The Consent-Building Clinic Library
On-Demand, "Just-in-Time" Training for Public Sector Challenges
Master the complexities of public-sector work on your own schedule. The Clinic Library is an on-demand video vault designed to give your team immediate, practical solutions to niche public-consent challenges that introductory courses do not have time to cover.
Your program has proven to be the most valuable training that I have received in my career.
What's the Clinic Library?
Here, you can get answers to your problems — on demand.
You’ll have streaming access to 180+ challenges public officials face.
In each session, we deconstruct the problem, then guide you to the solution. It’s more than a one-time fix. It’s a solution that sticks and helps you prevent a repeat of the problem in the future.
Take a Look Inside the Library
Wondering how the platform actually works? Watch this short dashboard walkthrough to see exactly what your team sees when they log in, how to search the 180+ titles, and how to download your session handouts.
A Sampling of Topics
Preview the teaching style, material depth, and presentation format before you subscribe. Watch these three short clip compilations taken directly from inside our featured Clinics:
When the Public Uses This Dirty Tactic on You...
What can you do when a stakeholder stays out of the process until the very end, and then complains that they weren't involved?
Understand why this tactic is being used on your organization, how to handle it, and how to protect your team from being targeted in the future.
Mechanics, Doctors, and Carpenters Don't Do This – Be Sure You Don't!
Why do public professionals grab outreach tools (like meetings and advisory committees) before analyzing what is causing their public to be "uninformed"?
This commonplace, yet deadly mistake creates more anti-government sentiment than it heals.
Learn how to create an informed public without adding fuel to the fire.
Does "Listening" Mean Doing What the Public Wants?
How can you listen to the public when your hands are tied?
Perhaps it is too late in the process, or you simply cannot do what they are asking of you.
Part of your job as a public servant is to listen, but what does that mean if you cannot do what they want you to do?
Explore over 180+ Clinics
Click on each category below to see the specific, high-stakes challenges covered inside the library:
Anti-Government Attitudes
- #37: When Some of Your Stakeholders Harbor Strong Anti-Government Attitudes
- #46: The Key to Reversing Anti-Govt. Beliefs is Buried within the Beliefs Themselves
- #68: "Our 'public' includes people who aren't impacted by our work at all, but are motivated by their hate for government. Help!"
- #69: "As a regulatory agency, our relationship with the public suffers because people don't like to be told what to do. Yet, this is the nature of our work. Help!"
- #76: Are You Making Matters Worse by How You Define Your "Public"?
- #77: Why Your Outreach is Inadvertently Aggravating Anti-Government Attitudes
- #78: Why Anti-Government Attitudes are NATURAL in a Democracy
- #79: Unlocking the Role of Values in Dealing with a Diametrically Opposed Public
- #80: You CAN Get Negatively Impacted Stakeholders to STOP Seeing You as "Them -- Evil Government"
- #81: Beware of Backfire! The More Support You Try to Gain, the More Anti-Government Attitudes You'll Generate
- #82: Using Social Media in the Public-Sector: Why You Should Give a Twit!
- #83: Credibility / Believability. How Do You Get It AND Keep It?
- #84: Does Your Outreach Reflect Your Project's Pace? What if it's "Pants-On Fire", a Slow-Burn, or something in-between?
- #85: You Seek the Public's Input, but Why does it Aggravate Anti-Government Attitudes?
- #86: Get Your Proposals Implemented by Leveraging Common Ground among Anti-Government Groups
- #90: Why You Hate Political Decision-Making as a Technical Expert, but LOVE it as a Citizen
- #91: Is the Fox Guarding Your Henhouse?
- #93: You might have Opponents, but You Don't have Enemies
- #94: "Politics" Isn't a Four-Lettered Word
- #99: Reaching the Right Audience
- #106: Don't Underestimate Your History's Impact (Project, Agency, Profession History)
- #130: How to Stop Opponents from Spreading Lies?
- #148: They never knew what hit them... (Don’t let it happen to you!)
