An important part of the community outreach effort for a new water utility project is conductingspeaking engagements in the community. These presentations provide information about theproject to the public and offer opportunities for the public to ask questions of staff closest to theproject.If the normal human reaction holds true, project team members may be terrified when told abouttheir potential role in a Speaker's Bureau. In addition, if the staff at a water utility have nevercreated a Speaker's Bureau program focused on a specific project, getting started may be adaunting task. Yet, the negative effects of not going out into the community to speak about anew project or program are well documented. Public opinion will develop on its own, rumorswill appear to be true, and unfounded opposition quickly grows.At times, the Speaker's Bureau for a new project or program may need to be created andoperational in a very short period of time. There may be a small budget. Identified speakersfrom the project team may have varying levels of public speaking experience. With an organizedaction plan, a project specific Speaker's Bureau can get out into the community quickly and giveeffective presentations to the public.This paper presents the specific steps needed to design and implement a Speaker's Bureaufocused on a single subject. The steps provided can be used by anyone who needs to inform thepublic about a proposed project, study, master plan, or capital construction project. The term"project" will be used to describe a hypothetical program or project needing public outreachactivities that include a Speaker's Bureau. As an example of a start-up Speaker's Bureau, thispaper references and provides samples from the City of San Diego Water Department's WaterReuse Study, which concluded in 2006.
