in
question makes its decision or creates policy (decides), advances a campaign to win
support for the policy (advocates), and only then asks the citizens to comment and
approve the policy (defends). The public is invited to a meeting, given a forum to
comment for a short time limit, and then asked to support the decision that has
already been made. No wonder many citizen groups think that these meetings are
held only as a formality. But you can improve such public meetings if you know how
to make them more effective public problem- solving events.
When agency officials describe the attributes of a successful public meeting,
their responses mirror many of the principles that we outlined in the three stages to
an effective public presentation. 6
■ Planning the public meeting: Good planning entails selecting the right time and
place to encourage participation and providing ample publicity in advance. Since
the meetings are open to the public, officials may not always know who will be
there and why. Knowing much about the audience is essential. The meeting must
have a clear purpose and format. Visual aids must be prepared and scheduled. Any
outside agencies need to be contacted and scheduled. Rehearsals have to be held
and potential questions must be prepared for.
Do not underestimate the importance of preplanning for public meetings.
Beck, Littlefield, and Weber analyzed the successful meetings held by a variety of
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public officials during a record flood in Fargo, North Dakota, in 2009. The
meetings needed to convey a sense of calm and to inspire citizens with

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