J BISON ABOUT THIS BOOK Consider the four elements of a sale --any sale -- First, there is the product; your product is the Marine Corps. Secondly, there is the salesman, in this case, yourself. Third, there is the market, or the people you as a salesman must reach. And, finally, there is the sales technique complimented by the advertising and community relations tools at your disposal. "Telling the Marine Corps Story" is a study of these four elements -Your Product, Yourself, Your Market, and Your Sales Technique. "Telling the Marine Corps Story" was written, in essence, by Marines. It is based on experience in the field and it analyzes tried and true methods of salesmanship used by recruiters, reserve I & I's, officer selection teams, informational services personnel. Read "Telling the Marine Corps Story" once. Then, read it again. Review it from time to time. You will find it will help you in your mission of: "Telling the Marine Corps Story.•• iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE -ABOUT THIS BOOK••••• iii CHAPTER ONE-YOUR PRODUCT. 1-1 I. Opening Comment. • • • • • 1-1 II. Specifically--What Is The Corps?. • 1-2 III. What This Means To Your Prospect. 1-3 IV. Review of Unique Features of the Corps . ........ . . . . • • . . • . 1-3 CHAPTER TWO -YOURSELF 2-1 I. Yourself. • • • • • • • 2-1 II. Time More Valuable Than Money 2-1 III. What Is Salesmanship • • • • • • • • 2-2 IV. What Makes A Good Salesman. • • • • 2-3 V. Know Your Product. • • • • • • • • • • • 2-4 VI. Public Support ••• Your Objective • 2-4 CHAPTER THREE -YOUR MARKET. 3-l I. What Is A Community ••••• 3-l II. Developing Your Campaign••• 3-3 CHAPTER FOUR -YOUR SALES TECHNIQUE 4-1 I. Organization Of Effort•••••••••• 4-3 II. Public Speaking ••••••• • •••••• 4-13 III. Holding An Open House ••••••••• 4-26 IV. Holding An Assembly •••••••• 4-38 V. Selecting Your Sales Aids ••••• 4-45 VI. Newspaper Publicity ••••••••••• 4-52 VII. Radio And Television Advertising •• 4-59 VIII. Public Service Advertising••••• 4-72 IX. Prospecting . ............... . 4-78 X. The Recruiting Interview •••••• 4-91 CHAPTER FIVE -SELLING THE MARINE CORPS TO WOMEN I. Opening Comment. • • • • • • • • • • 5-1 II. Selling Differences • • • • • • • • • • 5-1 III. Where To Find Female Prospects. • 5-3 IV. Ways To Reach Female Prospects. • 5-4 APPENDIX A -RECRUITERS' PRESENTA-TIONS (To Men). • • • • • • • • A-1 APPENDIX B -RECRUITERS' PRESENTA-TIONS (To Women). • • •• B-1 '\I APPENDIX C -SUGGESTED READING ••• C-1 CHAPTER ONE YOUR PRODUCT I. Opening Comment Here is what some other Marines have said about your new job: "You are entering upon a new, interesting and very important assignment. You must be a diplomat, an expert organizer, a public speaker, a hard worker and a leader. Follow these rules: "Work closely with your staff and unit. Work hard, study, be congenial and cooperate. "Adapt your personality to the local situation. At all times be and act like a Marine." Or, as put by a former Director of the Marine Corps Reserve: "I believe that the assignment of a Marine officer or Noncommissioned officer to duty as a recruiter or an Inspector-Instructor is one of the finest assignments a Marine can have. Such a billet takes you into a community strange to you. You are, more· or less, apart from the regular establishment, and to succeed you must mingle with and become a part of the social and public life of the area. It may be the only time in your military career when you have such an opportunity." "Unless a Marine is a very dull person indeed, he will benefit from this experience through the rest of his professional life." There is no cut and dried description of your work with the public as a Marine representative. Your mission might be stated simply, however, as "Telling the Marine Corps Story." To accomplish this, you must think of the Marine Corps in terms of it being a "product" which you ~hould know thoroughly. You, for example, are a "product" of the Marine Corps --a symbol of the ~arine Corps. To the public in your area you are the Marine Corps. You are a living, working example of the Marine Corps. 1-1 II. Specifically --What Is The Marine Corps? To begin with, the Marine Corps is a military anomaly, "solider and sailor, too." Much of this distinctive quality of the Marine Corps stems from the fact that the Corps possesses many individual attributes of its brother services. As a result, you can usually discern something suggestive of the other services in the Marine Corps, and this is only natural in a Corps which has spent most of its time spearheading, supporting, or serving beside the Army, Navy and Air Force. But you can also see a great deal more which belongs only to the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is a traditional, an Esprit de Corps, an adventure, an education in the building of men, time-tested. This describes the Marine Corps -the product you are selling. Fully as important as its tradition, however, is the fundamental mission of the Corps. This primary mission - readiness combined with the Marine state of mind, makes the Corps what it is today: A national force in readiness, prepared in fact, and required by law, to "perform such other duties as the President may direct" which means "Ready for Anything." Most Americans, including some who know little specifically about our Corps, recognize Marines the as national force-in-readiness. Such tried and true phrases as "Call out the Marines!" or "The Situation Is Well In Hand" or "Tell It To The Marines," have entered American speech and voice the country's attitude. The existence of this nationwide feeling makes the Marine Corps a national institution. As a Marine, you represent a national institution whose standing and reputation are in your hands. Here is what recruiters say: "Know your product." "To sell any product effectively, one must know as much as possible about the benefits of the product for the prospective buyer. " Knowledge of your product is one of the first requirements in selling. To sell a product it is necessary to point out its various features. In pointing out each feature, we should show the benefits to be derived from it. 1-2 III. What This Means To Your Prospects The prospects that recruiters will be meeting have been introduced to. the Marine Corps through our advertising, based on the Marine Corps sales platform- "The Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve is a prestige orgi:mization which will build the individual through *an unequaled physical fitness program *a constant development of the ability to learn and to think *the moulding of self-discipline, self-confidence, pride and "esprit" It is ·along these lines theri that we should continue to present the Marine Corps to them. We find our selling points or features outlined in the various sales aids. The USMC Presentation, and our flip charts and booklets aid us in presenting these features. Marine Corps orders and bulletins keep us abreast of the latest changes. Other publications such as the Marine Corps Gazette and Leatherneck Magazine increase our knowledge of the Marine Corps. Think of the Marine Corps· as a product in terms of your own experience. Ask the question --why did I join the Corps? Chances are your reasons for joining the Corps will appeal to hundreds of other prospective Marines. Let us look at the Key selling points of a Marine Corps enlistment: TO YOUNG MEN 1. ESPRIT DE CORPS 5. CHALLENGE 2. TRAINING 6. UNIFORMS 3. ADVENTURE 7. LEADERSHIP 4. REPUTATION 8. DISCIPLINE 9. LAND, SEA, AIR TO YOUNG WOMEN 1. ESPRIT DE CORPS 4. REPUTATION 2. TRAINING 5. CHALLENGE 3. ADVENTURE 6. UNIFORMS 7. GROWTH These are the key selling points of the United States Marine Corps. Of course, there are other features such as pay, retirement, medical care, etc. However, these are standard features provided bylawforall the services. We want to talk about those selling points or 1-3 features that are unique with the Corps, or those thatare traditionally associated with it. SELLING POINT APPEAL ESPRIT DE CORPS COMRADESHIP, SELF PRIDE,WILL TO WIN, BEING WITH ASUCCESSFUL MILITARYUNIT. TRAINING MARINE RECRUIT TRAINING,SELF-DISCIPLINE, SELF-RELIANCE, SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE FOR ADVANCEMENT,VARIETY OF DUTY,NEWANDLATEST EQUIPMENT. Marine Basic training is where this feature begins.When this training is complete, the young Marine findsthat he has physically, mentally and morally developedconfidence and pride in himself and his organization.He has learned to accept responsibilities and becomean important member of the team. The foundation forfuture leadership has been built for him. Training willbe continuous as long as he is a Marine. The fact thatthe Marine Corps is a force in readiness requiresthat Marines develop combat skill as well as technicalskills. SELLING POINT APPEAL ADVENTURE CHANCE FOR TRAVEL, MEETING NEW PEOPLE, LAND,SEA, AIR DUTY, 7 2 FOREIGNCOUNTRIES FOR SERVICE. REPUTATION "HONOR, SUCCESS AND PRESTIGE", THE MARINE CORPSHAS THE REPUTATION FORBEING ELITE, AND THEFINEST MILITARY ORGANIZATION IN THE WORLD••• "UNCOMMON VALOR IS A COMMON VIRTUE. 11 CHALLENGE THE CHANCE TO PROVE THAT YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A MEMBER OF THE FINEST MILITARY ORGANI ZATION IN THE WORLD. UNIFORMS EXCELLENT APPEARANCE, WELL FITTED. VARIETY FOR ALL OCCASIONS. 1-4 SELLING POINT APPEAL LEADERSHIP OFFERED SOONER SINCE IT BEGINS AT THE FIRE TEAM LEVEL, ABILITY TO INFLUENCE OTHERS, PERSONAL SUPERVISION. GROWTH IN TERMS OF MATURITY, RESPONSIBILITY, EXPERIENCE, OUTLOOK, POISE, KNOWLEDGE, CONFIDENCE AND SELF DISCIPLINE. DISCIPLINE DEVELOPMENT OF DISCIPLINE IN BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT. A SENSE OF ORDER AND PURPOSE HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE TODAY. LAND-SEA-AIR VARITY OF DUTY, MORE VARIED EXPERIENCES, MORE TECHNICAL, TRAINING SCHOOLS, SPECIALIST TRAINING OFFERED IS GREATER TO OPERATE IN EACH OF THESE ELEMENTS. AS A FORCE IN READINESS TRAINING IS CONTINUOUSAND MORE ADVANCED TO KEEP ABREAST OF A CHANGING WORLD. By presenting the advantages of being a Marine through these features and their benefits, the Prcxiuct that you are selling should then stand outas a service that can only be obtained by being a U.S. Marine. 1-5 CHAPTER TWO YOURSELF I. Yourself Super salesmen have been influencing the course of world events and individual lives ever since a clever young lady named Eve talked an unsuspecting soul named Adam into eating the forbidden fruit. It is not necessary that you become a super salesman in order to accomplish your new mission. However, the qualities and techniques of successful salesmanship can be learned and practiced to your own advantage. The better job you do of selling the Marine Corps the more enjoyable and significant your present assignment will be. U. Time More Valuable Than Money Selling a qualified young man on enlisting in the Marine Corps, joining the reserves, becoming an officer or entering flight training is somewhat like the challenge of separating a person from his money for a product he needs or has been persuaded to believe that he needs. However, your job is far more difficult. It demands the best in salesmanship. As long as there is competitive recruiting there will be outstanding recruiters --officers and men who consistently make or exceed their quotas. Often the successful recruiter is the same Marine who excels in his other Marine Corps assignments. This is because he approaches all assignments with the same attitude. He is determined to become interested in the job, is always ready to accept and try a new idea, willing to learn from others. How often have you heard someone say, "I will be glad to donate to a cause, but I do not have time to work for it "? As frequently, perhaps, as you have heard the expression, "There are some things money can't buy." \ 2-l National security is one ofthese things. So are pride and courage and sacrifice •.. the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that can come only from being a Marine. The Marine Corps is a "saleable" product. This has been proven time and again. But it must be sold. And this is where you come in. m. What Is Salesmanship? Salesmanship has been defined by such authorities as W. L. Barnhart, author of the book "Practical Salesmanship," as "the power to persuade people to do what they had not intended or wanted to do --with a resultant profit to them from doing so." One vice president of the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation termed salesmanship "the science of creating in the mind of your prospect a desire that only possession of your product will satisfy." Whatever technical definition they may use, these and other authorities agree that: 1. Salesmanship is fundamentally the art of human relations; and 2. Salesmen are made . . not born. Some time ago a survey was conducted among the top executives of some 300 companies. It showed that 30 percent of all the presidents of these companies started as salesmen and received sales training. They reached the top positions in their companies because, as salesmen, they learned how to handle people. They practiced the art of human relations. Their careers also underscore the fact that good salesmen are developed. A leading businessman, and one of the country's finest salesmen, further illustrated this truth when he declared: "Salesmen are made, rarely are they born; and generally when the so-called 'born salesman' gets into rough going, he fails." He might well have added that the person who becomes a really good salesman through study, application and experience rarely fails. 2-2 IV. What Makes A Good Salesman? Again, there is no single answer on whichAmerica's outstanding salesmen will agree. Yet:, their own careers' emphasize that although each has a specialized talent or ability, all share these essential qualifications. As you read, ask yourself this question: "How many of these qualifications do I have?" 1. Thorough knowledge of their product. 2. A genuine belief that their product is the finest of its kind. 3. An enthusiasm for their work. 4. An ability to project their own personality and to present their product in a persuasive, interesting and informative manner. 5. A sincere interest in the attitude, desires and ideas of their customers. 6. A willingness to provide the personalized service, representation and other "bonus'' benefits that make a customer feel he is more important than a mere statistic on a sales quota balance sheet. Successful salesmen also have distinguishing character qualit'ies .•. outstanding virtues common to all good Marines, by the way. They include: 1. Honesty 2. Integrity 3. Sincerity 4. Humility 5. Confidence 6. Courage 7. Morality Certain physical qualities are indispensable, too. Among these are neatness and cleanliness. Courtesy, punctuality,' orderliness, efficiency, good manners and other personal habits will influence greatly the attitude and reaction of all with whom you come in contact. 2-3 V. Know Your Product . . . Believe In It . . . Then Sell the Marine Corps Selling the Marine Corps is a vital mission. It takes practice and hard work. "There is a great deal more to knowing the Marine Corps than being aware of its history, traditions, accomplishments and mission. I learned this the day the first prospective recruit walked into my office. By the time he finished asking questions about training, pay, promotions, leave, medical care, allowances, dependents' benefits and similar matters I realized that I was just beginning to know the Marine Corps." The Marine recruiter who admitted this experience is one of the Corps·• best salesmen because he is still "getting to know" the Marine Corps. Every new regulation, directive, bulletin, brochure, pamphlet, booklet or other piece of Marine Corps literature is an invitation to learning. Each contains new or additional information about the Corps. Become familiar with this material. Make these publications "must" reading. They will help to make your job easier ... and more successful, too. Developing the right mental attitude toward the job is one of the most important responsibilities of a Marine salesman. You must become devoted to the job, like the work, and believe that what you are doing is important. VI. Insuring Public Support ••• Your Objective Responding to a recent questionnaire covering all phases of recruiting, hundreds of Marine Corps recruiters suggested many "most important" qualifications for recruiting; they also offered different views concerning the most successful recruiting techniques, methods and practices. All agreed, however, that honesty is the indispensable requirement. "This does not mean personal honesty. That is taken for granted. In this instance honesty means being truthful and straightforward in dealing with prospective recruits. It is all right to be enthusiastic about the career advantages and opportunities of service in the Marine Corps. But the recruiter should never let this enthusiasm result in misleading statements or promises concerning service in the Corps." 2-4 The Marine who made this observation went on to point out: "The best salesman the Marine Corps has is the individual Marine. If the recruiter who enlisted .him presented the story of Marine Corps service in an honest, factual manner, this Marine will have no illusions about the Corps. He will be able to tell his friends and other potential recruits that training in the Marines is the finest in the world; that the Marine Corps does offer such advantages as travel and adventure, pride and prestige, companionship, opportunity for leadership, Esprit de Corps and similar benefits./n short, he will confirm thehonest, straightforward sales presentation of the local Marine recruiter who enlisted him. He will prove that for the Marine Corps, as well as any other product, the best salesman is a satisfied customer." You realize this. More important, your selection as a recruiter demonstrates that you are the kind of Marine the public expects and respects. Be proud of this reputation and continue to deserve it. At the same time, remember that your new assignment will demand additional abilities peculiar .to the "civilian world" in which you are now stationed. For example, you will have to practice a degree of patience not required to the same extent on base or station. There are fair and effective ways of dealing with a boot who misses a formation. But you must be patient and understanding with a prospective recruit who is late for an interview appointment •.. if you want to sign him up. Courtesy and diplomacy are other "civilian" requirements of your new job. These qualities are practiced· in the Corps, of course, but against a different background of stricter discipline and greater respect for authority. The parents of a prospective recruit who are critical of the Marine Corps because of its "strenuous or dangerous training" or· for other imagined and exaggerated reasons must be approached in a diplomatic and understanding way. Their criticism is not justified, and most of them realize this, but it reflects a natural unwillingness or hesitancy to have their son leave home. Let them see you appreciate their feelings..•• then tell them what tremendous good Marine Corps service can and will do for their son. They want what is best for him ... and that is to become a Marine. 2-5 Members of the Marine Corps were asked to 11 statebriefly the most important things you would tell a newrecruiter who had no previous recruiting experience. 