P2

Delivering an Oral Statement

You will need to deliver an oral statement that is clear, confident, and exhibits knowledge of the issue. Usually, written statements must be available to the committee 24-48 hours in advance. In the interest of time, it is usually not necessary or desirable for a witness to read his or her entire written statement.

Some general guidelines for preparing a statement to Congress include the following:

· Introduce yourself, your occupation, organization, and personal relevant background of the subject.

· Greet the chairman of the committee and the committee as a whole.

· Be brief, you will have about five minutes to speak.

· State the issue you will testify on.

· Focus only on key points.

· Focus on the current situation and how the action you recommend will improve it.

· Avoid presentation software (such as PowerPoint).

· Check with committee staff in advance about the use of visual aides.

· At the end, briefly wait for questions from committee members.

References

Davis, C. M. (2015). House committee hearings: Witness testimony. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/98-338.pdf

How to Write and Present Testimony. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cbf.org/Document.Doc?id=302

Spafford, E. H. (n.d.). Advice on government testimony. Retrieved November 18, 2016, from http://spaf.cerias.purdue.edu/usgov/testimony.html

Tomasa, T. (n.d.). Chapter 4: Drafting Written Testimony and Presenting Oral Testimony. In M. K. N. Haia, M. C. Jarman, E. A. H. Martin, J. E. Mccarty (Eds.), E alu like mai i ka pono: Coming together for justice (pp. 25-30). Retrieved from http://www.hawaii.edu/ohelo/resources/AluLikeWorkbook/Chap4.pdf