ABSTRACT
Over ten years ago when I was president of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), one of the few tasks I routinely dreaded was the organisationȇs annual trek to Capitol Hill. There NCTE officers and staff would meet with members of the US Congress and their aides in order to promote legislative issues as well as NCTEȇs literacy initiatives. while staff members of NCTE and our Capitol Hill lobbyist made sure we NCTE officers were always fully prepared with ‘talking points’ and the requisite facts and figures for the multiple meetings, I never was comfortable in the role and always fretted about my effectiveness. The cause was undeniably important, but in the meetings we had very little time to make our points, the audience was largely unfamiliar with our work, and the stakes were high.