- #163: Preventing "Irrational" Outrage
- #169: Using Social Media to Depolarize Key Interests
Common & Serious Errors
- #4: Balancing Your Vociferous Opponents with Supporters
- #21: Doing Citizen Participation for the Wrong Reasons
- #22: Being Techniques-Driven instead of Objectives-Driven
- #23: Confusing Advice-Giving with Decision-Making
- #24: Overusing Meetings, Advisory Committees, and other Techniques
- #25: Using Public Outreach as Substitute for Responsible Project Management
- #26: Losing Sight of the Big Picture
- #43: "Why did one of our ordinary Public Meetings turn into a nightmare?!?"
- #44:"Even when nothing bad happens, why do our Public Meetings disappoint us and the public?"
- #51: Why Your Public asks - "Why bother asking for public Input? You'll do Whatever You Want Anyway!"
- #53: Fear of Change 1.0 - "People's fear of change makes them cling to the status quo"
- #60: "Agency Leaders Fear Drawing the Public into our Process will Diminish their Decision-Making Authority"
- #81: Beware of Backfire! The More Support You Try to Gain, the More Anti-Government Attitudes You'll Generate
- #85: You seek the public's input, but why does it aggravate anti-government attitudes?
- #92: Lines that must not be crossed, no matter what!
- #100: Do you gain or lose power by involving the public?
- #103: Stakeholders who don't care to get involved until it's too late.
- #108: Don't get bullied into oiling the squeaky wheel
- #111: The missing key to communicating your technical work
- #117: One area where stakeholders often can contribute to your team's technical work.
- #118: Finding gems in stakeholder input
- #122: Understanding stakeholder concerns - even when you're pressed for time
- #136: Ensuring your process is "fair" and "democratic"
- #149: Don’t try to EDUCATE the Public … even when they need educating!
- #153: Why isn’t the public interested until it’s too late?
- #158: Don’t be tempted by the forbidden fruit of public engagement
- #159: The irony of Citizens Groups: they're rarely representative of the citizenry
- #166: Winning at All Costs
- #167: Providing Leadership
- #169: Using Social Media to Depolarize Key Interests
Communication & Crisis Communication
- #5: "Listening" to the Public when Your Hands are Tied
- #6: Dealing with Ignorance, Misinformation & Dis-Information
- #20: What to do when Your Process gets Derailed by Rumors, Accusations, Polarized Stakeholders, etc.
- #30: "Why don't people believe that we listen?!?"
- #31: Why the Media - Instead of Helping, Makes Matters Worse
- #33: "Our process will stretch over years, so our 'public' will change and shift. How do we cope with this flux?"
- #38: Be Careful You're Not (Unintentionally) Over-Promising
- #41: What to do When You Start Your Outreach WAY Late in the Process
- #42: How to Communicate the THREAT Posed by a Problem Over a Long Timeline
- #47: When Communicating about Your Project isn't Enough -- You Need to Provide Leadership to the Public too
- #49: Reaching a Demographic that's Representative of Your Actual Public
- #50: "What can we do when people convey opinions as facts?"
- #52: "There's no shortage of criticism from the public... But there is of Constructive Criticism. How do we change that?"
- #54: What to do when Senior Administrators don't Embrace Early Public Involvement
- #57: "Our public involvement process is too structured. Help!"
- #58: When Negative Past Experiences Influence Your Project (and Stakeholders)
- #61: "People with minority viewpoints are too involved, and people with majority viewpoints don't get involved. How can we change this?!?"
- #63: When You're Confronted at a Public Meeting with a Question You Didn't Anticipate...
- #65: How to Involve Stakeholders that Aren't Local
- #66: Don't Hurt Yourself by Failing to Give Feedback on Solicited Input
- #67: How to Debunk Phony "Facts" from an "Industry of Advocates"
- #70:"Why does the public assume we've already made a decision and getting involved would be a 'waste of their time'?!?"
- #72: "When we involve stakeholders early in our process, many jump prematurely to a solution."
- #74: Your Website Needs a Makeover: Your Most Powerful Tool is likely Most Under-Utilized!
- #75: Social Media is NOT What You Think it's About!
- #78: Why Anti-Government Attitudes are NATURAL
- #80: You CAN Get Negatively Impacted Stakeholders to STOP Seeing You as "Them -- Evil Government"
- #84: Does Your Outreach Reflect Your Project's Pace? What if it's "Pants-On Fire", a Slow-Burn, or something in-between?
- #85: You Seek the Public's Input, but Why does it Aggravate Anti-Government Attitudes?
- #86:Get Your Proposals Implemented by Leveraging Common Ground among Anti-Government Groups?
