Political Leadership – Communicating with Voters

On Saturday, October 12, 2024, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) organized a training for the Women's Forum of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) on “Political leadership – Communicating with voters”. Following the welcome remarks, the training lecturer and consultant, Artan Canhasi, introduced himself and invited the participants to do the same. This introductory session aimed to explore the expectations and objectives of the Women's Forum for this gathering. Furthermore, he proceeded to go over the training agenda and it´s objectives. 
During his lecture he addressed different topics such as on how to win over an audience, motivating people to take specific actions and about how to inform the citizens about certain concepts.  Throughout the training, he also invited the participants to share their insights and experiences, fostering an environment where members of the forum could learn from one another. The participants took part in a group exercise where they were tasked with developing a campaign strategy on a specific topic. Each group then selected a representative to present their work. After their presentation they received constructive feedback from Artan Canhasi as well as from fellow participants. Furthermore, the forum discussed the new political program of the LDK, "Rruga e Re" (translated as "The New Road"). In reference to this program, Canhasi emphasized the importance of communicating the political agenda in a way that ensures it is accessible and understandable to the broader population. As the first day of the seminar came to an end, the participants left with many new insights and practical knowledge. The discussions, exercises and shared experiences not only deepened their understanding of campaign strategies and effective communication but also created a sense of collaboration among the members. 
On Sunday, October 13, 2024, the training began with an analysis of the LDK program and a discussion on how to effectively communicate its key messages to the voters. The participants were then tasked with another group exercise, where they worked on strategies for effectively conveying the program’s message in a way that captures the public's attention. Because of that, each group also created a slogan, designed to express the key message of the program in a memorable way. The created slogans aimed to capture public attention, simplify complex ideas and inspire the voters to take a certain action but most importantly these slogans were meant to gain votes from the population. These slogans were then presented in front of the entire forum and the groups were then given Feedback by the trainer as well as by the other women. The training then concluded with an evaluation of the training where all the participants had the possibility to talk about their experience. 
As the training concluded, participants left with a renewed sense of purpose and new of strategies to effectively communicate their political messages and new ideas on how to gain votes from the citizens. KAS remains committed to support democratic development and enhance the capacities of women in politics.