11 Here are a few of their answers: "Learn salesmanship." , "Sell the Marine Corps . "You must be cooperative, courteous, discreet, and developyourself into a good salesman." "Become sales conscious. It is your job to sell the MarineCorps in the area to which you are assigned." "Learn how to talk to a prospect." " .... salesmanship--you must remember that you are asalesman.'' "You are a salesman selling an enlistment in the Corps. Develop a wholesome mental attitude along these lines ..." "Your job primarily is to setl the Marine Corps to prospectiveapplicants. The product you are selling is the very best in the world today; your success in recruiting will depend largelyon your own personal enthusiasm, aggressiveness, energy andpositiveness of approach." " ... be prepared to sell the Marine Corps to a prospect orto anyone interested." "Be enthusiastic about your job. If you aren't enthusiasticnow, act the part until you are." "Your job, that of recruiting outstanding young men for theMarine Corps, is one of the most important in the Marine Corpstoday. .." In the final analysis, however, whether you are asuccessful Marine Corps salesman depends uponyou ... and upon your character, initiative, ability,personality and the other qualities of a good salesmanand a good Marine, 2-6 CHAPTER THREE YOUR MARKET Earlier you read about the need to know your product, the Marine Corps itself. You learned how important you yourself are in selling the Corps. You found out the many different and effective sales techniques which can and should be used in telling the Corps' story. Now we will examine the third element of successful salesmanship. You are going to find out about your market, what and who it is, and why it is the final and most important objective in selling the Marine Corps. I. What Is A Community? Your sales market is as vast and varied as the community in which you live. And your community is more than a place, with churches, stores and homes. It is the people themselves; old people, young people, bachelors, widows, each with individual habits ... and opinions. When you are the "new" Marine Recruiter, your contacts and reputation will be influenced by the recruiter you follow. If he had been an effective recruiter, then it would be safe to follow his ways until you are able to develop your own personal style. However, if your predecessor did not lay the proper ground work in the community, then your job will not be easy. Road Blocks Most people have oprnwns on everything, including many things they know nothing about. And some of those opinions may not be very favorable to you or the Marine Corps. For example, there are people in your community right now who think that all men in uniform are frustrated militarists, waiting hopefully for another war and the advancement, prestige and glamour it would bring. There are those who believe military training destroys individual initiative, that it leads to dictatorship. To achieve your goal, you must bear in mind that there are reasons for this kind of thinking. They fall into a few general classifications: grudges, ignorance, indifference. Whether knowingly or not, these people are working against you. In order to make them work for you, you must understand why they think as they do. 3-1 Public Opinion Public opm10n is not a constant thing --it is never static. It is always changing, usually slowly, but sometimes with a sudden rush. An example with which you are certainly familiar is the demobilization which followed World War II. The wave of elation which swept the nation at the announcement of victory was followed almost immediately by another wave. Overnight the people decided they wanted their men back home. Almost overnight it came to pass. The pressure of public opmwn was tremendous and it brought almost immediate results. Demobilization was conducted with the same urgency and the same frantic activity that characterized our mobilization several years earlier. Public opinion can be moulded and shaped, even as you shape a piece of clay. It doesn't just happen, it is· created out of clear thinking, careful planning and hard work. Favorable public opinion, like Rome, is not built in a day. A single burst of energy is never as effective as steady pressure. Your plan of community relations must be a continuing program. You need favorable public opm10n to accomplish your mission; indeed, you cannot accomplish it without public good will and approval. You must become an integral part of the community. Your functions and activities must be known and fully understood by the people of the community. You which is interest. are forproud tunate of its in. record re presenand ting invites an in organizspection ation and People dislike and even fear what they do not understand. Conversely, they are inclined to regard with favor anything familiar, simply because it is familiar. It is only part of your job to demonstrate, to teach, to explain.. People must become proud of the Marine organization in their community. Pride is the basic human need people want and need things of which they can feel proud. That's why people say "Our ball club, our city hall, our playground system." Actually, community relations is a subject with which you are already familiar, because you have watched it work all your life. It is a continuing process 3-2 that takes place every day, every moment, involving anyone who has a product or a service or an idea to put across. Every time you express an idea you are moulding public opinion. Every time you listen to someone else, whether you like to admit it or not, your own opinion is being moulded. If you know the individual to whom you are listening, you will give his opinion more consideration than if that expression came from a stranger. In the beginning, you will probably be a stranger in the community. But members of Marine Reserve units and former Marines are not. They already have public acceptance because they are known. Their opinions will be accepted, in great part, simply because they are known. And the Marine Corps will be accepted because of them. II. Developing Your Campaign • . . Community Relations At first glance, your community probably looks so big, so ponderous and disorganized that you do not know where to begin. This is where you apply the time-honored military principle--11 Divide and Conquer.•• Break down your community into groups, or even individuals. In any group there are individuals who determine the thinking of the other persons in the group, or at any rate wield considerable influence. These people are called the 11 Thought Leaders. •• What they say about anything is respected and usually accepted. To win the friendship of the community, you must gain the confidence of these thought leaders. Do not hesitate to call on anyone in your community. You represent a recognized and respected organization, and you are its spokesman. In order to make your visits more pleasant and more valuable, both for you and for those you meet, you should apply a few established rules: 1. Plan your call. Have some interesting comment or message, and suit your comments to the individual you are addressing. If you are talking with a banker, tell about Marine pay and retirement; if to a school official, that you encourage boys to finish school. 2. Do not ask for anything on the first call. Usually, your first visit should be for the purpose of getting acquainted. 3-3 3. Make it short. Be like the good house guest and "Go while you still want to stay." Youwill be more welcome next time. 4. Do not always telephone for an appointment.Whenever possible you should make an appointment personally. You may often encounter oneof those individuals who is too busyto see you,or thinks he is, and it is awfully easy to say"no" over the telephone. No matter how busyhe is, he will usually take five minutes to seeyou when you show up in his anteroom. Aftermaking your first call you will do wellto makeother appointments by telephone. 5. Be sure you have the right man. More oftenthan not, he will also be the top man. "When dealing with management of business organizations orgroups, it is best to meet the major executive. Rare is thecase when he will not see you if the request for appointmentis made properly, and you can do more with the 'head man'in ten minutes than you can do with a junior executive in aweek because he can make decisions without reference tosomeone else." 6. Follow up. Send a ••thank you•• letter, sendliterature bearing on the su'cject you discussed, or better still, take one to the partypersonally. "Get out of your office. An assistant can handle routineadministration. "And above all DO NOT get in the habit of going to see peopleonly when you want something. "If you are not a diplomat, become one;make friends of everyone you meet. "Make yourself known in the community; establish all theliaisons you can whether or not you believe that they will be useful at the moment. "It was found that more success was obtained from theseliaisons if they were told what they could do for you ;c:ther than to ask them what they would do for you. "Get to know people and concentrate on remembering names.Use whatever method you like but try to come up with, 'Hello,Mr. Throttlebottom!' on that next meeting. It will make thingseasier." 3-4 Who To Tell You will have to develop your )Wn list of people who can help. No two communities are alike. Marine Teamwork As mentioned earlier, cooperation between all Regular and Reserve components is important and desirable. Many community problems --military leave, recruiting, and others --can best be solved by an "all hands" approach. In many communities units use the same facilities, ranges, athletic fields and so on. You should make every effort to establish cordial relationships with other units. Pulling together makes the job easier for everyone. Although representatives of other services are in competition with the Marine Corps, there are times when they can be of help to you as well as you to them. Over all cooperation can make your job easier. Veterans' Organizations These groups are often organized on some common denominator of interest or background, such as: religion, the Catholic Veterans, the Jewish Veterans; officers or enlisted, Marine Corps League, MCROA; men having overseas duty or those who served stateside, and so on. Their value to you depends in large part upon the qut>lity of their leadership. In any event, you should make every effort to establish cordial relationships with all veterans groups. Try to get a line on each organization before you call. Pay your respects, tell them you need their help and will be happy to give yours. But do not get too far out on a limb. Social Groups Parent-Teachers Associations and school officials are among your most important contacts in the community. Your relationship with them is discussed in the chapter on recruiting. Women's Clubs Women control a great segment of public opmwn. A typical reservist is 17-18 years old, and very much subject to parental influence. It is important for you to get the mothers on your side. Never pass up an opportunity to tell your story before a woman's organization. 3-5 "This Marine has discovered that the greatest opposition encountered has been from mothers of prospective Marines. Many times this attitude can easily be overcome by a thorough explanation of the Marine setup and the benefits to be derived therefrom by the young man in question. However, if this attitude persists, and regardless of the situation, all efforts should be directed toward implanting the impression that the Marine Corps would be pleased and proud to have this particular lady 's son as a member." Fraternal Organizations, Business and Professional Clubs Your best opportunity to establish relations with these community organizations is probably as a public speaker at their meetings, and you will make many friends in this way. You have a big story to tell and this is one of your best ways to tell it. One of your very best possibilities in this category is an advertising club. Its members represent newspapers, radio stations, billboard and car card companies. The advertising club brings them all together in a group enabling you to establish many important liaisons in a short time. Business and Industry Good relations with businessmen are important. In communities where business has gone all out for the Marine Corps, the results have often been impressive. Big businesses often have range facilities and playing fields which they are Willing to make available to reservists. Industrial athletic leagues sometimes feature the hottest teams in town, and welcome competition. Big business is usually more cooperative with summer leave than smaller enterprises. This is natural a large plant is not affected by absenteeism as is a small concern. Most big businesses let employees go to camp. Financial arrangements vary. Some concerns pay two weeks salary for the camp period, and give vacations besides. Some count military leave as vacation time, some make up the different in salary and others do not. Many reserve units have found the best way to approach employers on the military leave question is by a joint effort of all the Reserve components in town. This plan is a good one, and it can be adapted to meet local situations. Important people, particularly schools' officials, often operate on rather tight schedules. A busy executive would rather listen to a 3-6 delegation representing all local components than have representatives of each service call on him individually. The group approach saves everyone's time. And it often produces bet~er results. It is harder to say "no•• to a group of men than to an individual. When discussing military leave, always bear in mind this fact: under the law, a business concern may deduct from its gross income the wages paid during a period of military leave. Small business has proved a lucrative field for soliciting display advertising, window displays, merchandise for contests, and so on. As in all community relations, it is important to get off on the right foot. "It was found that by approaching an individual in a company who was known to be a former Marine, or a Marine Corps.friend, appropriate introductions could be arranged and the personal approach couldmore easily be obtained. This was particularly effective in arranging a window display in a large department store. "Individuals can be of great help in 'passing the word' in the initial phases of organization. We put articles in a couple of plant newspapers stating the names of individuals who could be called on for information. In each case we were careful to assign individuals who were well-known and well-liked." There are lots of ways to capitalize onthe cooperation of a friendly employer: "Permission was obtained to place -posters on company bulletin boards and to place literature in re ere ation rooms. One company distributed a small folder in each pay envelope." Religious Groups "Any religious opposition would be difficult to overcome, while favorable religious attitude aids in inducing parents to allow sons to enlist." Be careful not to give the impression of official Marine Corps affiliation with any single religious group. Establish and maintain friendly relations with all faiths. The local Ministerial Association is often a good place to begin. All faiths have cooperated on Marine Corps anniversaries in devoting their services on that day to Marine living and dead. In many units, Marines sit together during the burial or reburial s~rvices for a 3-7 Marine, regardless of his faith. It is also customary to provide an honor guard for the ceremony. "Meet any Reserve Chaplains and get their help. It is invaluable!" Many Marines have found that to be good advice. In addition to its other benefits, the Marine Reserve should provide spiritual guidance for its young men. Having chaplains associated with the unit, especially prominent leaders of young people's activities, gives an atmosphere of 11high moral character11 to an outfit known to be rough and tough in action. Public Officials Before calling on any city officials, try to find out as much as you can about the local political picture. Often the Mayor is the titular head of the community, and the city manager or some member of a committee is the real boss. If you can get to the top man he can pave your way through the lower echelons. In many cases where the Mayor has been helpful, it has been in just that way. Do not overlook the police chief; a friend on the force can be valuable at times. You will have to see the police to get permission to place your A-signs. Police usually provide escort for parades. Sheriffs have been known to store weapons when no other facilities were available. City and county police have made their range facilities available --often the police range is the only indoor range in town. Police records are valuable in checking up on recruits. If you are a reservist talking to police, stress the fact/ that your organization helps curb juvenile delinquency. The fire chief, like the police chief, can be a real friend in need. "The police and fire chiefs granted us permission to use their stations in establishing volunteer or organized reserve re cruiting stations." One unit found the fire chiefto be such a good friend they made him an ex-officio civilian recruiting officer. They took a picture of him shaking hands with the commanding officer and receiving a letter of commendation and appointment, and used the picture to get more publicity. 3-8 Chamber of Commerce "The Chamber of Commerce obtained prizes for a recruiting contest that resulted in over 130 new members. They also assisted in obtaining publicity through newspapers, radio and window dis plays." One of the principal functions of any Chamber of Commerce is to attract dollars to the community. The Chamber of Commerce performs another service for the people of the community. It answers, or tries to answer, hundreds of questions concerning local activities. When these questions concern the Marine Corps, they may be referred to you. "One necessary and important function of the Marine office is that of a clearing house for any and all manner of technical questions ... The Marine office being the only place operating on a full-time basis with comprehensive reference facilities available, local people soon discover that answers and facts about the Corps can be gotten there. You can count on queries of all description, no matter how remote from your normal field, gravitating to the nearest source of Marine Corps information.--You!" Make a real effort to cooperate with the Military Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Commerce. This is an excellent way to make high-level liaisons. Rifle Clubs Most teenagers like to fire a rifle, and training in marksmanship is one of your biggest sales points. You can find many shooting enthusiasts in civilian gun clubs. Their members include youths of high school age, and also many ex-Marines. Both types are good prospects for the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve. There is another reason why it will pay you to meet these groups. They often control the best range facilities in town, either indoor or outdoor, and often both. Most of them welcome competition. The Marines have always been known as an outfit which stresses individual marksmanship, so you share a common interest and you should feel no hesitancy about introducing yourself. Civic Welfare Groups Red Cross, Community Chest and other public welfare. organizations have usually favored the Marine Corps in principle, but give little active assistance. 3-9 Most o{ them permit speakers to appear before their gatherings, which gives the Corps a chance to tell its story. In dealing with these people, try to offer your services. Find out how you can help in the current campaign. You may get good publicity in this way. "The biggest help from the civic groups comes in the publicity department. We received favorable publicity from the Red Cross by donating 200 pints of blood in commemoration of the land ings on Guadalcanal. We also received favorable publicity by lending assistance in the collection and distribution of food and gifts to the needy." What to Tell You will have to determine the particular messages which are best suited to your community. In addition to these specialized messages, there are a few basic concepts which you will want to put across --major points which should be stressed in all public relations work but always refer to the Marine Division of Information Speech Guide to determine official Marine policy. l. Because the U.S. Marine Corps was largely responsible for the development of air-sealand operation to its present high degree of perfection, it has been assigned the mission of continuing the development of techniques and equipment for amphibious -vertical as sault operations. 