- #87:Gain Credibility when Bad Things Happen (even when it's your fault!)?
- #88: The REAL Difference between Public versus Private-Sector Work
- #100: Do You Gain or Lose Power by Involving the
- Clinic #101: When opponents are uninformed or clueless
- Clinic #102: Use the media, don’t be used by the media.
- Clinic #103: Stakeholders who don’t care to get involved until it’s too late.
- Clinic #106: Don’t underestimate your history’s impact (project, agency, profession’s history)
- Clinic #107: Are you inadvertently signaling “there’s only winners & losers”?
- Clinic #108: Don’t get bullied into oiling the squeaky wheel
- Clinic #109: Think you’re responsive? try radical responsiveness
- Clinic #110: Public trust is essential, but hard to gain and easy to lose
- Clinic #111: The missing key to communicating your technical work
- Clinic #112: How to get the public to appreciate your project, agency or you — and why they don’t (yet)
- Clinic #118: Finding gems in stakeholder input
- Clinic #119: Prevent the public debate from becoming uninformed… misinformed… downright stupid
- Clinic #120: Make public distrust a distant memory, and trust your new norm
- Clinic #121: How to know you’re communicating effectively (and what to do if you aren’t)
- Clinic #122: Understanding stakeholder concerns — even when you’re pressed for time
- Clinic #124: How to get buy-in when your project has serious negative impacts
- Clinic #126: Overcoming public apathy
- Clinic #127: Engagement for large bureaucracies: it’s difficult but not impossible for large bureaucracies to interact with the public
- Clinic #128: The public is too skeptical of experts, but experts aren’t skeptical enough of the public
- Clinic #129: Stakeholders claim our outreach is fake unless we do what they demand
- Clinic #134: Public outreach doesn’t need to be a “waste of time”
- Clinic #155: Surfacing Pivotal Ideas from Laypeople
- Clinic #157: Your Digital Body Language: it can help/hurt when it comes to misinformation
- Clinic #161: Create Legitimacy by how you Communicate Your Mission
- Clinic #164: Communicating in a Crisis
- Clinic #168: Seeing Your Work through the eyes of Interests with Cultural Differences
Conflict Resolution
- #1: Protect Yourself from being a Target of this (Dirty) Tactic
- #32: Is the Silence of Your Supporters Deafening?
- #79: Unlocking the Role of Values in Dealing with Diametrically Opposed Stakeholders
- Clinic #98: “Real citizen participation is empowerment” really?!?!
- Clinic #104: Stakeholders who threaten “it’s my way or else!”
- Clinic #105: Handling opponents’ media stunts
- Clinic #123: How to deal with both kinds of polarized stakeholders
- Clinic #138: Avoid confrontations between high-level officials
- Clinic #155: Surfacing Pivotal Ideas from Laypeople
- Clinic #156: One of your most powerful tactics: Transparency
- Clinic #159: The irony of Citizens Groups: they're rarely representative of the citizenry
- Clinic #160: A Case Study: Overwhelming support from decision-makers isn’t enough
- Clinic #162: Preventing New Policymakers from Making Bad Decisions
- Clinic #163: Preventing "Irrational" Outrage
- Clinic #165: Decision-Making
- Clinic #166: Winning at All Costs
- Clinic #169: Using Social Media to Depolarize Key Interests
- Clinic #170: When Neighborhood Associations Flex Their Muscle
Consent-Building Tactics
- #1: Protect Yourself from being a Target of this (Dirty) Tactic
- #9: Dealing with the Dilemma Public-Sector Professionals are Inevitably Caught In
- #10: The Tactic of Transforming Adversarial, Divisive "Us vs. Them" Perceptions into a Collaborative "It's Just Us" Attitude
- #11: The Powerful, Versatile Tactic of 'Public Hand-Wringing': a Way of Educating the Public without Lecturing Them
- #13:The Tactic of Using the Bleiker Life Preserver
- #14: The Tactic of Maximizing Input, and Minimizing Pseudo-Input
- #15: The Tactic of Fish-Bowl Planning
- #16: The Tactic of Triggering Higher Values when Your Proposal is Bad News for some Stakeholders
- #17: The Tactic of Stagehands who Operate the Stage-Lights
- #18: The Tactic of Focusing on Consent rather than Consensus
- #19: The Tactic of Nurturing and Protecting Your Credibility
- #22: Being Techniques-Driven instead of Objectives-Driven is the 2nd Most Common Serious Outreach Error
- #35: Why You Instinctively Avoid Your Most Ardent Opponents
- #40: Has "Transparency" Lived Up to all the Hype?
