No matter if Hearken is new to you or old hat, it always pays to think about the best ways to use the technology. The tech is just part of the whole strategy you’re deploying. What role does the tech play, and what role does it not play. How do you set up a good Hearken workflow?

How we can use our social media and other digital platforms as tools for building trust and relationships with people outside our core audiences? What could you do that pushes the needle, beyond call-outs and Ask-Me-Anything posts?

How do you build trust and meaningful connections? What are some tips for authentic engagement with groups who are not typical public media listeners, with groups who may not speak the same language, and with groups we've ignored in the past?

Picking a time, a place and a handful of questions is one part of creating a listening session. But what about the deeper needs? How do you actually get people into the room, and once they’re there, how do you build trust and foster genuine connection and conversations?

How do we decide who to partner with and how do we approach them? What steps and strategies can help us set up successful collaborations, not just for the election cycle but over time? Check out our tips and takeaways.

“Deep listening” is a different kind of listening than what we, as journalists, are used to, and adopting the practice is easier said than done. Luckily, we can find inspiration in the rich historical and cultural roots of deep listening.

Voters are often confronted at the polling booth with a list of judicial candidates. For civil court judge. Appellate court judge. Surrogate’s court judge. These positions are important because local and state judges, by the nature of the job, hold massive sway over people’s lives every day. Yet many voters have no idea who the candidates vying for these positions are or what kinds of work the various judges do. 

Before WPLN launched a new daily show called “This is Nashville,” the station knew they wanted to build an atypical talk show, with community service at the heart. But they didn’t have a clear plan to get it going. They started by listening.