Preparing and Delivering Congressional Testimony
For Agencies, Military, Businesses, NGOs, and Associations

How to Prepare to Testify at Oversight, Legislation, Celebrity, CEO, and Confirmation Hearings

This course is designed to help anyone involved with preparing or delivering testimony before a congressional committee -- whether working in an agency, the military, business, an NGO, or an association -- to prepare and deliver that testimony more effectively at authorization hearings, budget and appropriations hearings, agency and business congressional oversight hearings, celebrity hearings, CEO hearings, and confirmation hearings.

Our experienced faculty explore all aspects of testimony preparation including research, persuasion and the proper structure of both written and oral testimony. Participants learn delivery and listening techniques, ways to deal with anxiety and best practice techniques for addressing both Q&A sessions and challenging situations.

More Information
Agenda	When	Where	Related Training	Policies	Related Resources

The leadership competencies for this course include:

• External Awareness
• Influencing
• Written Communication
• Political Savvy

Also see

• Tips for Visual Layout of Oral Statement when Testifying Before Congress

Bring this course to your site. This course and any combination of its topics are available as custom on-site training for your organization. We have tailored this course for attorneys, military officers including flag level, foreign service officers, SES, political appointees, engineers, scientists, and others in agencies, military, national and state associations, and law enforcement.  For more information about how this training can help your members and staff, please contact our client liaison.

This is an elective course for the Certificate in Communication and Advocacy.

Space is limited. 

Course materials include the Training Edition of Testifying Before Congress By William N. LaForge "This informative 'how-to' guide should be required reading for every new congressional staffer and for the congressional relations staff of every federal department and agency." -- Lawrence Baca, President, Federal Bar Association, and Deputy Director of the Office of Tribal Justice in the Department of Justice (Retired) More Reviews