- #82: Using Social Media in the Public-Sector: Why You Should Give a Twit!
- #84: Does Your Outreach Reflect Your Project's Pace? What if it's "Pants-On Fire", a Slow-Burn, or something in-between?
- Clinic #107: Are you inadvertently signaling “there’s only winners & losers”?
- Clinic #134: Public outreach doesn’t need to be a “waste of time”
- Clinic #135: Dealing with interests’ hidden motives
- Clinic #150: Prevent "If only we had known that before!" Scenarios
- Clinic #151: Why Stopping Your Proposals is Easy
- Clinic #153: Why isn’t the public interested until it’s too late?
- Clinic #156: One of your most powerful tactics: Transparency
- Clinic #161: Create Legitimacy by how you Communicate Your Mission
- Clinic #162: Preventing New Policymakers from Making Bad Decisions
- Clinic #164: Communicating in a Crisis
- Clinic #165: Decision-Making
- Clinic #167: Providing Leadership
- Clinic #168: Seeing Your Work through the eyes of Interests with Cultural Differences
Dealing with Opponents' Dirty Tricks
- #1: Protect Yourself from being a Target of this (Dirty) Tactic
- #7: The Double Standard You're Under: Why Your Opponents Get Play Dirty -- and You Can't!
- #17: The Tactic of Stagehands who Operate the Stage-Lights
- #43: "Why did one of our ordinary Public Meetings turn into a nightmare?!?"
- #68: "Our 'public' includes people who aren't impacted by our work at all, but are motivated by their hate for government. Help!"
- #82: Using Social Media in the Public-Sector: Why You Should Give a Twit!
- Clinic #131: When stakeholders distort scientifically settled data
- Clinic #135: Dealing with interests’ hidden motives
- Clinic #137: What you can learn from social media trolls
- Clinic #151: “Why Stopping Your Proposals is Easy”
Dealing with Stakeholder Emotions
- #27: The "Fear of Change"
- #28: "People can be so selfish! How can we get anyone to agree?"
- #32: Is the Silence of Your Supporters Deafening?
- #36: "How can we have a rational dialogue with overly emotional people?"
- #53: Fear of Change 2.0: "People's Fear of Change Makes them Cling to the Status Quo"
- Clinic #104: Stakeholders who threaten “it’s my way or else!”
- Clinic #105: Handling opponents’ media stunts
- Clinic #108: Don’t get bullied into oiling the squeaky wheel
- Clinic #129: Stakeholders claim our outreach is fake unless we do what they demand
- Clinic #133: Why do stakeholders get emotional?
- Clinic #137: What you can learn from social media trolls
- Clinic #148: They never knew what hit them... (Don’t let it happen to you!)
- Clinic #163: Preventing "Irrational" Outrage
- Clinic #166: Winning at All Costs
- Clinic #168: Seeing Your Work through the eyes of Interests with Cultural Differences
- Clinic #169: Using Social Media to Depolarize Key Interests
- Clinic #170: When Neighborhood Associations Flex Their Muscle
Getting Respect & Legitimacy
- #12: You Don't have to be Perfect (or Superman) to Get Your Public to Appreciate You
- #34: "How can we explain why our plans cause some stakeholders to sacrifice more than others?"
- #48: Why the SDIC: Systematic Development of Informed Consent Works
- #60: "Agency Leaders Fear Drawing the Public into our Process will Diminish their Decision-Making Authority"
- #62: "Our projects often raise Environmental Justice issues, this greatly complicates our public outreach."
- #68: "Our 'public' includes people who aren't impacted by our work at all, but are motivated by their hate for government. Help!"
- #69: "As a regulatory agency, our relationship with the public suffers because people don't like to be told what to do. Yet, this is the nature of our work. Help!"
- #73: You Can't Take Sides, but You Aren't "Neutral" Either
- #76: Are You Making Matters Worse by How You Define Your "Public"?
- #83: Credibility / Believability. How Do You Get It AND Keep It?
