Your handy guide to working with the communications team to develop effective talking points for any
event.
Help! I Need Talking Points!
First, determine how large a role the speaker is playing in the event.
Introduction only: If the speaker will just be introducing another speaker, there's probably no
need for custom talking points. You can find a template for introductory remarks in the Talking
Point Repository on the Resource Center.
Minor role: If the speaker is just saying a few words, simply use one of the templates available
in the Talking Point Repository as a starting point, customize it with what you know will be most
relevant, and send it to Diana Delgado to review.
Significant role: If the speaker is a major part of the program, it will help to have a full set of
message points for them. The communications team can develop those with you. Please read
through the rest of this document for instructions and requirements for submitting a request for
talking points.
Know Your Goal
Before we get started, make sure you can answer the big questions.
Why is the speaker at this event? What is your goal for having them take time to speak?
What is the one thing you want this audience to know?
What one specific action do you want the audience to take?
Know Your Audience
Ask yourself who the speaker needs to motivate to best achieve your goal.
What kind of people are likely to be in the audience? Who is most important to us?
What's the environment like? Is it formal or casual? Quiet or loud? How many people are there?
Will they be eating during the speech? Who else is speaking and what will they be saying?
What – if anything – does the audience already know about No Kid Hungry or our issues? Is our
mission one they are likely to already care about?
How long is the speaker expected to speak?
Do Your Homework
You know the event best; it’s up to you to pull together the most relevant background material.
Context is more important than numbers. Focus more on No Kid Hungry successes or
partnerships relevant to the event or the community, and the context behind the event or
relationship, rather than stats and figures.
What does the speaker want to say? Have you spoken about this with the person who will be
speaking? What do they want to focus on? A quick check-in with them ahead of time can inform
and strengthen the talking points and save on back-and-forth later.
Okay, Let’s Get to Work
Now that you've answered all these questions, use this form to submit your request to Diana Delgado.
She'll make sure it gets into the right hands, and someone will get in touch to work with you. Make sure
you share the background material and the answers to the big questions.
Timing: Please make your request at least three weeks prior to the event. We understand this
won’t always be possible, so if your event is less than three weeks away, please indicate high
priority on the request form.
Talking Points Templates
The comms team is here to help build and customize talking points for speeches, interviews, panels and
meetings. In cases of introductory remarks or minor speaking engagements, however, you may not need
full-blown talking points.
Instead, you can customize pre-existing talking points from our repository on the Resource Center.
Simply use one of the templates in the Resource Center as a starting point, customize it with what you
know will be most relevant to your audience, and send it to Diana Delgado for a quick review.
We currently have templates for the following topics – we will keep these up to date and add to them as
needed, so let us know if you have a specific topic in mind:
No Kid Hungry (general)
Summer Meals
School Breakfast
SNAP
SAMPLE: Talking Points, Summer Meals
GOAL: Encourage listeners to join us in sharing the summer texting number to help more kids get the
food they need.
AUDIENCE: General, consumer, little-to-no deep knowledge around summer meals
KEY TAKEAWAY: Summer hunger is a problem with a solution. Help us share the summer texting
number to help more kids get the food they need.
FOUR SUPPPORTING POINTS
1) The Need: Summer can be the hungriest time of year for kids across the nation.
When schools close, students no longer have access to school meals, and families struggle to
put enough food on the table.
Families already struggling to make ends meet have a tough time in the summer; many are
forced to make unthinkable decisions between whether to buy a bag of groceries or pay
rent, whether to pay the electric bill or buy enough food.
This matters. When kids don’t have consistent access to nutrition for weeks on end, this can
have a long-term impact on a child’s health, ability to learn and general well-being.
2) The Program: Summer Meals feed kids.
The national Summer Food Service Program was created to connect children from low-
income families to the critical nutrition they need during the summer.
Here’s how it works. Summer meals programs are funded by the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA). They’re run by state agencies, like state Departments of Education.
And they’re served at places families already know – churches, schools, libraries, camps.
3) The Problem: Many families don’t know these meals exist.
Only a fraction of the kids who need these meals, though, are getting them. Parents don’t
know about the program, or they don’t know how to find a site. These places change from
year to year, or the times the sites operate are different.
Last year, for example, only about 16% of the kids who rely on free/reduced meals during
the school year were getting meals in the summer.
4) The No Kid Hungry Solution: Spread The Word
That’s where No Kid Hungry comes in. We’re an organization focused on solving problems.
In this case, we realized kids weren’t getting meals because families didn’t have an easy way
to get information. We thought – we can help fix that!
Five years ago, No Kid Hungry developed a texting number to help families and community
leaders find sites. Neighbors, teachers, church leaders and families themselves can text
‘FOOD’ or ‘COMIDA’ to 877-877. Upon doing so, users are given information for the nearest
summer meals sites in their area.
CALL TO ACTION: Share the texting number.
You can help. Spread the word about summer hunger? You can text food to 877-877 to find
summer meal sites – pass it on!
WHAT NOT TO SAY:
Don’t get in the weeds, trying to distinguish between open sites and closed sites, or different programs
like SFSP and NSLP. For this conversation, keep message tight to the awareness problem and texting
solution – save transportation problems and solutions like Summer EBT or non-congregate feeding
options for another time.
