Skills Activism

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Like any social, political, or cultural movement, collective efforts to end sexual violence require the coming together of various skill-sets, talents, and passions. At EROC, we are always looking for people from different professional backgrounds and experiences to find the intersection between where their talents and passions meet this very important need.

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Tips for Publishing Your Voice In an Op-Ed in on our Brand Voice 

By publishing your voice in a clear and persuasive op-ed article in your local newspaper or via our Brand Voice, you can grab the attention of not only your school, but also change the hearts and minds of the public. You are the expert in your experience and knowledge. Here are some helpful tips to get you started:

  • Own your experience and consider the connections or metaphors that your experience and knowledge produces.
  • Use plain language when communicating to your reader. Speak to your reader as if you are speaking to a friend or a family member, yet at the same time, make sure to respect your reader. Don’t underestimate or overestimate their level of information. They are not the expert in your experience, so make your experience appealing.
  • Use evidence of your expertise and back up what you say. In other words, is what you are saying backed up by substantially new information or reporting?

Sample Structure

This may help you get started, but there are other ways other ways to approach the structure of your op-ed.

  • Set the scene by grabbing your reader’s attention.
  • State your argument.
  • Use evidence (this can be from a statistic, news, reports from credible organizations, expert quotes, history, and first-hand experience).
  • Make your first point with evidence, and then more evidence and conclude this first point. Do the same for the 2nd point and 3rd point (if you have a 3rd one).
  • Address any obvious counter-arguments by acknowledging any flaws in your argument. It’s another way of getting ahead of any potential criticism that may come your way.
  • Conclude your op-ed by circling back to your scene that you began with.

Submitting your op-ed to your local newspaper is the next step. We suggest that you send your op-ed to top online and print publications known in your city, state, or nationally. You can also create your account on online publications like, Medium.

Source: theopedproject.org


Do you have a skill-set or interest not discussed on this page? Please send us a message and let us know. We are excited to connect with you.