2. The Marine Corps and its Reserve realize the necessity for hand weapons. Therefore, Marines are among the best marksmen in the world and are leaders in this field, 3. Marine training is both thorough and intense. It develops individual self confidence, 4. The Marine Corps insists on physical fitness. Both training and athletics assure this. 5. A very high percentage of all Marine officers have been enlisted men. This accounts, in part, for the excellent esprit de corps and teamwork of the Marines. 6. The U.S. Marine Corps is a modern, progressive military organization with nuclear and rocket capabilities. The Marine Corps is the nation's force-in-readiness. 3-10 You will want to stress the fact that Marine Air is an inseparable part of the Marine Corps team. Its mission can only be carried out well by pilots thoroughly indoctrinated in Marine Corps procedure, terminology and tactics. This is because the primary mission of Marine Aviation is to support the Fleet Marine Force in amphibious operations by: a. Maintaining air area; supremacy over the operations b. Isolating the ments; ba ttlefield from enemy reinforce c. Providing close troops with bomand air support for Marine ground bs, rocket attacks and strafing; d. Piloting the helicopters transporting Marines in a vertical assault operation. The versatility of Fleet Marine Aviation is borne out by the fact that it is synchronized for sea warfare as well as land warfare, its secondary mission being to replace Navy carrier aviation afloat. In this role it flies protection for sea-and air-borne Marines and softens up an enemy beachhead for their assault. How To Tell Publicity is telling thousands of people what you might tell the stranger who takes the seat next to you at the drug store. Your first and most influential method of publicity is the day-to-day conversation and meetings. There are many other channels open to you, of course, to reach great masses of people. Speakers Bureau This is a twenty-dollar title for a very simple organization. Each reservist's unit should have an organized group of officers and men interested in speaking before local groups. Someone in your organization should be responsible for seeking out such engagements. If you are in charge of a Recruiting office, you can be a one man Speakers Bureau. There are plenty of opportunities. Most of the organizations we have discussed have program chairmen, whose job it is to arrange for speakers. The Marine Corps is a big organization with a long and colorful past, as well as a challenging future of 3-11 interest to any civilian group. Your speakers should present the facts so that they are interesting. "The duties of a Marine are not an 0800 to 1630 business. He must be ready to fill any spf(aking engagement at any time." "Be prepared at all times with several short speeches which can be utilized for any occasion with a few minor changes." "Know about the group you have been invited to address. Some with very innocuous titles have a somewhat questionable standing and purpose. Find out what its purpose is ... if you get no clear answer check with the Chamber of Commerce. Find out what you are expected to talk about; who the other speakers are and what their subjects will be ... stick to safe, factual topics ... completely avoid the highly controversial issues which surround the Armed Forces. You will represent the Marine Corps to the group, what you say will be tagged as 'what the Marine Corps says' --your personal views are of secondary importance." Television Try to keep up with local developments and capitalize on any opportunities that present themselves for local television. All television stations, and especially smaller stations, devote part of their schedule to "public service" programs. Make certain that the Marine Corps is given its fair share of public service time. There will be no problem if the programs you offer are both interesting and informative. Open House Programs Seeing is believing. One of the best ways to build community understanding is to open your doors and let people see for themselves. In an open house program, probably more than in any other form of community relations activity, planning is the key to success. Make all your arrangements well in advance, and plan the entire operation, right down to the last detail. (See Chapter Four.) Special Events Special events are an accepted publicity device, designed to create news which is so good it cannot be overlooked by press or radio. Properly handled, a special event will usually attract more attention than a news handout. 3-12 Like open houses, special events require very careful planning and close control. They take lots of time to plan and stage, and they are very tricky --you may discover you have done a lot of work for a very little publicity. There is another pitfall --the real sales message is often lost in the final reporting of the overall story. This is especially true of tie-ups. You may have the opportunity to tie up with visiting celebrities or movie stars. More often you will tie up with local groups. In considering any special event, exercise a little caution --try to figure out in advance howmuch favorable publicity you stand to gain. You've Told 'Em --But Have You Sold 'Em? There's an axiom among salesmen: 11 You can't sell if you can't close!11 You may have friends galore, you may be known to everyone in town and have the confidence of the leading citizens, you may have a cracker-jack commanding officer and a bright and enthusiastic cadre. But until you sign up the recruits --YOU HAVE NO SALE! 3-13 CHAPTER FOUR YOUR SALES TECHNIQUE The Challenge of Selling We now have three of the basic elements of the sale well in hand: The Product --the Marine Corps; The Salesman --You; and the Market --the community around you. We are now going to examine the fire that fuses these three elements together --the Sales Technique. This is the 11 how to11 section --the real heart of the manual. For no matter how superior the product, no matter how capable the salesman, no matter how great the market potential --unless some force brings these things together: NO SALE. Not long ago a Marine Recruiter (he could have been an I&I) was asked, 11 what is the most challenging prospect of your job?11 The answer: "Finding a prospect who at the first meeting has no intention of joining the Marine Corps, and after seeing and speaking to him a number of times, enlisting him for four years." What, then, is the secret of converting a young man into a Marine? The secret lies within you --in your ability to convey to others the satisfactions and pleasures you yourself have found in being a Marine. How do you go about doing such an intangible thing? Use your Marine experience as a selling point and back it up with proper use of your selling tools. Use Your Sales Tools In this chapter you will find outlined some of the fundamentals in selling, advertising and community relati0ns. They will not do your recruiting for you -the final measure of your success will always be YOU. But, they will offer suggestions; they will show you how others have succeeded by using proven plans of action. Read this chapter with your own community in mind. Try to fit the names and faces of people you know into the text. Only in this way will the book come alive. These are things to do, not just to read about. This is the briefing session before the battle, but you, as a recruiter in the field, must 11 commence firing. 11 4-1 We are going to cover these subjects: 1. Organization of Effort 2. Public Speaking 3. Holding an Open House 4. Holding an Assembly 5. Selecting your Sales Aids 6. Newspaper Publicity 7. Radio and Television Advertising 8. Public Service Advertising 9. Prospecting 10. The Recruiting Interview 4-2 I. Organization Of Effort Introduction We are going to talk about the recruiter-salesman's most valuable possession --time! Time is perhaps the most elusive thing ~n the world. You spend it, and presto ... it is gone forever. Time spent cannot be regained. It cannot be reconditioned like a jeep, or retreaded like a tire, then put back into service. It is vital to the success of the recruiter -salesman that he realize this important fact from the very beginning. Just as the machinist makes his living through his ability to use his tools with skill and dexterity, so the recruiter -salesman gets his job done through his ability to make his time produce Marine recruits. His success is truly a race against this evasive thing called time. His mission is to gain as much productive time as he can during hie day's work. Dr. Laird's book, "Practical Sales Psychology," tells how the traveling salesman's work day is used up. An average of 46% of his time is spent on the way to prospects • . . 15% waiting to talk to prospects . . . l O% writing orders, reports, etc.... 2% of his time adjusting complaints ... and 12% on small talk on business. That leaves him only 15% of his time to use as actual selling time, or productive time, when he is face to face with prospects. And, if he spends more time c.r. the way to prospects, say, and the same amount of time writing reports, adjusting complaints, etc., it is going to mean even less time left for him to be with his prospects. This demonstrates the value of time to the salesman and the recruiter. Here is a passage from John Wilson's book entitled, "Open the Mind and Close the Sale." "It has been mentioned before, but it is worth repeating, that Tl ME is a salesman's most valuable asset. The successful salesman makes the most of it; the failure wastes it. "What does it mean in dollars and cents when TIME is wasted? We ha1;e attempted, through the use of activity reports, to learn just what a salesman does for what he earns. We have learned ~hat he spends about three hours a day when he is face to face with a fellow who can buy or recommend the purchase of our equipment. 4-3 "If we consider 20 days per month (allowing for vacations, holida:ys, etc.) as the work month, this means he spends 60 hours per month selling. The balance of the month is "getting ready" time. Sixty hours per month means 720 hours per year in the presence of prospects. Now, if a salesman earns $10,000 per year, each selling hour is worth $14 to him. If he takes an hour from his selling time for a haircut, it had better be good, for it will cost him $14 in addition to the price of the haircut. If he takes a half hour from his selling time for a cup of coffee before going into his territory, it is a $7 cup of coffee. That's the value of TIME to a salesman." As recruiter -salesmen, Mr. Wilson1s basic principle still applies. 11 • Everything is aimed at the time spent with the customer. That is productive time, because here is the point at which we gain favorable action, where we can influence by word and demonstration. To find more time to spend with buyers is a prime objective of organizing sales time." There is one characteristic in particular about your job as a Marine recruiter which is worth spotlighting. Unlike most of the other assignments you may have had as a Marine, as a recruiter you will work with a maximum of freedom and with a minimum of supervision. It will be your responsibility for the most part to schedule and allocate your own time. When you are out in the field on itinerant recruiting duty, you will find you have to rely on your own good judgment to tell you where to go, who to see, and how much of your precious time to spend there. You will be your own boss. In many instances, this will be the first time in the Corps that you are actually on your own. That is why it is so extremely important for you to realize the value of your time. Aside from yourself, no one may be around to tell you you are wasting it. Your rule m the field should be to save as much time as you can, to spend it with your prospects. It would not be realistic or very practical to attempt to tell you exactly how much of your time should be spent with your prospects. There are too many variables among the different recruiting areas. Just as in private business, the salesman who is responsible for a western territory will obviously have to put in more traveling time than the salesman whose territory only encompasses the city limits of New York. There are other differences to consider, too. 4-4 The main point to remember is that the secret to improving your success as a recruiter is to continually strive to find better ways to use your time. One way that leads to success is by good organization of your efforts. As a recruiter you are going to deal with such things as high school talks, appointments, parents 1 consents, prospect cards, officials within your area of responsibility, 11 A 11 signs, displays, window cards, 11 Take-one11 boxes, literature racks, the Marine Corps vehicle, IR T's and many others too numerous to mention. Do you have a system in going about your daily tasks? Seldom isarecruiterassigned to a sub-station alone. Does your fellow recruiter know what you are doing? What you have done? Is it possible for a complete stranger to the area to come in and take over your responsibilities in the event you are taken sick? (Maybe an emergency leave, or even a transfer) These are the questions that you must ask yourself. If you cannot answer "Yes" to the questions, then you are not properly organized and it could be that you are spending a lot of time needlessly. Let's take a look at a few of the things that must pe organized! High School talks: Are you prepared for them in advance? Many times we find ourselves with only a few hours, or even minutes to step forward and become the guest speaker. Are you prepared? The Marines Are Looking For A Few Good Men presentation is geared for five, ten and even twenty minutes. Do you go over the presentation once in a while to be sure you are ready at all times? Do you have couple of speeches ready on such subjects as formal schools within the Marine Corps, travel, or other appropriate subjects for the civic clubs? Or must you, in the event you find yourself invited to such meetings, sit in your office and formulate the speech during the day, when you could be working on other more productive matters. Prospect cards: Are your prospect cards up to date? Is the complete history of what has beenaccomplished written on it? Would it be possible for a strange recruiter to pick up the card and know just where to begin? It would be very unbusinesslike for a recruiter to call on a prospect and find that he was rejected a week before, or everything was set for his trip to AFES. Unless the Prospect Cards are complete, up to the minute, this can happen. What would the individual think of the Marine Corps if this should happen? Are we efficient? Let's not let anyone say otherwise. 4-5 ''A'' Signs and Take-one boxes: How often do you check these things? Do you keep cards on them showing their exact location and the last time you actually looked at them? It is a simple matter to remember the location of these in our area, but simple things have a way of being overlooked. You should have a file with the location and the last time checked, so that you are sure. Always keep in mind that a new recruiter in the area would have no way of knowing if you were not around to show him. Public Officials: If your area of responsibility is one town, the file on them would be small; but how about the areas where you must make IR T's? If you have several towns, you have several mayors, city councilmen, postmasters, high school officials and many important people to the recruiting service. Do you have a complete up to date file on them? Window cards: In addition to outdoor graphics, window cards and posters should be placed in business establishments throughout your area. Placement of these items can be made while prospecting local merchants for applicants. Plastic take-one boxes and take-one cards can be attached to window cards and posters to be placed in the areas frequented by prospective applicants, These graphics should be changed periodically as you re-visit lccal merchants. IR T's: Do you plan your IR T's, or do you go on them because it is a set procedure? You must have a reason for going and go prepared. When you leave your office, do you have the necessary tools of the trade? The test booklets, literature, answer sheets, pen and pencils, the prosped cards on the prospects in that area? Srt;lall things,yet very important. A seventy mile IR T is hours wasted without a test booklet. While on the IR T do you check the literature racks, take-one boxes, "A" signs, 24 sheet posters? Do you try and make appointments so that the next IR Tis worthwhile? How you keep your own files and organize yourself is up to you, but you must be organized so that you. know what is being done and is going to be done tomorrow and the day after that. Remember, we I"i1Ust at all times strive to find better ways to use our time, as time is like money; the better we use it, the more we have. There is another broad area in which you will be able to work towards improving your efficiency: 4-6 Your Attitude Is Important We have all recognized the surpns1ng difference between the green, frightened recruit and the polished, well-trained Marine. We are all well aware of the fact that it takes a tremendous amount of Marine Corps training, discipline, and instruction to bring this miraculous transition about. The boot must be physically conditioned --trained m the skills of marksrr,anship, close-order drill, and teamwork. In addition, he must be trained mentally, that is, he must be put in the right frame of mind so that he thinks, acts, lives, and breathes like a Marine. It is a man's mental attitude as much as his physical condition which makes him a good Marine. It is equally important to you as a Marine representative that you have the right mental attitude. You must acquire a devotion to the job --like your work--enjoy what you are doing. Surveys which have been made among sales people show that more of them have lost their jobs because of their indifference to their work than because of their inability to do the job. One of the most challenging things about the job of being a recruiter is the mental and emotional gyL'lnastics one is required to go through. It requires a great difference in attitude and outlook to talk to a young man in your office after having thrown orders at men just like him on the drill field. You no longer tell them ••• you sell 'em~ For a while, it may be rough going. Keeping Necessary Records Let's look at some of the ways in which your records and reports can be used effectively to increase your efficiency. Whatever "pet system" or method of keeping your records you may devise, it should be designed for the main purpose oi helping you to get more Marine recruits. The Marine Corps is sending you out into the field as a recruiter. Therefore, every part of your daily job should be directed towards getting recruits. That means your records should work for you in that direction, too. They should tell you what you have already accomplished as well as what you can accomplish in the future. 