Public Relations Handbook - Narcotics Anonymous

Communication also includes communicating our experience in servicewith one another. One way for members to communicate their serviceexperience is to have terms of service positions overlap. With overlappingterms, the departing trusted servant has time to train and orient the newlyelected trusted servant. We can also contact previous trusted servants abouttheir service experiences. We can create a contact list and keep theminvolved. The experience of former trusted servants is a valuable resource—they can offer newly elected trusted servants another training and educationopportunity.Potential members: NA members are one of the greatest influences inattracting new members to meetings. We do this by either providinginformation about the NA program or creating an opportunity for potentialmembers to identify with us. If we are participating in an H&I meeting, we tellprospective members that they, too, can recover in NA if they have a desireto stop using drugs. If we are presenting information at a local high school,we inform students about what NA is and how NA functions. (There is amore in-depth discussion about presentations and building publicrelationships in Chapter Four.)External public: Our communications with the external public can show thatNA is an effective, reliable, and responsive program of recovery (the NAMembership Survey, for example, demonstrates that NA is effective in a variety ofcultures, countries, and languages). Our“Honest and opencommunication with theexternal public helps NAretain its credibility andsupports our abilityto provide effectiveservices.”How do we communicate?communications should be informativeand should directly address anymisconceptions the public may have aboutour program. Honest and opencommunication with the external publichelps NA retain its credibility andsupports our ability to provide effectiveservices. See Chapter Four for a thoroughdiscussion about initiating relationshipsand creating presentations for theexternal public.How we communicate is another crucial element in reaching our area’s servicegoals. We can plan and target our communications for each identified audience. Wegenerally communicate in four different settings:1. with each other in our meetings and service committees;2. with professionals and the general public when we are informingthem about the program of Narcotics Anonymous;3. with professionals and the public when we are utilizing theirservices—public service announcements, meeting space, busbenches—to reach potential members; and4. directly with still-suffering addicts.Of course, we are always communicating a message about NA with our personalactions. No matter with whom we are communicating, we are more likely to createa solid, reliable relationship when we plan and target our communications.26 | Chapter 3 | Effective Services