The Campaign Messaging Workbook
A guide to researching, planning, and creating your campaign messaging — main issues, secondary issues, and how to answer your opponent, with a page to fill in for every one.
- 20-page PDF
- Instant download
- A page to fill in for every issue
Everything you need to say — and say it well.
Every email, every speech, every door conversation and every mailer starts from the same place: your message. Get it wrong and voters can't tell you apart from anyone else on the ballot. This workbook shows you how to build a message that's clear, focused and ready for anything your opponent throws at it.
Three steps to one clear message.
The workbook takes you through your message in order: the issues you'll lead with, the ones that matter but can't lead, and your opponent. Each section explains what to do, then gives you the pages to do it. When you're done, you have your whole message in writing, ready for your website, your mail and every conversation you'll have.
A worksheet for every step.
Choose the issues you'll lead with.
We show you how to pick the handful of issues your campaign will run on, put each one in words voters will remember, and build it into a position you can defend in front of a reporter, a debate moderator or a voter at the door.
- How to choose the issues that matter most to you and your district
- How to say each one in a way voters will remember
- How to turn each issue into a full, defensible position
- A page to fill in for every main issue
Be ready for everything else.
We show you how to handle the issues that matter to voters but can't lead your campaign, so you're never caught without an answer and never let them pull your message off course.
- How to decide which issues are secondary
- How to keep them from diluting your main message
- How to adjust as issues rise and fall during the race
- A page to fill in for every secondary issue
Know your answer before they ask.
We show you how to research your opponent's message, find the claims that don't hold up, and prepare your response before the attack ever comes, so you can answer calmly when it matters.
- How to research your opponent's main issues
- How to spot the weak points in their case
- How to use their record if they've held office
- A page to write your response to each one
What's included.
Built after guiding candidates at local, state and federal level through the same message work.
- 20 pages, with a fillable worksheet page for every issue you develop
- Main issue messaging — pick three or four, then expand each with evidence and sources
- Secondary issue messaging — the ones that matter but can't lead
- Opposition messaging — research your opponent, then refute them
Built for the people who do the work.
First-time candidates
You know why you're running. This turns that into a message you can say in a sentence and defend in a debate.
Communications directors
One written record of every position, so the website, the emails, the mail and the speeches all say the same thing.
Campaign managers
Keep the candidate on message and ready for the attack you know is coming.
A note from Craig.
I created this workbook after guiding hundreds of candidates through message development: long hours editing bad candidate statements, and helping many elected officials craft their official and unofficial policy papers.
The steps in this workbook are the same ones I've used with candidates at every level of office. The goal is always the same: a message that resonates with voters and shows you're serious about the issues that matter to them.
It's not rocket science, but it is work. You'll do some research, some critical thinking and some writing. And it works even if you don't like writing. I designed these steps so everyone can complete them.
Do it now, in a quiet month, and you'll answer the hard questions calmly in September.
The Campaign Messaging Workbook
Get the workbook that will help you craft your entire message and communications plan.
Prefer to be walked through it? The Message Lab covers every page of this workbook in video lessons, and what you pay for the workbook counts toward the course. Learn about The Message Lab →