Course Details

Agenda	Preparing and Delivering Congressional Testimony 9:00 am - 4:30 pm (networking lunch at noon)   The Committee Hearing Environment We review the role of committees, types of committees and subcommittees, the hearing process in Congress, types of committee hearings, role of the committee chairman in hearings, the role committee staff play in deciding hearing subject matter, selecting witnesses, and preparing questions. Congressional Hearings: A Staff Perspective A panel of committee staff members describe the work and organization of their committees, how these committees prepare for hearings, what staff and members expect from witnesses, and how witnesses from executive branch agencies and other organizations can build a good working relationship with committee staff before, during, and after hearings. The staffers will also discuss what they, and members of Congress, believe makes effective testimony, and provide suggestions for witnesses preparing for hearings. Testimony Preparation and Rehearsal The instructor reviews all aspects of testimony preparation, including research preparation, audience analysis and the process of persuasion, key documents to be prepared before the hearing and how to effectively use each one, and rehearsing and mock hearings. Testimony Delivery How to format and organize testimony in a way that improves oral delivery, review tone, body language, and gestures, and when and how to use visual aids during a hearing. Examples of Effective and Non-effective Testimony and Question-and-Answer Techniques Witness/member of Congress dynamics, the "art" of responding to questions, the importance of preparing written "Q-and-A modules" for all anticipated questions, and other important tools and techniques will be presented. Participants will view video footage of actual congressional hearings that illustrate key do's and don'ts.   For a printable course description, agenda with dates, and registration form, click here.  PDF This course is available as a custom 1-day or 2-day program with one-on-one feedback.   Do you need a training course we don't offer or coverage of an additional topic in this course? If you have suggestions for courses or topics you would like to see us offer, please contact us or complete our online suggestion form.
Suggested Prerequisites	None.  This course is designed for staff who prepare written testimony and for staff who actually testify on the Hill. If you need help deciding which courses you should take based on your work experience or training, please contact us via email or phone: 703-739-3790.
Time and Dates	9:00 am to 4:30 pm Th, July 19, 2012
Location	July 19, 2012:  Location in Washington, DC will be announced before course. Other dates:  Location in Washington, DC will be announced before course.  Our courses are held at these Washington, DC, locations.
Course Materials	Course manual included.
Certificate of Training and CEUs	A Certificate of Training is available for this course. To get a Certificate of Training, your registration fee must be paid in full, and you must attend the entire course. This is an elective course for the Certificate in Communication and Advocacy. This course is approved for .6 CEUs from George Mason University.
Related Training	Advanced Media Relations Workshop Crisis Communications Training Effective Executive Briefings Media Relations for Public Affairs Professionals Public Affairs and the Internet: Advanced Techniques and Strategies Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill Speechwriting: Preparing Speeches and Oral Presentations Writing for Government and Business: Critical Thinking and Writing Writing to Persuade
Policies	For this course, cancellations and transfers must be submitted in writing to us.  Substitutions must be submitted in writing - include substitute's name, phone and email. Our transfer and cancellation fees are outlined below. Transfer and Cancellation Fee Time Before Course Substitutions Allowed Transfer Fee Cancellation Fee More than 4 weeks No charge No charge No charge 15 days to 4 weeks No charge 10% of tuition 25% of tuition 4 days to 2 weeks No charge 20% of tuition 50% of tuition 1 to 3 days No charge 30% of tuition 75% of tuition day of program (no refunds to no-shows) No charge No refund No refund No refunds for no shows. We reserve the right to change this fee and time period.  Cancellation, Substitution and Transfer Policy  Weather Policy TCN reserves the right to cancel any course in the event of insufficient registrations. All statements and discussion at all of our courses, workshops and seminars, public and custom, are off the record and not for attribution, unless specified otherwise. The resulting confidentiality ensures a frank and free exchange of views.
FAQs	FAQs about our training including suggested attire.
Register	$595 Payment methods we accept include checks, EFT/ACH, and Intuit Payment Network (IPN).     For a printable course description, agenda with dates, and registration form, click here.  PDF Fax or Mail: Print out and complete the registration form (in Adobe pdf). The completed form should include your method of payment.    Fax the completed form to us at 703-739-1195.    Mail the completed form to us at TheCapitol.Net, Inc., PO Box 25706, Alexandria, VA  22313-5706
Related Resources	Common Sense Rules of Advocacy Congressional Deskbook Congressional Directory Congressional Leadership and Committees (listing) Congress - Published Schedules Essential Hill and Political Washington Web Sites Lobbying and Advocacy links Politics and Political News Quick DC Links - Washington Essentials Testifying Before Congress Tips for Visual Layout of Oral Statement when Testifying Before Congress Capitol Learning Audio Courses TM Preparing for Congressional Oversight and Investigation Tips, Tactics & Techniques for Writing Congressional Testimony
Educational Tracks	Strategies for Working with Congress Communication and Advocacy
Available as custom, on-site training?	Yes.  This program can be tailored for on-site agency, association and corporate training.  Please call 703-739-3790 for information.
Need more information?	Phone: 703-739-3790 Email: registrar -at- TheCapitol.Net Complete our online information request.
Non-Partisan	TheCapitol.Net is a non-partisan firm, and the opinions of its faculty, authors, clients and the owners and operators of its vendors are their own and do not represent those of TheCapitol.Net.

   

URLs: www.TheCapitol.Net/PublicPrograms/testify.html
CongressionalTestimony.com
TCNPDCT.com
TCNTest.com
 

Next Course
July 19, 2012
9:00 am to 4:30 pm
Location (below)
$595

   
Approved for .6 CEUs from George Mason University.

All of our courses and workshops include extensive interaction with our faculty, making our courses and workshops both educational and mini-consulting sessions with substantive experts.

Rave Reviews

"Would encourage people to do this earlier in their career when they start writing testimony.  All sessions very useful! Great course!"

"The course is good for people who do lots of presentations as well as Congressional testimony. Well done!"

"This will be extremely helpful in prepping and calming first-time witnesses and in drafting oral testimony.  I especially appreciated the research tips." 
-- Policy Analyst, federal agency

"This is one of the best public communication seminars I've ever attended."

"Good, practical advice and insights on how to prepare and deliver testimony to Congress.  Practical and worthwhile"

"Although I live on the Hill and know many staffers, this seminar really helped me to understand what they do and how hearings work."

See more testimonials about this course.

Faculty

Taught by faculty who have a minimum of 10 years' experience working with and helping agency and corporate staff prepare for testifying before congressional committees.

Select Previous Faculty

Steven Keller

Walter Oleszek

James Thurber

Our Clients

Congressional Offices

Federal Agencies

Military

NGOs and Nonprofits

Diplomatic Corps

Fortune 500

Law Firms

Lobbying Firms

Labor Unions

Associations