4-7 And here again, the question of keeping your records is one of individual responsibility and initiative. Each recruiting station, each sub-station, each individual recruiter has to organize his own best form of keeping a record. More specifically, here is a list of some of the types of records which you can use to help you work more efficiently as a recruiter. Whenever you sit down to fill out a form or bring your records up to date, tell yourself: "I'm doing ihis mainly because it will help me increase my recruiting power." It will help you do a more accurate, thorough job. Prospect Card (NA VMC 5029-PD). This is the working record that is required for each prospect. It should be initiated as soon as is practicable after your initial contact with the prospect. In addition to basic information about name, age, address, etc., it is a complete history of what has been accomplished with the prospect. You should keep it accurately and up-todate so that any recruiter can pick up the card and know just where to begin. Prospect File. This is your working file and is the life-blood of your operation. It contains information about all your prospects. It may be maintained in a number of ways: by means of Prospect Cards in a file box; in a 3-ring binder in booklet form; on a pro3pect listing; or in any other workable manner. In most areas it is wise to break down your prospect file by territories. Regardless of what system you use, the file should be kept current and up-to-date and worked energetically in order to convert the prospect into the applicant and the applicant into an enlistment. Mailing Lists. Here is another extremely valuable record. Keep the names and addresses to all the young men in your territory. Get these names from high schools and other reliable sources. Whenever you make a mailing, or a follow-up, enter this information on your mailing lists so as not to waste time later with unintentional duplicate mailings. With accurate, up-to-date mailing lists at your disposal, you need not rely so heavily on "walk-ins" which tend to be few and far between. Your mailing lists are a constant source of "new blood" --new prospects. 4-8 Pre-Induction Physical Lists. Make every effort to obtain the names of the young men in your area who have come up for the selective service preinduction physical. Oftentimes, you can cull out a few good Marine recruits from the list before it is too late, and their papers have gone through. Analysis of Your Territory. As you gain experience and knowledge of your territory you can tell ''when's the best time to be where.'' By checking over your territory you can time your recruiting trips so as to be on hand for county fairs, high school sporting events, and the like. List of Previously Recruited Marines. A Marine who has just returned home on his first leave can be one of the most effective salesmen. In fact, he is a product. So, keep a record of the young men you have recruited --include information as to when they will be back home on that first leave. Then, you can get in touch with them--talk over old times --first thing you know, you have yourself a helper --a living example of what you are trying to sell the other young men in your territory. Keep Routine Records Up To Date. Woe be unto the recruiter who lets the daily chore of keeping records up to date slide. If you let routine matters pile up, you will have difficulties catching up again. Reject List. As you proceed to cull through your market area, naturally, you will come across prospects who, for one reason or other, do not meet the high standards of the Corps. It is important to keep a record of these rejects in order to avoid the embarrassment of inadvertently sending him direct mail or other recruiting material. Self-Supervision and Its Importance Let's go back to a point which was made earlier. You remember we said that "as a Marine recruiter you will work with a maximum of freedom and with a minimum of supervision." Your time and your work will be pretty much your own responsibility. Sure, your superior will make periodic checks on your progress, and you will have to go through an occasional inspection by other members of the recruiting service. But your day-to-day activities and accomplishments will be mainly your concern. 4-9 It shows strength in a man when he can be trusted to go out on his own, independent of immediate assistance, and do a thorough job. It is wonderful a opportunity for us to develop our business ability and our self-reliance. It is important for you to practice self-supervision: Self-supervision of your time. Self-supervision of your working habits. Self-supervision of your emotions and your out look toward your job. Self-supervision of the way you work your territory and keep your efficiency records. Self-supervision of your interviewing and recruit ing technique, and your community relations. The sales department of the large industries of this country spend millions of dollars and man-hours each year trying to find better methods of instilling the knack of self-supervision in their salespeople and field force. It is of tremendous importance to you and your future job. ORGANIZATION BY MAP Within our recruiting substation, we are concerned with applicants, the area that they lived in, the rejects, and where they are corning from in relation to our recruiting territory. Further, we are concerned with our "A" signs, placement of take one boxes, literature racks, 24 sheet posters, window displays, and the location of public and private organizations. The big question is, "are we located in the best area, are we devoting our time to the most productive area?" "Are we properly organized.?" Only time and experience can answer our questions. Just how do we answer these important questions? There are many ways of doing this. One is by a search of our files, but this is time consuming and tedious work, and it wil not give us a running account, day by day. Another method is the situation map. The necessary tools to make your map are simple; some different colored pins and a map of your area of responsibility. 4-10 Mark off your map to deliniate your exact area. By use of string, lay out your IR T' s. With colored pins, show the public and private organizations that you deal with, such as, City Hall, County Seat, Police Stations, Reserve Units, Unemployment Offices, Selective Service Office, High Schools and your different Veterans Organizations. As you turn prospects into applicants and applicants into "Recruits", mark their home on your map. Are you getting rejects; mark them on the map. Where are your "A" signs located? Put a pin in the map for each one, literature racks, take one boxes, 24 sheet posters, window displays, and other types of publicity media, such as TV and Radio stations and newspapers. Mark them all on the map. When your situation map is complete and up to date, stand back and it can answer many questions, important questions, such as; a. Where are most of my enlistments coming from? b. Are some areas lacking in productivity? c. Are all areas getting the proper publicity? d. Are my "A" signs located in most desirable locations? e. Am I making IR T's and extended IR T's to areas that do not warrant such time and expense? f. Where are the majority of my rejects coming from? g. Would it be wise to change my area around, devote more time and effort ina different location? \ 4-11 S A * ·!} * * X D ** * * * * s A * IRT * * All!!' w ,-,-D I ' * * * p * p ' ' * ' * I * I S A * * * ' Q I * ss * ' *I * X I * RU ' ' I X A * ' I I * p ''RSS--IRT * A * / /-x-R * X X* * / * * * ~~ •* * / ·:1 * / * * * / I w S A * ' I s A A-"A" Signs I p s-Schools * X * / *-Enlistedx-Rejected w rft.r * * W-Woman Enl.P-Policess-SelectiveServiceRU-Reserve UnitD -Display24-24 SheetPoster 4-12 II. Public Speaking Part of your job is to make friends among prospects in your community, and one of the best ways to .make friends is by talking to people. You can talk to people individually, or in groups of two and three, but the best and quickest way to get your message across is by means of a public address. When you talk to these groups, you will reallybe selling; selling all the advantages the Marine Corps or Marine Corps Reserve offers young men, and all the contributions they make to our Nation. Most real selling is done on this personal, face-toface basis. For one thing, people are most willing to buy when they have confidence in the product or the man or woman who presents it. One of the best ways to create confidence is to stand up, look your man straight in the eye and talk to him, face to face. That is one of the reasons why the spoken word can often be so much more effective than the printed word. There is another reason, The :erinted word is often dead --inanimate and inarticulate. The spoken word carries all the implications and emotion of the speaker's voice. If he is a good speaker and knows how to use his voice effectively, he can make those words live and breathe; he can use them to paint pictures far more vivid than any drawn by the printed word. To the experienced speaker, words are tools with which he can mould the emotions ofhis audience, sway public opinion, initiate community action. This ability to speak effectively will be useful to you in many ways. In addition to helping you accomplish your assignment, it can serve as a steppingstone, a spring-board to bigger things for you personally in the Marine Corps. It is no coincidence that many of our greatest military leaders have been powerful speakers. Their manner of speaking has usually been in the best tradition of military men -precise and restrained, seldom flamboyant and never comic. The ability to speak effectively and the ability to lead go hand in hand. By developing your capacity for one you automatically strengthen the other, As a Marine you have been trained in leadership. Your training will stand you in good stead as you approach this new skill, For public speaking is a skill, a very valuable skill, which will serve you well throughout your entire career. 4-13 You Do Have Something to Say Any speaker's biggest enemy is the chronic boredom of his audience. Audiences are fundamentally pessimistic --they expect to be bored. You can hardly blame them when you consider some of the things they have to put up with. This factor is not as big an obstacle to you as to most public speakers because you represent a very old, respected and well-known organization and, you are its spokesman. Consider the attitude of the average civilian who listens to your speech. He may lack personal experience with military matters but this does not mean he has no opinion or is not genuinely interested. He knows that as a Marine you have been places and done things, and he expects that what you have to say will be interesting. You have two strikes on your listener before you even stand up, because he is interested. Before you can decide how to take advantage of his interest, you will have to decide exactly what you would like to accomplish. Your Objectives Your objectives will vary according to the group you are addressing, and the "slant" of your speech should also vary accordingly. For example, in talking to the PTA, or a high school group, or The American Legion, you will want to use three entirely different approaches because you hope to accomplish different things. Many of the people in your audience may be completely ignorant of the aims and purposes of the Marine Corps. You should strive first to inform these people and then to influence them to do the things you want them to do. Before you can expect the audience to do anything you will have to give them reasons for v.anting to do it. Most of your audiences will consist of grown-up people, who are subjected to selling every day of their lives. They will not object to the fact that you have something to sell. On the contrary, they expect it. People do not mind having you grind an axe so long as you grind it in an unusual or interesting manner. Before preparing your speech you should analyze your audience, their opinions, prides and prejudices. You can find out most of the things you need to know simply by asking the right questions. 4-14 Your Approach to the Problem Before you start asking questions, there is one other little item we ought to clear up. From the moment you agree to make your speech, you will probably suffer with steadily increasing nervousness. Do not worry about it --it is really an asset in disguise. Remember back in high school, just before the kick-off of the opening game? You had the jitters and the whim-whams and you had not slept a wink. There was sweat in the palms of your hands and your throat was dry. You wished you had never gone out for football. And then, the whistle, the kick-off, straight to you. You were off like a striped-back ape, faster than you could ever have traveled without that nervousness to spur you on. The same thing applies here. If you are nervous you will probably prepare your speech more thoroughly, and adequate preparation is half the battle. One more consoling thought: most speakers enjoy themselves, once they have actually begun to speak. Delivering a speech gives one a peculiar sensation of power, and most people find they like it. Get the Fact:; You may not be able to control your nervousness, but you can certainly control the other factors involved. In preparing yourself for the occasion, be sure to get all the facts. See the program chairman and have him fill you in on this little check list: 1. The kind of occasion --even a mortician's convention will have humor. 2. You will want your address to suit the circumstances. Banquet speeches, for example, should be short, sweet and humorous where possible., 3. The audience --who they are and how many. 4. Your position on the program. 5. The other speakers --who they are, their subjects and their style or speaking habits. 6. How long are you expected to speak. 7 .. Microphone, projector, slide machine? If so, make arrangements to test it in advance. 4-15 Get information on all these items before you try to prepare your speech. They will help determine the "slant" or direction your speech will take. Perhaps the most important of these factors is the audience. Your Audience In figuring out your best approach to the audience you must try to select a typical member of the group. This is not as difficult as it may at first appear. After all, the group must have common interests which bring them together, or they would not be a group. You should isolate the most important of those interests, and play on them. Do not try to educate an audience along lines in which they are not interested. Do not talk to the Ministerial Association about retirement benefits; do not talk to insurance people about the spiritual needs of your men. In talking to a young group of prospects, talk in terms they will understand and appreciate. Preparing Your Speech Getting Started --With all the available facts about your audience well in hand, sit down in a quiet corner and define the purpose of your speech. Ask yourself: "What do I hope to accomplish by making this speech?" This will help you organize your speech and give it point and punch. After defining your purpose and gathering together any source material required, you can proceed to outline the speech. Make your outline as complete and detailed as necessary. If you like, you may even expand the outline to the point where you have written out the entire speech. But do not try to memorize it. And do not plan to read it! Nothing is duller than watching someone read a speech and a memorized speech is often just as bad. While making the outline always remember that your speech should be as easy to follow as a road map with the route clearly marked in blue pencil. Audiences are lazy --they resent having to do any work. You must make it easier for the audience to think about what you are saying than to think about anything else. This involves a verbal diagram which you should make a part of your outline. ''Tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them what you told them you'd tell them, and then tell them what you've told them." 4-16 A lawyer will often use this approach in addressing his jury. He tells them just what points he plans to prove, and having done so, summarizes those main points in his last paragraph. The speech which is based on a series of numbered points is particularly adaptable to this type of approach. You will find it easy to remember thoughts which have been numbered, and to summarize them at the close of your speech. Your audience will sense that you know exactly where you are going, and how you plan to get there. Just as important, they will know that when you have covered your points you will stop talking. As we have said, boredom is characteristic of all audiences. This is a conditioned reflex --the result of countless speeches which wander aimlessly and endlessly. By telling your audience what you intend to say and where you intend to stop, you dispel their fear of being bored. After the outline is well firmed-up, take it someplace where you can be alone and practice it, aloud. Try it with the outline in hand, and then without your notes. You will find that the principal points will gradually arrange themselves in your mind, just as you have arranged them on paper. Practice until you can give the entire speech easily, without reference to your notes. Then, condense your outline to a list of headings and transfer the headings to a few small cards you can hold in your hand. This enables you to face your audience most of the time, referring to your notes only occasionally, if at all. More important, your delivery will be interesting, conversational and spontaneous because your voice, your facial expressions and the wording of your speech will vary a little, each time you give it. This procedure will make your talk natural and conversational. By being yourself, you will be far more effective in your delivery. Your Opening Sentence --Remember the speechmaking formula of the Baptist minister --"No souls saved after the first two minutes." Give plenty of thought to your opening sentence. Choose words that paint a clear picture. That first statement should snap your audience wide awake, make them eager to hear more. A quotation from some well-known authority makes a good opener. Many speakers like to use a jingle or a joke. Do not say, "I have been asked to speak today on the subject: 'Why We Need a 4-17 Marine Reserve'." Instead, say: "I am a carterMarine, but my subject today is insurance. You maybe insured against fire, hail, flood and collision. Butyour best insurance is the youth of America. I wouldlike to tell you how my organization increases thevalue of your insurance." Make the statement strong,arresting and unusual. Pegging Your Opener --You have heard comediansuse this device. When speaking from InternationalFalls, Minnesota, they may say: "It is so cold inMinnesota this year the rabbits are wearing earmuffs.•• In Key West they may say, "It is so hot inFlorida this summer the trees are chasing the dogs.••The remark does not have to be funny, as long as itstrikes a familiar note. One of the best ways to peg your speech is bymaking a reference to something said by a previousspeaker. For example, ••Mr. Jones mentioned thatthis community has been his home for more than 50years. I arrived less than 50 days ago --yet I feelas if I had lived here all my life!•• By associatingyourself with something or someone familiar to youraudience, you help to dissipate the initial feeling ofstrangeness; you make the audience feel they knowyou. About Jokes --Some people are good story-tellers,others are not. There are definite rules for successful story-telling, and you can learn to tell a good story,just as you learn to give an effective speech. However,the speaker's platform is not the place to practice.If you can tell a funny story well, take advantage ofthat ability. If you cannot, you better continue to boreyour friends. Be sure the story is appropriate. A straight,informative, unfunny story is better than a funny one which has nothing to do with your subject or youraudience. And be careful about off-color stories.They can hurt you. Keep It Short --When asked how much time heneeded to prepare an address, Herbert Hoover replied: 11 Ten minutes for a three-hour speech andthree hours for a ten-minute speech.11 A short speech is hard on the speaker, easy on thelistener. A short talk is harder to prepare becauseit requires careful organization, but the results areusually worth the trouble. 