- #87: Gain Credibility when BAD Things Happen
- #101: When Opponents are Uninformed or Clueless
- Clinic #106: Don’t underestimate your history’s impact (project, agency, profession’s history)
- Clinic #109: Think you’re responsive? try radical responsiveness
- Clinic #110: Public trust is essential, but hard to gain and easy to lose
- Clinic #111: The missing key to communicating your technical work
- Clinic #112: How to get the public to appreciate your project, agency or you — and why they don’t (yet)
- Clinic #113: Your public is so diverse, you can’t please everyone. except – on this one issue
- Clinic #114: Immunize your project from damaging criticism
- Clinic #115: Who is (and is not) your “public”?
- Clinic #120: Make public distrust a distant memory, and trust your new norm
- Clinic #121: How to know you’re communicating effectively (and what to do if you aren’t)
- Clinic #131: When stakeholders distort scientifically settled data
- Clinic #132: Two ways you are antagonizing your public
- Clinic #135: Dealing with interests’ hidden motives
- Clinic #152: Community Engagement is not a substitute for Decision-Making but must make a difference
- Clinic #154: Managing near-"impossible" situations using Consent-Building
- Clinic #157: Your Digital Body Language: it can help/hurt when it comes to misinformation
- Clinic #158: Don’t be tempted by the forbidden fruit of public engagement
- Clinic #160: A Case Study: Overwhelming support from decision-makers isn’t enough
- Clinic #161: Create Legitimacy by how you Communicate Your Mission
- Clinic #162: Preventing New Policymakers from Making Bad Decisions
- Clinic #164: Communicating in a Crisis
Higher Values & Democracy
- #2: Why Science doesn't hold up to "Politics" and what You Can Do about it
- #7: The Double Standard You're Under: Why Your Opponents Get Play Dirty -- and You Can't!
- #16: The Tactic of Triggering Higher Values when Your Proposal is Bad News for some Stakeholders
- #29: "The 'feedback' we get from our outreach is NOT representative of our public. Help!"
- #39: Unfortunately, when it comes to Public Involvement, the saying "the Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions" is true
- #49: Reaching a Demographic that's Representative of Your Actual Public
- #52: "There's no shortage of criticism from the public... But there is of Constructive Criticism. How do we change that?"
- #54: What to do when Senior Administrators don't Embrace Early Public Involvement
- #55: "People aren't willing to help develop solutions. They only criticize ours."
- #56: "How can we keep people from bypassing our Public Involvement process and going straight to the political decision-makers?"
- #61: "People with minority viewpoints are too involved, and people with majority viewpoints don't get involved. How can we change this?!?"
- #64: "How can we involve more people... As many as possible?"
- #71: "How do we convince the public their Input matters?"
- #73: You Can't Take Sides, but You Aren't "Neutral" Either
- #76: Are You Making Matters Worse by How You Define Your "Public"
- #78: Why Anti-Government Attitudes are NATURAL in a Democracy
- #79: Unlocking the Role of Values in Dealing with a Diametrically Opposed Public
- #86: Get Your Proposals Implemented by Leveraging Common Ground among Anti-Government Groups
- Clinic #89: “Politics” isn’t holding you back, it’s part of the process. here’s why…
- Clinic #92: Lines that must not be crossed, no matter what!
- Clinic #98: “Real citizen participation is empowerment” really?!?!
- Clinic #100: Do you gain or lose power by involving the public?
- Clinic #104: Stakeholders who threaten “it’s my way or else!”
- Clinic #105: Handling opponents’ media stunts
- Clinic #112: How to get the public to appreciate your project, agency or you — and why they don’t (yet)
- Clinic #113: Your public is so diverse, you can’t please everyone. except – on this one issue
- Clinic #114: Immunize your project from damaging criticism
- Clinic #115: Who is (and is not) your “public”?
- Clinic #123: How to deal with both kinds of polarized stakeholders
- Clinic #124: How to get buy-in when your project has serious negative impacts
- Clinic #125: “How can we reach all our stakeholders — when we have rules that prohibit us from lobbying policymakers?”
- Clinic #129: Stakeholders claim our outreach is fake unless we do what they demand
- Clinic #130: How to stop opponents from spreading lies?
- Clinic #132: Two ways you are antagonizing your public
- Clinic #133: Why do stakeholders get emotional?
