--- name: speak-at-the-council description: "Turn three minutes at a council or community meeting into the version that actually moves the decision — a public comment built as ask-story-evidence-ask, timed to the real decision process, with a neighbor coalition plan and the written follow-up officials can act on. Use when someone says 'I want to speak at the council meeting', 'they're planning X on our street', 'how do I fight this decision', or 'write my public comment'. Produces the 3-minute speech, the one-page leave-behind, and the campaign timeline." --- # Speak At The Council Skill Most public comments are three minutes of justified feeling aimed at a decision that was effectively made two committee stages earlier. The residents who win learned the machine: find *where* the decision actually is in the process, speak to what the deciding body is allowed to consider, bring neighbors so it reads as "residents" not "a resident," and hand over a one-pager — because minutes summarize speeches, but documents get filed. This skill builds that: the speech, the paper, the allies, and the timing. ## What This Skill Produces - The **3-minute comment**: ask first, one human story, two checkable facts, the ask again with a specific action — written for speaking, timed - A **one-page leave-behind**: the ask, the evidence, the map/photo note, contact details — the artifact that survives the meeting - A **coalition plan**: turning three annoyed neighbors into ten present ones, who says what (non-repeating angles), and the sign-up sheet moment - The **process map**: where this decision actually lives, deadlines for formal objections/comments, and who to lobby before the public bit — flagged for local verification, since every council's machinery differs ## Required Inputs Ask for (if not already provided): - The issue and the specific decision coming (a planning application? a budget line? a road change?) plus any reference numbers/links - What outcome they want, said plainly — oppose entirely? conditions? delay? alternative? - Their story and evidence so far, and how many neighbors are genuinely bothered - What they know of the process/dates (the skill flags what to find out at the council's own site — never invents procedure) ## Framework 1. **Find the real decision point.** Public speaking slots are often ceremonial; the movable moment is usually earlier (officer report, consultation window, committee agenda-setting). Map: formal objection deadlines → who writes the officer recommendation → which body decides → when speaking happens. Each element gets a verify-at-your-council flag with what to search for. 2. **Speak to the criteria, not the feeling.** Deciding bodies can only weigh what they're allowed to weigh (planning: material considerations; budgets: statutory duties and consultation). Translate the grievance into their categories — "this violates the parking standard in your own local plan" outworks "this will ruin our street," even though the second is why everyone came. 3. **Structure the three minutes as ask-story-evidence-ask.** Open with the ask in one sentence (they're deciding X; we ask you to Y) → one specific human story, 45 seconds, concrete → two facts they can check (with the source named aloud) → close with the ask plus the action ("defer until a traffic survey is done"). Write it at speaking pace (~130 wpm) and mark the cut-line for chairs who enforce 2 minutes. 4. **Multiply witnesses, don't repeat them.** Each speaker takes one angle (safety, precedent, process flaw, alternative); repetition wastes slots. Non-speakers attend and stand when referenced — visible number, single voice. The sign-up sheet at the meeting converts the audience into the mailing list for round two. 5. **Follow up in writing within 48 hours.** The one-pager emailed to every member who sat there, with thanks, the ask, and the evidence links. Decisions wobble between meetings; paper is what wobbles them. ## Output Format ``` ## The decision, mapped [What's being decided, by whom, when · the earlier movable moments · verify-at-your-council items with search terms] ## Your 3 minutes (speaking pace, cut-line marked) [The speech, ask-story-evidence-ask] ## The leave-behind (one page) [Ask · evidence with sources · the visual note · who you represent · contact] ## Coalition plan [Who takes which angle · the stand-when-referenced move · sign-up sheet] ## The next 48 hours and the next stage [Follow-up email text · the earlier-stage lobbying if time remains] ``` ## Quality Checks - [ ] The ask appears in the first and last sentences of the speech, and it's an action the body can actually take - [ ] Facts in the speech are checkable and sourced aloud; the feeling is carried by the story, not by adjectives - [ ] The speech reads aloud inside 3 minutes with a marked 2-minute cut - [ ] Every procedural claim carries a verify-local flag — no invented council process - [ ] Speaker angles don't overlap; the coalition plan survives two no-shows ## Anti-Patterns - [ ] Do not write outrage — the angriest speech in the room is the most ignorable; controlled specificity reads as dangerous to ignore - [ ] Do not attack the members deciding — tonight's opponent is next round's swing vote - [ ] Do not spend the three minutes on background; they have the papers, you have the ask - [ ] Do not assert planning law or council procedure as fact — criteria framing yes, legal advice no - [ ] Do not let ten people say the same thing worse ## Related [[stakeholder-influence-mapper]] for reading the committee; [[press-release]] when the campaign needs the local paper; [[agm-in-a-box]] — the same machinery from the chair's side. ## Example Trigger Phrases - "I want to speak at the council meeting." - "How do I fight this decision?" - "Write my public comment."