4-18 Your chairman may tell you how much time you will be allowed. If he leaves that decision up to you, limit yourself to ten minutes. Or, if you are the main speaker, you may stretch it to fifteen minutes. Anyone can cover his subject in an hour; it takes a good man to do so in ten or fifteen minutes. Keep it short.. Repeat --Repeat --Repeat --Do not hesitate to hammer home your principal points by repetition. This comes back to diagramming your talk. Stress the important points by repetition. Remember that a speech is not like a conve:rsation between two people, Your listeners cannot interrupt to ask a question; they cannot ask you to repeat a point. You will have to take all the responsibility for making yourself clear. Stress the important points by repetition. Give Examples --A single good example is worth a thousand generalities. Try to find a short, simple, interesting example which serves to illustrate your principal thoughts. Besides emphasizing the high spots, examples provide a change of pace. They serve to break up your speech and give the audience an opportunity to rest and relax. Make the Appeal Personal --Try to make every member of the audience feel your remarks are addressed directly to him. Relate your statements to someone or something the listener knows; make him feel you share his viewpoint. For example', in speaking to a group of parents, you might say: "All of you have children, many of you have a son. I have a boy of my own, so I know what your son means to you. I want to talk to you for a few minutes about the things my organization can do to make your son a happier person." Do what you do in a conversation --talk to one person at a time, Look that person straight in the eye, and talk to him. Now take another --talk to him. Do not look at the ceiling, the walls, or out the windows. Ask for Action --Some of your talks will be designed to inform your listeners; to tell them the things they should know about your organization. At other times you will want to actuate your audience; influence them to do what you want them to do. You will invest a lot of time and work in such a speech --be sure you make that investment pay off. Do not be afraid to ask for action. There should be no doubt in the minds of your listeners as to what you want them to do. 4-19 Your Closing Sentence --Your closing sentence is every hit as important as your opener. You may end as you began, with an illustration, a quotation, or a flat statement. Give a lot of thought to that closing sentence, and try to make it effective. Delivering Your Speech Some speakers eat two helpings of everything, others eat lightly. Some drink a lot of water and others drink none. These are matters of personal preference, and you will develop your own likes and dislikes. Most experienced speakers agree it is a good idea just before beginning to speak, to take a deep breath, stretch a little, and make a conscious effort to relax physically. Your relaxation will show, and the audience will admire you for it. Peace, It's Wonderful! Do not start to talk until things quiet down. A certain amount of disturbance is entirely normal, and you should learn to expect it. However, there is no point in beginning until you have the undivided attention'of your audience. About Your Voice Try to keep it natural --do not strive for effect. A very low tone of voice often provides a most effective opener, by forcing the audience to listen. (However, do not speak too softly.) Regardless of the normal pitch and tempo of your voice, try to work a little variety into it as you go along. Do not be afraid to let your voice convey enthusiasm and sincerity --let it show how you feel, as well as telling what you think. Stand Easy Try to stay physically relaxed. Stand erect and move about occasionally, as naturally as you can. Many speakers have trouble with their hands. Hold on to your notes, hold on to the back of a chair, or let your hands hang naturally at your sides --but do not clench and unclench your fists, or drum with your fingers. Feel free to move around, but do not rock go11 back and forth in the "heel and toe and away we motion. And do not turn rhythmically from side to side like an oscillating fan. Remember that a moving object always attracts attention. The audience should concentrate on what you are saying, rather than what you are doing. And when you do move, make your movements mean something. 4-20 Discussion Period Before you ask for questions be sure you are going to be able to answer them. Know your subject. If you cannot answer a question, say so without hesitation, and offer to get the answer. Do not be afraid to say "I do not know." Remember --anyone can make a speech. Accept the invitation, get the facts and prepare your talk. The rest is practice. Effective speech-making is an important and valuable skill. It will pay big dividends to you. And, a word about your language ••• use good English and avoid· slang or swear words. That goes without saying. YOU MUST BE READY FOR THE ROLE OF SPEAKER Before an actor steps on the stage, he prepares himself in physical appearance and in his mental attitude to portray the role assigned to him as realistically as possible; he puts on the proper clothes, the proper make-up, and prepares his mind for the task of interpreting the personality created for him by the playwright and the director. Great acting comes from individuals that are capable and ready; i.e., fully prepared and fully aware of what must be done for the best results. Effective speakers must go through a similar process to prepare their minds for the tasks before them. For the best results; they must also "get into character.'' Have you heard a speaker who seemed to start off rather badly and then, after he had spoken for two or three minutes, seemed to "warm up" to his subject? Probably you have. The late "warmingup" was due to his failure to "get into character" before he began. Without doubt, late "warming-up" very often seriously interferes with success. YOU MUST BE FULLY PREPARED AND SELFCONFIDENT. Probably the most important single characteristic of a mind that is ready for the task of delivery is complete self-confidence. Speeches delivered by persons who show in their manner of speaking that they are confident of the result are listened to with far greater respect than speeches delivered by persons who show that they are lacking in confidence in themselves. Lack of self-confidence is a serious bar to success; speakers who are not sure, of their ideas do not inspire others to have confidence in them. 4-21 WHAT IS THE CHIEF CAUSE OF "STAGE-FRIGHT" OR LACK OF SELF-CONFIDENCE? There is no question that the chief cause is found ina lack of complete and careful preparation for the speech situation; speakers lack self-confidence when they fail to analyze their audiences; when they fail to select their subjects carefully; when they do not fully understand the occasions on v;hich they speak; when their personalities have not adjusted to the whole problem and made to assist them; when they fail to plan carefully what they want to say ••• beginning with the selection of their general and specific purposes and continuing through the choosing of their main ideas and speech details and the pl ..nning of their introductions and conclusions ••• when they fail to make their ideas VITAL, FAMILlAR, STRIKING, and SPECIFIC. On the other hand, speakers who have fully prepared their speeches find, when they rise to speak, that the fact that they have fully prepared, with attention to every step in that process, gives them self-confidence in themselves. In addition to careful and thorough preparation, self-confidence is built through practice. If you are an inexperienced speaker, and lack self-confidence although you are fully prepared, you will find that practice in speaking before audiences will soon give you the self-mastery you desire. As a speaker you must have a full appreciation of the importance of your delivery. When you get up to speak, keep in mind the fact that unless your message is communicated effectively, you will fail, no matter how much time you have spent in your preparation or how well you know your subject. You must have a full appreciation of the importance of the occasion to you. Remember, every time you get up to speak you are putting yourself on parade. Your hearers• opinion of you as a person is being formed by what you say and how you say it. Every speech either increases the appeal of you personally or it decreas.es that appeal. You must have a full a ppreciation of the importance of your ideas to your audience. Speakers who do not have, while they are speaking, a conviction that what they are saying is useful to their listeners are almost certain to find some lack of interest in what they are saying. On the other hand, speakers who show signs of believing that their ideas are important to their listeners are able to command a greater degree of interest. 4-22 You. must talk directly with individuals in your audience. Think of a speech as a conversation you are having with a group of people, instead of with only one or two. Try to talk directly with individuals in your audience as you would with one personalone. Look the individual in the eye! You are there to communicate what you have to say to real live people. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, the chairs, have no ears and no eyes. Why pay attention to them? You must be sincere, earnest, and enthusiastic. Audiences are quick to detect a lack of sincerity and resent it. A speaker who tries to persuade an audience to do something he has not done himself and does not intend to do must be a very good actor to deceive his audience. Speakers who really believe in what they are saying have greater persuasive power and higher personal appeal. Speakers who are earnest ••• who have a full appreciation of the importance of the occasion and the importance of their subject ••• find that their ideas are accepted more readily. Enthusiasm is a step beyond sincerity and earnestness. An enthusiastic speaker is one who possesses great eagerness to have his ideas understood, believed, acted upon, or found amusing. When a speaker is enthusiastic about his subject, the members of his auC:ience tend to develop the same enthusiasm. A speaker should not expect his audience to have what he has not. Sincerity, earnestness, and enthusiasm are communicated most skillfully through how speakers talk, rather than through what they say. It is not skillfull for a speaker to say, "I'm very sincere, very much in earnest, and very enthusiastic about this proposition." If he really possesses these qualities while he is speaking, he will never have to say that. Sincerity, earnestness, and enthusiasm are contagious; when a speaker has these qualities, the germs fly out from him and infect the enthusiastic speakers succeeding. audience. have a Sincere, far better earnest, chance and of MAKING GESTURES Gestures have always played an important part in all kinds of speaking. From the very beginning of the organization of social groups, there have been sign languages, which depend on the use of communicative gestures, without words of any kind. A shrug of the shoulders, an averting of the head, a forceful hand movement, may communicate quickly, in a second or 4-23 two, what it might take many minutes to put into words. Gestures serve two purposes; first, when they are properly used they assist in communication; second, they help to hold the attention of the listeners; because it is easier to watch a moving object than a motionless one. Gestures are of three kinds: head, facial, and hand. Head gestures are most commonly used for emphasis and consist of a slight forward and downward movement of the head, on the word or phrase being emphasized; however, when the head is turned away from an object of scorn, the idea of rejection may also be conveyed. Facial gestures consist of changing facial expressions. 11 Poker11 faces are not communication and serve no useful purpose, except concealment. Facial expressions may help or hinder a speaker. How quickly you understand a frown, or raised eyebrows, or the like~ Hand gestures are of several kinds; some of them are used for descriptive or locative purposes; others, for emphasis; others, for expression of approval or disapproval; others, to amuse, and so forth. Descriptive and locative gestures are merely the hand movements you would normally make in describing the size and shape of an object or in locating objects in the scene you are describing. The hands are open and the fingers are extended together. Emphatic gestures are of three common types movements with the open hand, the index finger, and the clenched fist. The open hand gesture is made by moving the whole arm out in front of the body, bent somewhat at the elbow, and with the iorearm, wrist, and fingers extended. The hand is moved downward ••• several inches but not back to the side ••• somewhat abruptly, on the word or phrase the speaker wishes to emphasize, and then dropped back to the side. The position of the arm in making an index finger gesture is the same, except that the index finger is extended while the thumb and the other fingers are clenched. Here, also, there is a downward stroke on the word or phrase that is emphasized. This gesture is more emphatic than the open hand used for emphasis. The clenched fist gesture is made by moving the arm out from the body in the same manner as for the other two, except that the thumb and all the fingers are clenched. It may be used by making a downward stroke in the same manner as for the other two, or it may be used to strike the open palm of the other hand, or it may be used to strike a speakers stand or table. It is the most emphatic of all gestures and should be used only when there is need for the strongest 4-24 emphasis to express the strongest of conviction. It is effective only when the whole manner of the speaker is in harmony with the gesture. If the clenched fist gesture is used when a speaker is not moved to intense feeling, it is incongruous and distracting. Gestures should never call attention to themselves, away from what is being said; when attentionis called to a gesture, away from the speaker's ideas, there is something wrong with the gesture. All gestures, if they are effective, assist in communicating ideas; when they fail to do this, they need to be studied and corrected. Summary Without a doubt, those who can discharge their duties as speakers in a manner to influence their audiences as they intend are the people, usually, who become recognized leaders, whether those who can't speak effectively like it or not; they are the ones who exert the most influence on policies, selection of officers, and so forth. Speech is an agency for both personal advancement and social control. Everyone who can talk is required to make some use of speech in communicating with people, and, whenever· anyone talks, he is being judged by his listeners on what he says and how he says it. "As a vessel is known by the sound, whether it is cracked or not, 11 said Demosthenes, "so men are proved by their speeches whether they are wise or foolish." Is it not worth while to study an art which is so vital and so important? 4-25 ITI. Holding an Open House Introduction An open house is a good way to gain the friendship and understanding of a community, Although the open house lends itself more readily to Marine Reserve activity, there are often times when members of the regular establishments, such as recruiters, can organize functions which serve the same purpose, A display of flags at the Recruiting Office prior to Flag Day is a good example of this. The easiest way to describe an open house is to say that it is a get-acquainted party, at which your guests get to know and understand the Marine Corps. It is like walking up to the new arrival in the neighborhood and saying, "My name is Jones. Come on over and get acquainted. 11 Generally speaking, the public does not understand the mission of the Marine Corps or any of the mis sions of the other components of the armed services. And, since people usually tend to mistrust and misinterpret what they do not understand, there are probably many influential people in your community who withhold their active support simply because they do not understand why you exist and what you are attempting to do. Technically, an open house is a form of public relations, but it differs from other kinds of public relations work in that it produces different results, These results often appear as delayed reactions, They may be hard to measure and evaluate, but they last a long, long time, These get-acquainted parties are not new. They have been tried and tested and found to be a valuable part of good community relations, Every year, business and industry invest hundreds of thousands of dollars, and executives spend countless days develdping plans for open houses that may last only a Iew hours. American businessmen are in business to make money --they do not devote their time and effort to these projects just for the fun of it, They have learned from experience that an open house will pay off, first in better public relations, and later in terms of business gains. When the people of a community attend a "gettogether" party, they learn at first hand about the 4-26 sponsoring organization, what it does and what it means to the community in terms of income, prestige and public welfare. Business and industrial leaders have found that the open house pays off in another way. It gives employees a sense of pride in their organization, and an appreciation for the things the management of that business is trying to accomplish. The usual result is increased production. A series of successful open houses will work for you in exactly the same way. In giving your members a sense of pride in their organization, and helping them to understand what it means, you stand to gain the same benefits as business and industry. Organization A good open house requires lots of work and careful planning. A small oversight can seriously decrease its effectiveness. You will have to work things outwell in advance, down to the smallest detail. A business establishment usually starts by organizing a committee. This committee consists of a representative from each of the various groups expected to help. For example, the committee may include men responsible for publicity, invitations, selecting and training of guides, factory preparation, refreshments and so on. But regardless of who works on the committees, the open house is everybody's job, from top management right down to the man who sweeps the floor. Naturally. your problems are different from those of the average industrial plant, but you can organize your efforts along the same general lines. A good open house will help you--a poor one may hurt you. Careful planning, more than any other single factor, makes the difference. This booklet is intended to help you plan. Pick the Right Time An open house is often "pegged" on something old and established, such as an anniversary, or on something brand new, such as the dedication of a new building. Scheduling your open house to coincide with such an event immediately improves your chance of getting favorable publicity by increasing the number of "angles 11 you can use. 4-27 However, this kind of timing is not essential. The important thing is to see that your open house does not conflict with other local events likely to attract the people you want. Your open house may be held anytime. Usually they are afternoon or evening affairs. For the sake of simplicity, we have referred to the open house in this booklet as a nighttime affair. Set Up a Time Table Work up a time table, showing every step in the overall plan, exactly when each news story about the open house will be released, when the invitations will be mailed, when the facility will be decorated and so on. You will probably find it necessary to make revisions as you go along, but this basic schedule will serve as a guide for the entire program, and help prevent oversights. Publicity Good publicity is important. It helps arouse the interest of the group you want to attract, brings your name and activities to the attention of the general public, and helps keep up the enthusiasm of your own members. Publicity and promotion opportunities are almost unlimited; you make your own breaks. But there are several forms of publicity activity which are generally reliable: A. Advance stories to local newspapers, television and radio stations. You should have several stories about various phases of your operation. These will call attention to your open house, before it takes place. Do not overlook follow-up stories. They tell the public about your open house after it has taken place. Such a story is often easy to place, because the story can be accompanied by on-thespot pictures. It may be the best newspaper coverage you can get. B. Special tours for press, TV, and radio. These should be early in the day you hold the open house, or even the day before the event takes place. This gives newsmen time to write their stories and make their deadlines. 