Ten Tips To Make Your Voice Heard in Public Meetings

Many important topics will be considered this year by city councils and school boards in the Lake Minnetonka area.

For local residents who want to participate in the decision making, we have tips about how best to make points at these meetings. 

Everyone benefits when members of the public participate effectively in decisions made by local government. For simplicity we’re going to refer to the city council in the following tips, but all tips (except Item No. 3 below) apply to all school board and public city meetings as well.

1. Read the staff report in advance of the meeting. This will help you understand the scope of the agenda topic, and the facts. Staff reports are usually available online at least three calendar days before the meeting.
2. Dry run your comments in advance to be sure they can be said within the time limit, usually three minutes. The chair might limit the comment time to one or two minutes if there are many speakers.
3. If you can’t say your comments within the likely time allowed or just can’t get to the meeting, e-mail your comments in advance to the city admistrator/manager, mayor or a city councilman. If you send these comments several days in advance, they may be copied in the electronic and paper handouts, so know your e-mail address could be made public.

1. Stay seated and silent—do not applaud, cheer, boo or interrupt other speakers. When the chair calls for public comment on your topic, move to the podium and speak into the microphone. If it appears there will be many speakers on your topic, get into the speaker line to expedite comment presentation.
2. When it is your turn at the podium, direct your eye contact and comments to the council, never to the audience.
3. Begin comments with self-identification.
4. Be brief. Focus on the scope of what the agenda topic wording allows the council to consider.  
5. Be calm and factual. Saying, “I am very concerned about blight” is much better than ranting. Quoting reliable and objective sources or sharing photographs provides facts.
6. Be constructive and polite. 
7. If a preceding a speaker already said all you want to say, just recap in one sentence: "I agree with speakers ABC and XYZ, please do (whatever is the action you want council to take)."