- Clinic #136: Ensuring your process is “fair” and “democratic”
- Clinic #148: They never knew what hit them... (Don’t let it happen to you!)
- Clinic #153: Why isn’t the public interested until it’s too late?
- Clinic #154: Managing near-"impossible" situations using Consent-Building
- Clinic #156: One of your most powerful tactics: Transparency
- Clinic #160: A Case Study: Overwhelming support from decision-makers isn’t enough
- Clinic #163: Preventing "Irrational" Outrage
- Clinic #166: Winning at All Costs
- Clinic #168: Seeing Your Work through the eyes of Interests with Cultural Differences
- Clinic #170: When Neighborhood Associations Flex Their Muscle
Professional Ethics
- Clinic #92: Lines that must not be crossed, no matter what!
Social Media
- #59: Using Social Media: Should You Ask Stakeholders to "Like" You?
- #74: Your Website Needs a Makeover: Your Most Powerful Tool is likely Most Under-Utilized!
- #75: Social Media is NOT What You Think it's About!
- #82: Using Social Media in the Public-Sector: Why You Should Give a Twit!
- Clinic #99: Reaching the right audience
- Clinic #137: What you can learn from social media trolls
- Clinic #138: Avoid confrontations between high-level officials
- Clinic #157: Your Digital Body Language: it can help/hurt when it comes to misinformation
- Clinic #169: Using Social Media to Depolarize Key Interests
Technical Rigor
- #2: Why Science doesn't hold up to "Politics" and what You Can Do about it
- #3: Getting the Public and Policy Decision-Makers to Understand Your Process is Science-Driven
- #8: Preventing "Paralysis by Analysis"
- #34: "How can we explain why our plans cause some stakeholders to sacrifice more than others?"
- #45: You Must Talk Senior Administrators Out of Unrealistic Expectations of Public Outreach
- #50: "What can we do when people convey opinions as facts?"
- #58: When Negative Past Experiences Influence Your Project (and Stakeholders)
- #67: How to Debunk Phony "Facts" from an "Industry of Advocates"
- #70: "Why does the public assume we've already made a decision and getting involved would be a 'waste of their time'?!?"
- #72: "When we involve stakeholders early in our process, many jump prematurely to a solution."
- Clinic #90: Why you hate political decision-making as a technical expert, but love it as a citizen
- Clinic #91: Is the fox guarding your henhouse?
- Clinic #93: You might have opponents, but you don’t have enemies
- Clinic #101: When opponents are uninformed or clueless
- Clinic #111: The missing key to communicating your technical work
- Clinic #112: How to get the public to appreciate your project, agency or you — and why they don’t (yet)
- Clinic #113: Your public is so diverse, you can’t please everyone. except – on this one issue
- Clinic #114: Immunize your project from damaging criticism
- Clinic #115: Who is (and is not) your “public”?
- Clinic #117: One area where stakeholders often can contribute to your team’s technical work
- Clinic #118: Finding gems in stakeholder input
- Clinic #119: Prevent the public debate from becoming uninformed… misinformed… downright stupid
- Clinic #154: Managing near-"impossible" situations using Consent-Building
- Clinic #155: Surfacing Pivotal Ideas from Laypeople
- Clinic #165: Decision-Making
The Role of Politics
Us vs. Them
- #37: When Some of Your Stakeholders Harbor Strong Anti-Government Attitudes
- #46: The Key to Reversing Anti-Govt. Beliefs is Buried within the Beliefs Themselves
- #68: “Our ‘public’ includes people who aren’t impacted by our work at all, but are motivated by their hate for government. Help!”
- #69: “As a regulatory agency, our relationship with the public suffers because people don’t like to be told what to do. Yet, this is the nature of our work. Help!”
- #77: Why Your Outreach is Inadvertently Aggravating Anti-Government Attitudes
- #81: Beware of Backfire! The More Support You Try to Gain, the More Anti-Government Attitudes You’ll Generate
- #86: Get Your Proposals Implemented by Leveraging Common Ground among Anti-Government Groups
- #89: Politics” Isn’t Holding You Back, It’s Part of the Process. Here’s Why…
- #90: Why You Hate Political Decision-Making as a Technical Expert, but LOVE it as a Citizen.