4-28 Try to have reporters, TV and radio newscasters and photographers on hand during the open house. People like to feel they are attending a newsworthy function and a few flash bulbs add a great d.eal of atmosphere. If you have a photographer on your staff, use him. He may actually be most useful in helping newspaper photographers to set up the situations they wish to shoot. The most valuable photographs, from your standpoint, are those which show the audience viewing Marine equipment, listening to a Marine speaker or examining a Marine display•.Such shots are newsworthy because they illustrate an event of general interest. And, of course, you should not overlook opportunities arising from the attendance of civic officials or other wellknown guests. C. Tape recordings of on-the-spot radio or filmed interviews are often used successfully. Most radio stations have tape recorders they can use for this purpose. The idea is to have the station send an announcer to your facility on the night of the affair. He can circulate through the crowd and interview people, being careful to play up the Marine Corps angle. This recording can be broadcast as part of an established, scheduled radio or television show later the same night or any time within a few days. D. Special publications should not be overlooked. For example, suppose you plan to entertain the members of the National Association of Ice Cream Cone Manufacturers. The Association probably has a magazine or newsletter which is mailed to all members. Be sure a mention of your open house appears in that publication. There may be a bulletin board at Association headquarters. Be sure your announcement is prominently displayed. E. Your own bulletin board and/or poop sheet should carry regular reports of your progress. And after the affair is all over, put up photographs taken during the proceedings, with appropriate captions, and clippings from the newspapers. F. Marine literature can be used to gainfavorable publicity. How to use this materialisdiscussed later in this booklet, under the section titled 11 Literature.'' 4-29 Invitations Whom To Invite --The people you will want to invite may be grouped into general classifications: A. Families --not just parents. but the brothers, sisters • cousins and the aunts of Marines. B. Business and professional groups --educators. community leaders, church officials, and so forth. C. Fraternal organizations --Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis and so on. D. Civic officials --leaders of Chambers of Commerce, businessmen's associations • PTAs • city officials. E. The general public. Your open house program should not be a one-time shot. As in any other kind of promotion, you will learn by doing. The experience you gain at your first open house should enable you to conduct a series of successful affairs. A "family night'' makes a good dry run. Parents are inclined to be more tolerant of your mistakes. This enables you to gain valuable experience without endangering your relations with a more critical group. This is not to imply that the family group is not important --it is! If you can make Marine activity a family activity. you have taken a big step toward winning greater community acceptance. It is only natural to want to invite your friends. But do not ove~look the groups which are not so friendly. If they will accept your invitation, you may be able to convert them. Conventions are often a good bet. Ifyour open house is scheduled as a regular part of the program, you are reasonably" sure of having most of the group attend. You can hold open house for that group alone, or they can constitute the core of a larger gathering. How To Invite --Do not rely on members of your unit or staff to invite their families. Have them give you the names of the persons they wonld like to attend. Encourage them to give lots of names--parents and relatives and any friends they would like to attend. Then have the Commanding Officer send each of these persons a personal, signed invitation. 4-30 invitations to an open house should be informal and friendly, because an open house is an informal, friendly occasion. When the person extending the invitation knows the person to whom he is writing, he should add a short, personal P .S., if time will allow, The P.S. may say nothing more than "Certainly hope you can make it," but it is the kind of small touch that spells the difference between a form letter and a personal note. If you make it a personal letter, slant the letter of invitation to the interests of the person being invited, Try to find some aspects of your training or equipment which will interest the group you want to attract, The invitation itself may take the form of a formal card, or a personalized letter. A printed invitation lends a fine touch if you can swing it. If you use letters, and the number required is not too large, have them typed rather than mimeographed. Nothing is so impersonal as a sheet of mimeographed paper. In the event some member of your unit or staff has a personal relationship with the individual or the group being invited, have him sign the letter. If you are inviting large numbers of people, avoid having them arrive in a body by staggering the times on your invitations ••• seven, seven-thirty, and so on. Tickets or guest identification tags are often successfully used. People like to feel they have been invited to an affair at which tickets are being taken. As a matter of fact, many people will attend almost any function, so long as the tickets are free. For family night affairs, one way to handle this detail is to have the members of your unit or staff indicate how many tickets or identification tags they will need. The tickets or tags can then be handed out later. No matter what form of invitation you decide on, it must contain this basic information: who is holding the open house, where, and at what time (i.e., date and hours). If the installation is unusually hard to locate, include directions on how to get there and mention what public transportation is available. If you are mailing invitations, enclose the tickets with the invitations --do not make people ask for them. 4-31 Outside of an R.S.V.P. in the letter of invitation, this ticket-tag device provides one of the most reliable indications of the number of guests to be expected. Some estimate is, of course~ essential to all further planning. The identification tag serves another purpose: it enables the hosts to identify their guests. For example: a gentleman whose tag reads 11 Mr. John Smith, Sr,11 can safely be assumed to be the father of John Smith, Jr. Since Smith, Sr. is readily identified, the conversation can be guided in the direction it ought to take. Identification tags should have strings or pins, so they can be easily attached to clothing. Whether you use tags or tickets, print plenty, because most of them probably will never be returned. Training Your Personnel A successful open house depends upon the cooperation of every member of your unit or staff, Every member should be on hand for the open house, and everyone should be prepared to answer questions and help in any way he can. Actually, they will probably enjoy it, because it will give them a chance to 11 expert.11 More important, they will develop a feeling of pride in their organization through teaching someone else about it. Everyone should participate. However, principal responsibilities should be assigned to those best qualified to handle them. These a·re the men upon whom you must rely to act as your guides or escorts. They should encourage visitors to ask questions, and they should be prepared to give accurate replies. Instruct your men to keep their explanations short, simple and complete. For example, the escort should not say: 11 This is the classroom where we hold lectures.'' He should say, 11 This classroom is used for instruction in military engineering. Subjects which are covered include bridge building, demolition, and the construction of tank traps and road blocks. As you see, we hav~ a motion picture projector and a screen for showing films, and the blackboards for working out sample problems. 11 If the group you are inviting is likely to be interested in a particular phase of your operation, be sure your guides are aware of this fact. Show them what to emphasize, what to play down. 4-32 Any reference to blood-and-thunder and sudden death is generally best avoided, especially where women are concerned. If you plan to have your men escort people over the route in groups, be sure they make a few dry runs so that they will know the route and know what they are going to say. A good way is to write out the talk, practice it and then throw away the script. Preparing the Facility Routing --A visitor to your facility could probably take any of a dozen different routes. Do not give him the opportunity--select his route for him. Plan the tour so that the story will unfold naturally, in some kind of logical sequence. Traffic Signs --Make sure visitors follow the right route; put up traffic signs, and number the signs. You can also use floor markers in the form of arrows, or dotted lines of washable material or gummed tape. If necessary, detail some of your men as traffic handlers. Using Guides --If your facility consists of a number of buildings, scattered over a wide area, you may want to hand out maps as the guests arrive. Maps should show principal points of interest, with a suggested route. Visitors will come to your open house in a friendly, receptive frame of mind, ready to listen to your story. It is up to you to get the story across. As a rule, guests are handled in either of two ways. In one case a small group of guests is accompanied by an escort, who meets the guests at or near the entrance and shows them through the facility. As they move about, he explains things and answers questions as they arise. The other method is often used with very large crowds. Guests are permitted to move in a more-orless regular line aleng a prescribed route which is clearly marked. Guests move as fast or as slowly as they please. They are encouraged to linger in places which interest them most, and ask questions. This involves placing qualified personnel at points of interest. They should be on hand to answer questions, rather than deliver a "pat" address. You may use either method or a combination of both, depending upon the arrangement of your facility and 4-33 the number of guests you expect. In the case of a "Family Day," be sure to let each Marine conduct his family through the facility by the prearranged route. Whichever method you use, have the guides clearly identified by arm-bands or other distinguishing markers. Since these are the men you can count on to give the right answers, you want to be sure the visitors ask them. It is quite possible that visitors may ask questions your guides cannot answer during the tour. Instruct the guides to write down the questions, with the name and address of the person requesting the information. Write to these people afterward, answering the question as completely as you can. This is the kind of thing that creates an excellent impression and builds long, lasting friendships. Decorations --An open house should have a party atmosphere; make your facility look like you want people to have a good time. Flags and bunting will add a festive note to the interior. Signs --Dramatize the important elements in your story with explanatory signs. Your visitors will be more interested in getting information than in admiring works of art. Keep the signs plain --white cardboard with black lettering is fine. Keep your messages simple and short, and use plain language. Do not try to put too much information on one sign. Use more signs; fewer words on each. The message should do more than identify equipment by name; it should explain how the equipment is used. Signs also save your guides many words of explanation. Example: you display a mortar. Five hundred persons attend your open house. Half of them ask the sergeant, who is on duty by the display, 11 What is that pipe? 11 When he has replied 250 times, you will probably have to get a new sergeant. It is easier to paint a sign. Exhibits and Displays --Do not try to exhibit every closet, every piece of clothing and equipment. Your guests are not interested in your inventory, they want salient facts, things they can remember and talk about afterward. A few big things are easily remembered; a mass of detail only confuses. Keep your exhibits simple. If there is any way you can stage a demonstration, by all means do so. People will be more interested to see the unit do something, than to stand around and 4-34 have the members explain what they do. The limitations of your facility may make it impossible for you to put on a drill or other demonstration. However, if you are situated so that you can bring in some action, be sure to do it. If there is any. way to let the visitors participate, to the extent of handling or moving around equipment, encourage them to do so. Your visitors will remember their visit for a long time if you let them participate. Other Exhibits Might Include --A map of the USA, showing where Marine units are located, with your own unit emphasized. This will demonstrate that you are part of a nation-wide organization. A map also enables you to show where the unit goes to summer camp and how it gets there, through the use of colored ribbons and cut-out paper planes or trains. A "fiscal" display--Organizations like the local Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trade representatives, and all businessmen should be shown how your unit helps business in the community. They may not realize that the members of the unit are paid for each drill, and that most of this money is spent in the community. The total amount involved in maintaining the facility should also be covered. In developing displays and exhibits, you are limited only by your own ingenuity. You can develop an exhibit to illustrate almost anything you want to say. And a good illustration is worth a lot of talk. Motion Pictures --Showing movies is difficult with large crowds, but with a smaller gathering it may provide an excellent way to bring the evening to a close. The principal value of movies is to make clear to your visitors what you cannot readily explain yourself. Your District Director should be able to advise you on what Marine films are current. Safety --Be sure you have plenty of light; put bigger bulbs in the shadowy areas. Put signs on staircases, low doorways or other dangerous spots. Rope off areas where visitors should not be permitted to go. If you can locate a plant safety engineer or other safety expert, ask him to drop in and go over the route with you. He may spot dangers you fail to recognize. Remember that a single accident, however minor, can nullify the good effects you have worked hard to achieve. Try to have a doctor, hospital corpsman or trained nurse on hand if you are expecting a really large crowd. 4-35 Parking --If your facility or parking area is hard to find, put up signs directing motorists. If the open house is an evening affair, be sure to place them so that motorists 1 lights will hit them. Have a few of your own men act as attendants in the parking area. Police --The police will probably take on part of your parking and crowd-handling worries. You may have to secure permission to double park, or park on both sides of the street. Police may have to place direction signs at street intersections. In any event, notify the police of your plans so that you can get help quickly if you need it. Hospitality --Treat all visitors equally well. Try not to slight one group or one individual to the advantage of another. Provide for the comfort and convenience of all your guests. Checkroom --make arrangements for checking coats, hats, umbrellas. Restrooms --be sure they are clearly marked. If located in out-of-the-way areas, place signs along the route. Telephones --be sure the man on the switchboard knows all about the affair and will handle inquiries politely and intelligently. Public address system --arrange to call or page guests in the event of an emergency. Refreshments --if you serve refreshments, keep them simple. Almost everyone likes ice cream and cake, coffee or chocolate milk. (Do not serve alcoholic beverages.) -- Welcoming Committee --Have your Commanding Officer, and other officers of the unit on hand to meet visitors, exactly as if they were welcoming guests to their own homes. And remember, when it comes to shaking hands --shake it, do not break it. Welcoming committee work is poor duty for Bone-Crushing Bruno. Pull him out of the line and put him in the backfield parking cars. Literature --When the visitor leaves the facility, it is SOP to give him something to remember you by. Your recruiting literature is suitable for this purpose. You will probably have a desk or table near the exit where literature can be distributed. Have the man on duty there take the initiative in handing out literature. 4-36 Be sure every guest takes something with him. But be sure it is appropriate literature. Use your literature with discrimination. See that the various piec~s are handed to the people for whom they are intended. When the visitor gets home and looks over his reading material he will have the essential facts about the overall program, together with specific data about your organization. Follow Up Hold a meeting as soon as possible after the open house. Review the entire proceedings. Ask for suggestions and comrp.ents, and get the conclusions down in black and white. You should profit greatly by your first experience. Use your bulletin board to post pictures taken during the affair. This will encourage members of the unit to discuss it. Write letters to civic and business leaders or other prominent persons expressing appreciation for their having taken the time to attend. If your first open house was given for the general public, you may plan to follow it with other tours for smaller, more specialized groups. Your guest list should reveal the names of persons through whom invitations to these groups may be extended, Repeat Do not be discouraged if you fail to get immediate, tangible results. An open house is not supposed to perform the same function as a recruiting drive. It is a long-term investment in friendship, and given time, it will help you build a stronger, more effective organization. 