BANGKOK "SPEAK EASY CLUB" AND "SPEAKERS SQUAD" HOOK EMBASSY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 002271

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP DAS GLYN DAVIES; R ADELE RUPPE; EAP/PD JESSICA DAVIES
AND EAP/MLS MELANIE HIGGINS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAO TH
SUBJECT: BANGKOK "SPEAK EASY CLUB" AND "SPEAKERS SQUAD" HOOK EMBASSY
PERSONNEL ON TELLING AMERICA'S STORY


1. Summary: For the Public Affairs section (PA),outreach is key to
maintaining and strengthening our generally positive relationship
with the Thai public. But telling America's story to over 62
million Thais is a colossal task. In an effort to take public
diplomacy "the last three feet" and touch the lives of as many
different Thai audiences as possible, PA launched two new
initiatives - the Bangkok Speak Easy Club and the Embassy Speakers
Squad. While continuing to connect with the Bangkok elite, the
Speakers Squad enables us to reach many more young, provincial Thai
audiences throughout the country at relatively low cost, while the
Speak Easy Club provides essential skills to employees and builds
camaraderie among diverse Mission personnel. End Summary.

Two Interdependent Programs
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2. The Speak Easy Club is a monthly public speaking training program
conducted in both Thai and English, open to the Mission community
and their family members. More than one hundred Thai and American
mission personnel have attended the first six sessions of the Speak
Easy Club. Its goals are twofold: to help people become better
speakers; and, to persuade them to join the Embassy "Speakers
Squad," which is an expanded Embassy speakers program (described
more fully below). PA set a goal of completing twenty Embassy
outreach programs by the end of the fiscal year, which we expect to
meet; over twenty Thai schools and civic groups have already signed
up to host Embassy speaker programs this year.

Why Are We Doing This?
--------------


3. PA staff realized that we have a huge potential pool of public
speaking talent in our 'regional hub' mission that is largely
untapped and untrained. Our Thai staff in particular expressed
interest in outreach, but felt unprepared and untrained. By
offering this training, we are building up not only the human
capital of Embassy Bangkok's most important resource -- its own
staff -- but also the confidence of a significant number of Mission
personnel to get up in front of a crowd of strangers and deliver a
message about America to target audiences around the country.

A Mission-Wide Program Using Professional Trainers
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4. The Speak Easy Club, which met for the first time in February
2007, benefited from the generosity of the U.S.-Thai Fulbright
Commission's Thai Executive Director -- a professional public
speaking trainer and close PA contact -- who volunteered her time
and expertise to facilitate the first two training sessions. Since
then, PA engaged a Thai professor from the prestigious Chulalongkorn
University Language Institute and a private public speaking trainer
to lead subsequent Speak Easy Club sessions in Thai and English,
respectively. Because this relatively low-cost training benefits
the entire mission, it is being paid for using ICASS funds, not PA
program funds.


5. So far, the results for the Speak Easy have been extremely
encouraging, surpassing our initial hopes and expectations. Turnout
was standing room only for the opening session, so we asked people
to pre-register, limited attendance per session, and opened up a
second English session to accommodate all those who were interested.
The Bangkok Speak Easy draws participants literally from throughout
the Embassy, including the Consular Section, Financial Management
Center, Financial Service Center, Regional Diplomatic Courier
Division, Regional Medical Office, Information Management, Protocol,
Regional Human Resources Office, Regional Employee Development
Center, General Services Office, US Trade and Development Agency,
Open Source Center, US Agency for International Development,
Transportation Security Administration, Narcotic Affairs Section,
Force Protection Detachment, Marine Security Guard Detachment and
our own Public Affairs staff. Most surprising is the number of Thai
staff, often shy to speak up among American officers in formal
situations, who have joined the English Speak Easy sessions -
sometimes outnumbering the Americans in the room. Notably, several
Thai Consular staff, regulars at the English Speak Easy Club, are
using the sessions to polish presentations about the U.S. visa
application process that they will give to Embassy Bangkok's
incoming pool of Thai summer interns.


6. So how did PA recruit participation in these programs from
throughout the Embassy? First, the Public Affairs Officer presented
the idea to the Country Team, which was extremely receptive and
agreed that their staff could participate. Then PA makes it easy by
offering, in most cases, to cover internal travel costs, per diem,
lodging and transportation for programs outside Bangkok. This
provides an incentive for the speaker to volunteer and relieves the
speaker's agency or section of any associated costs. Also, PA
coordinates the logistics for each speaker program. The speaker
comes up with an idea, and PA finds the audience, selects the date,

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and often accompanies the speaker with armfuls of promotional items.
In the past few months, PA staff personally visited embassy
agencies and sections and explained both programs to staff and
managers. Meanwhile, PA runs ads in "About Bangkok," the Embassy
newsletter, with information about both programs, and hangs Speak
Easy promotional posters around the embassy.

So Who's Been Going Out to Speak?
--------------


7. This program has already expanded the "public face" of the
American Embassy. Not surprisingly, entry level officers -- many of
them consular officers -- have been among our most eager volunteers
as well as our own PA staff; we've also attracted Thai staff and
incorporated an American Chamber of Commerce trade assistant within
this program. Program topics have included women's leadership, the
civil rights movement, Thai films in the United States, the American
high school experience, and environmental issues. A USAID Thai
staff member spoke twice at Thailand Knowledge Park, Bangkok's
largest interactive library, on environment protection and global
warming. The second time was an encore performance; his program was
so popular that TK Park members requested that he return. A Thai
secretary in PA led an Earth Day program at the same venue.

SIPDIS


8. PA is using this program both within Bangkok and to reach out to
younger, wider audiences throughout Thailand's 76 provinces in order
to connect with people who have little and often no first-hand
experience with Americans and American culture. PA has arranged
programs in Northern and Southern provinces, including programs in
Chiang Mai, Satun and Trang. PA has also targeted Thailand's five
American Corners, which provide excellent programming platforms to
connect with scores of university students. Three of the American
Corners are located in the south, one in the north, and one in the
northeast.


9. As a result of the Speak Easy Club and Embassy Speakers Squad
programs, all Mission staff, both Thai and American, have an
opportunity to both improve their public speaking and further the
Mission goal of increasing mutual understanding among Thai
audiences. This Embassy, one of the largest in the world, in turn
becomes a smaller place as Thais and Americans from different
sections and agencies find opportunities to work together. This
program is only a couple of months old, so we will need more time to
evaluate these programs fully. However, post is excited about the
new blood that this initiative is pumping into the Mission's public
outreach efforts and we believe that long-term benefits to
transformational diplomacy efforts will result.

BOYCE