- #91: What can you do when a political appointee intends to gut your agency? (Actually, a lot!)
- #93: This is an advanced Consent-Building topic, based on American Values and what to do when opponents play dirty, malign, and personally attack you.
- #100: Do You Gain or Lose Power by Involving the Public?
- #102: Use the Media, Don’t be Used by the Media
- Clinic #107: Are you inadvertently signaling “there’s only winners & losers”?
- Clinic #110: Public trust is essential, but hard to gain and easy to lose
- Clinic #111: The missing key to communicating your technical work
- Clinic #117: One area where stakeholders often can contribute to your team’s technical work
- Clinic #120: Make public distrust a distant memory, and trust your new norm
- Clinic #123: How to deal with both kinds of polarized stakeholders
- Clinic #124: How to get buy-in when your project has serious negative impacts
- Clinic #130: How to stop opponents from spreading lies?
- Clinic #132: Two ways you are antagonizing your public
- Clinic #133: Why do stakeholders get emotional?
- Clinic #149: Don’t try to EDUCATE the Public … even when they need educating!
- Clinic #150: Prevent "If only we had known that before!" Scenarios
- Clinic #166: Winning at All Costs
- Clinic #169: Using Social Media to Depolarize Key Interests
Included Benefit: Live Coaching Support
To ensure your team successfully transitions from theory to action, every annual subscription includes a 90-minute live group coaching session.
Most organizations use this dedicated time to bring their active, real-world projects to our instructors. Together, we will process how the library's materials directly apply to your team's current work, troubleshoot ongoing public pushback, and map out an immediate action plan.
What Public Sector Leaders Are Saying
"This course is amazing! The ideas are great, putting them to work -- I think -- will be hard but rewarding."
- Erin Stang, Enviro. Prgm Specialist
AK Dept of Environmental Conservation
"Superb! After 27 years as a consultant, I now have the reasons why some projects I've done succeeded and other didn't."
-Sharon Donnovan
Director of Planning & Project Development
"Awesome and eye-opening. I see the errors I made in the past."
-Jeannine Fleegle, Wildlife Biologist
Pennsylvania Game Commission
"At the risk of sounding immodest - over the years I've been complimented on my ability to communicate to the public and other non-govt entities, gain their respect and work out differences. Actually, it's you [the Bleikers] who deserve the most credit because I learned from you the fundamentals that allowed me to be the best I could be."
-Raymond Werner, Chief
Air Programs Branch, EPA
"Outstanding! It's a paradigm-shift!"
-Mike Higgins, Assistant City Manager
Eau Claire, WI
"There's no comparison between this course and other continuing ed training. You have encouraged me to become a better public servant."
-Adrian Early, Dir. of Operations
Covington Housing Authority, KY
"A fabulous communication program. This training can be life changing if practised."
-Lillian Abbott Operations
Township of Huron-Kinloss, Canada
"Your courses convinced me that 'Informed Consent' makes the difference when diverse groups attempt to resolve contentious issues."
-Chuck Phillips
Environmental Facilitation
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• Individual logins for up to 25 members
• Access to 180+ Clinics & handouts
$1,475 / year
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Entire agencies, cross-functional departments, or enterprise-wide rollouts
• Individual logins for up to 225 members
• Access to 180+ Clinics & handouts
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do we have access?
Subscriptions are billed annually. As long as your subscription is active, your designated team members have unlimited, 24/7 access to watch the material as much as they like.
Does everyone share one login?
No. Every member under your plan (up to 25 or 225, depending on the tier) receives their own unique login credentials so they can track their own learning.
Start Your Subscription
Free Access for 48-hrs
to Critical Topics$Free
- You'll learn:
- - Why stakeholders get SO emotional
- - What you CAN learn from Social Media Trolls
- And how counterintuitive and effective our approach is!
Annual Access
Key Team Members Only - 25 Users$1,475
- Tackle the hardest challenges to public-sector work by giving your team access to on-demand help.
- Give your team the support they need by giving 25 users (Key Team Members Only) the ability to stream our best advice on topics specific to public-sector work.
Annual Access
Whole Team - 225 Users$2,210
- Tackle the hardest challenges to public-sector work by giving your team access to on-demand help.
- Give your team the support they need by giving 225 users (Whole Team Access) the ability to stream our best advice on topics specific to public-sector work.