4-37 IV. Holding an Assembly Introduction The costliest television spectacular scheduled at the poorest viewing time and without advance publicity and promotion is a waste of the sponsor's money. So, too, the most interesting, informative presentation of the Marine Corps story is meaningless without an audience. It is not enough to know how to make a speech. You must also know how to build the platform from which the speech will be made. In short, you must know how to create as wel.l as conduct an assembly. The dictionary defines an assembly as "A group of persons met together for a common purpose." This chapter is concerned with changing that definition to read, ''A group of persons met together for the purpose of learning about the Marine Corps." Following are a few ideas for accomplishing this objective. "Invite Yourself" The ideal assembly is one created for you. It is the convention meeting, the weekly civic luncheon, the high school assembly to which you have been invited as the principal speaker. It is an audience ready and waiting to listen to you. Obviously, if you are to be invited back a second time to address the group, you must make that first assembly interesting and informative. We will consider the "how to's" in this important area later in this chapter. First, however, let's examine the question of promoting an "invitation'.' to address a ready-made assembly. Occasionally, such a.r" invitation will come to you unsolicited, More ofte!'l than not, however, these invitations will result only from your offers to speak, It is like the little boy who told a neighbor, "My mother says I can stay for dinner if you ask me," So, in asking to be invited to speak, use a direct approach. Don't be hesitant or apologetic. You have something to offer, something which will be of interest to many persons, and helpful to still others. 4-38 That ''something" could be a discussion and explanation of the nation's military service laws and how they affect the high school seniors whom you have been invited to address. It could be a presentation on the Nation's defense needs and the specific contributions of the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve to our country's security. There is almost no limit to the number of interesting and important subjects involving the Marine Corps or the Marine Corps Reserve which you, as a representative of the Corps, are expected to be able to discuss in an informative and authoritative manner. Your problem, then, is not to find a subject that will be appropriate for an assembly of male high school seniors, for example. Rather, it is to decide which subject is of the greatest immediate interest and importance. What To Do For purposes of discussion, let's assume that you have decided to concentrate your principal speechmaking efforts on these students. How do you reach them? How do you arrange for school assemblies where you can talk to them and tell them the Marine Corps story? You just don't walk into the school and hope that an assembly is being held and that you will be given a chance to talk. Nor do you start out by making separate arrangements with officials of each of the high schools in your community. You go through "channels," beginning at the top. Make Visit Once an appointment with the principal has been made, be sure to keep it. This advice may seem to be unnecessary...but if you have several schools to be visited, there is always a possibility of a slip-up somewhere. And don't hesitate to request permission to bring other members of your staff with you to the meeting. They will have ideas you might overlook. They can give more detailed answers than you to questions concerning their own specific areas of responsibility. And they can backstop your own understanding of decisions, agreements, etc., reached at the meetings. One final suggestion concerning high school assemblies. It might be a good idea to post an "Assembly Scoreboard" with the name of each school, the date 4-39 and time to be visited, and the name and assignments of personnel making each trip. School assemblies differ from meetings with community, church, civic, patriotic, fraternal and social groups only in the make-up of the audience. The ap proach in arranging for the assembly is the same as that used with the schools. Even your presentation is the same.••or nearly so. These organizations represent cross-sections of your community. Their members will have a lot to do with the success of your program. They are entitled to hear about the Marine Corps and your activities in particular. In arranging visits to one of these community organizations, write the top officer, explaining: l. Who you are. 2. What you represent. 3. What youwishtotellthememl:>ersofhis organization. (Explanation of military service laws, history and mission of the Marine Corps, programs and purposes of the Reserve, etc.) Remember•••parents are vitally interested in the military manpower problem, too, since it affects their sons; and parents compose the majority of the membership of most community organizations. In addressing these groups, restrict your remarks to generalities. You will sign up very few Rotary Club members for the Marine Corps or the Marine Corps Reserve. But you will interest them in something which will be of benefit to their sons. Get A Front Man As a rule, the high school principal will introduce you to the student assemb1y. In the case of community organizations, it will usually be the president or top officer, whatever his title. Whether they can perform the introductlon or not, it is essential that you be introduced by some prominent person known to and respected by the audience. He will add greater weight to your message. So, after arranging for the assembly, don'tjust take it for granted that you will be introduced by the school principal or principal officer of the organization. Ask who will introduce you and then arrange to give him in. advance of the assembly a biographical sketch of 4-40 yourself (emphasizing your assignment and duties in the community) and a paragraph or two summary of the subject matter of your address. Spread the Word As another preliminary to your assembly, you should arrange some advance publicity coverage of the scheduled meeting. This is particularly helpful in the case of assemblies where attendance is voluntary. Except in smaller towns, your chances of getting pre-visit stories in the local press are slim. The best possibility would be a "Round-up" story which would point out that you and your staff are starting a series of school and organization assemblies to better acquaint area citizens with the mission, programs p.nd needs of all their Armed Forces, particularly the Marine Corps. This "round-up" would include a list of the schools and groups to be visited, the times and dates, and the persons making the visits. In smaller towns, where there is just one daily or weekly newspaper and a limited number of schools and civic groups, your visits then will assume more importance newswise. But there are other avenues of publicity, too. You should send stories to the school and organization publications; if agreeable with the individual principals, in the case of school visits, you should invite interested parents to attend, too. If possible, notices of your intended visit should be posted on the school bulletin boards. "A" Day Arrives . On "A" (for assembly) day, you and accompanying staff members should arrive at the school or meeting place at least 20 minutes ahead of time. This will give you a chance to talk with the school principal or club official; you will be able to pick up some last-minute information about this particular group which can be referred to later in your talk. This will help establish the feeling of familiarity between the audience and yourself. An early arrival will also give the principal or club official the opportunity to meet members of your team; in the case of schools particularly, you will want to come back again and again through the years. It will be to your advantage to have the community leaders know as many members of your staff as possible. 4-41 The Program In conducting the assembly itself, you should rely to a great extent on the "How To Make A Speech" chapter and your speech kit. It is not the purpose of this supplement to tell you what to say; you know local conditions and the best subjects to be stressed far better than anyone else. Obviously, the assembly presentation should be to the point and complete. To insure that there will be no needless duplication or omission of essential material, prepare an assembly outline, beginning with your introduction by the school principal or club official. Following would be your introductions of your staff and other services representatives, if present. These introductions should be brief. At the same time, they should go beyond mere "name, rank and serial number," to include at least a summary description of the person's duties as they affect the audience and the community. Time will determine the length and nature of presentations on various aspects of the Marine Corps story, such as its history, mission and programs, the Reserve program, career opportunities•••not to mention the other Armed Forces. The important thing to remember is that you must budget your time. Make certain that you don't exceed the time given you for the assembly. If you have been allowed an hour, finish in 55 minutes or less, including time for questions. Use Audio-Visual Aids Whether a picture is worth ten thousand words may be open to question. There is no doubt, however, that an interesting, informative and entertaining film can often do a far better selling job than the most inspired speech. At least it can be a valuable aid in telling the Marine Corps story. So, too, can slides, tapes, posters, charts, etc. Make use of these educational-instructiona1 aids. "Localize" Your Material It is desirable, certainly, that your audience have a "Big Picture'' awareness of the Marine Corps and the Marine Corps Reserve, their history and accomplishments, present programs and policies, and future challenges and capabilities. But if the high school students or adult citizens you are addressing are like 4-42 most of us, they'll get a great deal more out of your remarks if you talk in terms of their own lives and jobs, their own families and friends. Not only do they appreciate the familiar. They ar-e far more likely to accept that which is identified with people and places they know. Yqumightstateas a fact, that the local Reserve unit is part of the community. But this fact will register a lot more quickly and completely if you point out that Joe Brown, the local high school football coach, and Bob Smith, manager of the 5 and 10 on Main Street, are noncommissioned officers in the unit. Similarly, if you want to commend the six young men in Metropolis who volunteered for the Marine Corps last month, do so by names and schools. Point out that your Recruiting office is located in the main Post Office in City Hall•••not just in a convenient downtown location. The Reserve unit trains on the old Gotrock estate.•.not merely in the area. As a wind-up, and assuming either that you will not be permitted to recruit at the assembly or that the make-up of the audience makes such a direct approach impractical, be sure to give the audience something to do. Distribute literature about the Marine Corps, the Reserve program, etc., if that is permissible, or have it available on tables near the door. Make certain that return postcards are inserted in or attached to every piece of literature. And remind your audience where interested persons can reach you for more information, or discussion of individual problems. If you are appearing before community clubs, tell your audience you will be interested in talking to anyone with a military service problem. Become the expert on this in your area. And, again•.•make sure your civic group listeners know your name and where you can be reached. Distribute your return postcards. One last important point•.•always extend an open invitation to your audience to visit the facility! They May Ask Questions At the conclusion of your assem6ly period, you should give the audience an opportunity to ask questions. Give them full answers •.•but do not say things you are unsure about; offer to get the answer. 4-43 If you think a questioner sounds particularly interested, give him his answer and suggest he come up and talk with you when the assembly ends. Then get his name~ It often helps to arrange with someone in the audience to "break the ice" by asking the first question, or raising the first hand. But if no questions are forthcoming•••thank your audience and conclude the assembly. Do not wait to be embarrassed by a heavy pall of silence. A few titters from your audience and the impact of your message is completely lost. The Post-Assembly Period One more point. You and your staffhavenot finished your work when the assembly is concluded. In the first place, you should have increased your prospect list, in addition to offering information as a public service. Prospects who have asked questions or filled out cards should be contacted as quickly as possible. Secondly, your assembly periods or speeches before civic groups are excellent ways of building good community relations. Your appearance before the Lions Club may not get you a single prospect directly•••but if members of that club are impressed with you and your staff members, you have gained importantfriends in your town. EVERY friend is an important friend. So, within a dayortwoafter each assembly or meeting you should write a brief note to every one connected with arrangements for that event. Thank them for their cooperation•••tell them what fine fellows they and their associates are•••and tell them how helpful they have been to you and the Marine Corps. Keep that welcome mat out! In Conclusion Remember.••a good assembly, like a successful military campaign, does not just happen. It must be planned well in advance; everyone must know what he is going to do. Be sure you make your audience glad they have "met together for a common purpose." And that purpose is a stronger United States Marine Corps. 4-44 V. Selecting Your Sales Aids Introduction By far one of the most important aspects of recruiting is ••getting the word around.11 It is your responsibility to inform prospects of what Marine programs are available, what the mental -physical requirements are, what the opportunities are for a commission, or for flight training, or to join a reserve unit. Needles·s to say, it is a major task to convey factual information to a large segment of the population in your area. A good salesman would not attempt to do this alone, without the aid of company literature, public relations material and advertising. In the following sections space will be devoted to the use of public service advertising, radio and television publicity and community relations. But, first, a word about sales aids. What Is a Sales Aid A sales aid can be considered to be any written or graphic material which helps you to sell a product. A catalogue used by the furniture salesman is a sales aid. The window display set up by the local soft drink manufacturer in stores in his market can be classified as a sales aid. The cut-away models of the electric generator, used by the engineer to demonstrate his product is also a sales aid. Note the word aid. The items to be discussed on the next few pages are not crutches, not substitutes for salesmen, but aids. A recruiter will live a long time before he will be lucky enough to have a booklet sign up a man for a four year enlistment all by itself. Categories of Sales Aids It is extremely important to the Marine to have a clear picture of the various types of sales aids at his disposal so that he may use them in the most practical and economical way. There is often the tendency to suffer from ••give -them-everything-on-the-table-His .•• Often a less expensive folder will provide enough information to stimulate a prospect•s initial interest; then as you progress in your later relationships with him, give him other material, as needed. Remember, 4-45 it is not the amount of material that counts--it is the quality of material. Booklets --Usually staple bound, multi-paged literature. They deal with specific subjects, such as officer training at Quantico, information on the Reserve for employers, or duty with the FMF. Booklets are expensive to produce and print. They should be used to interest prospects about specific subjects, after initial liaisons with him are out of the way. Booklets should never be placed on unattended literature racks. If they are displayed in such a manner, you will have unidentified prospects who "think" they are well informed about the Marine Corps as a result of reading a booklet and therefore move on to learn about some other service. Like ships passing in the night, you won't even know that you missed seeing them~ Folders --These are produced in a standard size for all procurement programs so that they can be conveniently displayed to show the variety of programs available. A folder usually provides only basic information, such as the type of training, place of training, benefits, requirements, etc.-and usually about a specific field, such as aviation, women's programs, or summer training. Folders are designed to be relatively inexpensive; therefore, they should be distributed more freely during the initial meeting with prospects. Give-aways --Often you may be supplied with a quantity of give-away items. These sales aids are nothing more than "product reminders." They help keep the name of the Marine Corps before prospects. Prospects often welcome such items since they have a practical use and cost them nothing. Picture Kits --At home you can often impress your friends and relatives with the family picture album. You can accomplish very much the same thing by showing prospects your own personal collection of pictures of "Life in the Marine Corps." Often you will be able to supplement any of your own picture material with that provided by the Marine Corps. Illustrations should tell the story of Marine Corps training, Marine Officer training, life in the FMF, life overseas, specialist training, and the like. Pictures should be found in a photo album. Captions always help. Motion Pictures and Slide Films --The Marine Corps has an extensive library of motion pictures and slide films which deal with practically every 4-46 subject concerning military life, recruiting, salesmanship, and related subjects. A list of the films is available through normal supply channels. This should be a permanent part of your sales aids. Use these films before interested groups and offer them to your local television and motion picture houses. Displays --Assume there is a fair in your town. Or there is a special convention of educational leaders --or a large meeting of the state PTA. There is a store proprietor who offers you space in a large window area. There is an open house at the local Marine Corps Reserve unit. Whatactiondo you take? You set up an educational and informative Marine Corps display. There is usually available, through your District Director and Marine Headquarters in Washington, expertly produced material of this kind. Some of this display material is designed for tabletop use. Other material is for window display with lights or motion in order to attract maximum attention. Displays can make good use of model Marine aircraft, tanks or other weapons. Full-scale rifles and machine guns can be used. A Marine tank sitting in the midst of other weapons at a fair, or at a large company outing is considered a display. A Marine display is like money in the bank for it tells your story for you to a large group. This is especially true if a display can be manned by a Marine Corps representative. "Take-One" Cards-Here is a small, effective item. Designed to fit into a "take-one" box, or be stacked on a table-top, the take-one card is just what the name implies. Through the use of plastic take-one boxes and window cards, take-ones can be placed in a variety of locations to "blanket" your area of responsibility. This method of advertising is inexpensive and requires a minimum amount of time. A specific program is presented on a take-one card-for example, the aviation program, summer camp, and the like. The purpose of the card is to stimulate interest among prospects when you are not actually in the area. For instance, Officer Selection Officers visiting a college campus may set up "take-one" boxes on bulletin boards throughout the college. Students help themselves, fill out the attached reply card, giving name, address and other particulars. Later, after you have received the reply card in the mail, you follow up, either by a personal call, telephone or letter. Almost like magic you have made connec 4-47 tion with an interested party-without setting eyes on the man. But, be sure you do not let him die on the vine follow up fast! Direct Mail --Here is a powerful tool. Billions of dollars worth of goods are sold each year through the postal channels. Defined, direct mail may be classified to include any mail--cards, letters, jumbo cards, selfmailers, and the like --which is sent out in quantity for the purpose of building prospect lists. It has been proven that a direct mail campaign, properly planned and executed, is one of the most effective ways to build productive prospect lists. In addition to the immediate benefits to be gained, considerable general publicity value is derived from the use of direct mail letters. It may reasonably be expected that a significant percentage of the recipients of the letters will show them to parents and to younger and older friends, thus providing additional publicity coverage with possible resultant additions to the prosp~ct lists. Your direct mail campaign should be designed to build up your list of active, interested prospects. The lifeblood of any good salesman is his prospect list, and, as you know, the recruiter is the salesman for the Marine Corps. AdvancE. planning is a vital factor in the success of your direct mail efforts. With proper planning, direct mail results usually average about three to four percent returns. Five percent is high and anything above that is extraordinary. In the past, high school mailings from the recruiting service have averaged about four percent replies on a single mailing. For example, if your community's schools are graduating 1,000 male students, you should be able to get between 20 to 50 interested prospects for the Marine Corps. The rest is up to your personal brand of salesmanship. Direct mail by itself won't procure anyone. The enlistment of an interested prospect is the recruiter's job. Here are some specific guides you may find helpful in the planning and operation of your own direct mail 4-48 campaigns. Remember that direct mail is an all year project. Good direct mail results know no season: Lists. The backbone of any mailing is the list you are using. Remember that any mailing is onlyas good as the list used. Therefore, be sure to: Check the accuracy of your lists. Run spot checks on names and addresses to spot obvious errors in spelling, locations, address numbers, etc. Remove the names of those prospects from whom you 11 no11 have received a definite or who have already enlisted or joined an officer program. After your first mailing, remove the names on the returned cards so that you do not mail a second letter. This is important. A prospect who has returned the reply card may become annoyed if he receives another letter. You will be visitingtheseprospectspersonally. You can get mailing lists from any or all of these sources. (l) High school and college graduation lists. (2) Names provided by former Marines in your area. (3) Names provided by Basic School graduates and enlisted Marines on their first leave. (4) Names provided by citizens in the community who are your business associates. (5) Take-one cards. (6) Registration Lists (7) Pre-Induction Physical Lists Mailing Concept The male enlisted direct mail material is designed for use in a series of two mailings: ( 1) Commandant of the Marine Corps 11 Stay in School11 letter, (2) Male Enlisted letter with reply card. The Commandant's 11Stay in School11 letter is designed as an initial letter and should be mailed early in the campaign, preferably in October. The second Male Enlisted letter will be for use in conjunction with high school graduations. 4-49 There will be ·one mailing for the AviationOfficer, Ground Officer Programs, and one mailing for Woman Marine Officer, and Woman Marine Enlisted Direct Mail Programs. Follow-Up. The follow-up is a vital part of your direct mail campaign. When a prospect sends in a return postcard seeking more information, it means he is interested. In effect, he is saying, "I'd like to hear more about the Marine Corps." He is a "hot'' prospect--don't let him get cold. The following rules should guide your activities: Communicate immediately with the prospects whose names you get from the reply cards. Pay ''hot'' prospects a personal visit as soon as possible. Be sure to furnish the prospect with printed procurement aids whenever possible. If a great number of reply cards are received at one time, s·end appropriate printed procurement aids so that prospect doesn't have to wait for a reply. Follow this up just as soon as possible with a telephone call, and/or a personal visit. If phone numbers are indicated on the reply card, call prospects_ immediately and make an appointment to see them. Continue to follow your leads, keeping in touch by phone and personal calls, because the prospect list from your direct mail campaign will continue to produce results all year. Many pr.ospects are "on the hook" for weeks and months before they are signed up. Officer Selection Prospects. Reply cards received by the Recruiting Substation which indicate a request for officer material should be forwarded immediately to the appropriate Officer Selection Officer in order that he may build up his prospect list. The decision as to who should supply the officer booklet may be made on a local level. Miscellaneous. The general-appearance of your mail piece is highly important. Each piece is a reflection on you and on the Marine Corps--good or bad. Your mailings can help your public relations if they are properly prepared. The letters sent out by Headquarters Marine Corps were professionally designed with this in mind. Do your part to keep your mailing professional looking. 4-50 BE SURE to enclose a REPLY CARD with every letter, and be sure it is stamped with your address. This is important. Each year a large number of unstamped reply cards are received at Headquarters Marine Corps. Do NOT enclose any booklets or folders with your mailings. These should be sent only in response to reply cards that have been returned. Direct mail experts state that you are defeating the purpose of the reply card when you enclose publicity material with the letter. BE SURE TO SIGN every letter to insure the personal touch which is of great aid in getting returns. Addresses should be typed with a new ribbon and clean keys. Spacing of addresses should be neat and professional looking. Spell names correctly--use full names rather than initials. It is extremely annoying to most people to have their names misspelled. When mailing large batches of letters, check with local post office officials concerning the best way to handle them. Be sure your return address is stamped on all envelopes. Returned envelopes have proven to be invaluable in correcting mailing lists and making sure all prospects receive your material. This Headquarters will assist in maintaining an up to date mailing list by forwarding all the returned direct mail material it receives to the sender. Sales Aids in Action A young man driving along the highway can see your message on a billboard --another young man can be reading about the Corps in the privacy of his own home becauseyousenthima bookletinthe mail--still another prospect can be filling out a take-one card-and all this can be going on at the exact same time that you may be talking to another prospect personally. Personal meetings are important, as we have noted so many times before, but these meetings must be worked in conjunction with the use of your recruiting aids. It is the intelligent combination of these methods which will increase your efficiency. 4-51 VI. Newspaper Publicity What Other People Say Publicity is what other people say and write about you or the organization you represent. In the case of a newspaper, publicity consists of news stories, feature articles, editorials and photographs. A newspaper story is one of the best --and easiest types of publicity you can obtain. The identical result might be obtained if you said the same things yourself over and over to enough people, but it takes a lot less time and always sounds more convincing when a newspaper says it for you. It is the job of a newspaper to get the news accurately, quickly, and report it truthfully. There are two ways in which a newspaper can obtain information about you. It can dig out facts all on its own and then write a story according to the way it interprets these facts. (Sometimes, through no fault of its own, a newspaper may not get all the facts that should be known. When this happens, the story it publishes may or may not be favorable to you.) Or, you can make it your job to see that the newspaper obtains the facts ..• all of them! After all, there is no one in a better position to give the facts about your organization to the right people on the newspaper than yourself. How to do this properly is the open-sesame to handling newspaper publicity. In handling publicity, however, you and the newspaper are actually helping each other. To play your part, you must know what kind of help a newspaper wants ... and needs. If you do not know this, you are wasting your time and theirs. The first four letters of the word "newspaper" mean just what they say ..• news! What is news? Without exception, news is "the first appearance of facts about anything which is interesting." Pay particular attention to the words "first" and "interesting" --they are the key to what makes news ... anywhere, anytime. It is a rare newspaper that has either the time to handle or the space in which to print a story that has already been told or which, even though it is being told for the first time, holds no interest for its readers. What may seem interesting to you will not necessarily be interesting to hundreds of thousands of newspaper readers. It is the editor's job to decide what is of interest to his readers --if your story is interesting, you can be assured it will be printed. 4-52 News ordinarily falls into two categories. The news story which, in its simplest form, is the presentation of a series of facts --devoid of opinions; and the feature article which interprets facts in terms of human interest. A news story might appear in a morning paper containing the facts about the sinking of a large ocean liner (name of the ship, where it sank, name of the captain, number of passengers, important people on board, etc.), A feature article would be an eye-witness account by one of the rescued passengers in which he tells what he saw and did at the scene until rescued, The news story and the feature article may very well appear on the same page, while the editorial page may carry a review of other major shipping disasters over the past fifty years. If, in the investigation that followed, it was discovered that the sinking was the direct result of sabotage, another news story would be in order because the emphasis would be upon new facts. The pattern for a good news story is fairly rigid; certain elements are almost always required, Facts can best be given to a newspaper in a fact sheet, The properly prepared news release has a definite form and contains the same elements which are necessary to the news story. It should be straight-forward, easy-to-read and complete. The most important fact is "what happened," but this should be qualified by telling who did what, when, where and why. Sometimes it will be important to tell "how" but the five big elements are who, what, when, where and why! Once you have this information in hand you can begin writing your news release, Before we get into the actual writing, let us clearly understand one thing --a college degree and an ability to use two-dollar words are not essential to writing an effective news release, Good English and simple welL.chosen words will do the trick, Do not try to make plain facts look fancy --editors are paid to be expert news evaluators and dramatics will not fool them for a minute, They appreciate only a simple presentation of facts. Pick up any newspaper and read a few news stories. Notice anything they have in common? Read them again, and this time observe that the main facts of each story are presented in the "lead" (first) paragraph and that all the rest merely fills in the details. See how each story has a news peg, which is only a sentence or phrase that gets the word "today" into the story. 4-53 Telling the story in a nutshell inthe first paragraph rather than saving the best parts for a punchy climax is a trick the newspapers learned a long time ago. One reason for this is that the great majority of newspaper readers no sooner read the headline and "lead" paragraph than their attention jumps to another story --that means you have to get the story across fast or you probably will not get it across at all, Another reason lies in the fact that in making up a newspaper page, stories often have to be shortened -if the first paragraph contains all the essential information it will not hurt the news value to drop a paragraph or two that merely elaborates on the details. There is an accepted form for fact sheets, and this physical appearance often makes the difference between hitting or missing an edition. Here are some pointers: 1. Type your fact sheet on plain white paper. 2. Do not use an official Marine Corps letterhead, However, every release should have printed on the upper margin the name, address and phone number of the sender. This is of great value if the recipient at the newspaper desires more information, 3. Set your typewriter on "double -space,•• 4. Type on one side of the page only. Do not hesitate to use more than one page, but the shorter your news release the better it will be received. 5. If you do use more than one page, type the word "MORE" at the bottom of every page except the last, This tells the editor, rewrite man and type -setter that there is more to come, 6. Do not attempt to write a headline. This is the editor1 s job, 7. On the last page type a series of asterisks (*****), or type the figure thirty {30) below the middle of the last line. To newspaper men these symbols will mean "end of release.•• 8, When your release is more than one page, number the pages in the top center of each sheet. 4-54 9. Avoid abbreviations or technical terms that are intelligible only to people with your specialized training. Nothing irritates an editor quite so much, and busy newspaper men do not have time to decipher such a release. 10. Be sure of the proper spelling of all names and initials in your story. Be sure all addresses and times are correct. All newspapers pride themselves on accuracy. 11. A publicity story you want to appear in an afternoon paper should reach the city desk early in the afternoon of the day before you hope it will be run. A story for a morning newspaper should reach the city desk before noon of the previous day if possible. 12. If you have photographs, include them with your release. Since it takes longer to make engravings than to set type, news releases accompanied by photographs should be marked for release a day or so later. 13. You will want some of your news material to appear in the newspaper as soon as possible. The best way to let the editor know this is to type "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE" at the top of the first page on the opposite side from your name. 14. At other times you may write the material a few days in advance in order to facilitate handling. In this case you should type the desired release date at the top of the first page, as "HOLD FOR RELEASE, TUESDAY 2711 MORNING, MAY or ••FOR RELEASE, 2 P.M., FRIDAY, JUNE 3. 11 Getting Along With the Press Find out what kind of news items the editors of your local newspapers like to receive --and save yourself from writing many releases that would otherwise be headed for the wastebasket. The best way to do this is to establish good personal relations with some of the key men --get acquainted with the reporters and a few of the editors. Before you go too far, however, it will pay you to learn what responsibilities these men shoulder: NEWSPAPER REPORTER --he is the man whose responsibility it is to get the news. Play ball with him. 4-55 CITY EDITOR --handles all the "local copy." This is the man who should receive your news releases; see him when you want a reporter or photographer to cover a special event. PICTURE EDITOR --any photographs you have will pass through his hands. If they are particularly good, bring them to his personal attention. MANAGING EDITOR --in charge of general news coverage --the working boss of the paper. EDITOR --responsible for the newspaper's policies. Knowing these men personally will not get a story printed if it is not news, but it will help establish their confidence in you and what you are doing. Once this is done, they will often come to you for additional information. This will give you a chance to correct what is incorrect and you may be able to add facts that will improve the story. If the story they are checking is unfavorable, you may be able to put a different slant on it. If a controversial issue is involved, be sure of yourself before making commitments. If you want to check higher authority, any paper will respect your desire to be accurate, pro vided you act fast. Some Important Do's and Don'ts DON'T try to write a big story! Handle routine events by news releases, but if you come up with something big, get in touch with the city editor so that he can assign an experienced reporter to it. You can see him personally or call him on the phone -either way is acceptable, but it is always smart to make your call or visit as brief as possible. Editors are very busy people ... give them the whole story fast! DO make yourself available at any hour of the day or night. You are in a favorable position when newspapers start contacting you at odd hours ... they have started to count on you! DON'T be vague, careless or indefinite. Be sure of your facts at all times. If a query catches you off guard, ask for a little time in which to check the facts --then act fast! Time is an important factor with any newspaper. 4-56 DO let a reporter write his own story. Just give him the facts --whether in a release or verbally. DON'T feel badly if your news material has been cut or rewritten extensively. Remember, the editor must handle your story in accordance with its relative value --relative, that is, to the news of the entire world as well as the local community. DO give your story to all the newspapers in your community. Don't play favorites when you send out news releases or tip off editors to the big stories -after all, news is bread and butter to a newspaper and the one you slight might easily be the one that would help you the most. But if a reporter from one newspaper digs up a good story about you that no other paper is working on, let him have it • . . exclusively! If two or more reporters are working on the same story, be sure to tell them all so that no one will be misled into believing his story to be exclusive. DO establish relations with the weeklies in your area. A reputation for reliability in this respect pays big dividends. Your editor should know that if your story says "Exclusive" it means just that. He should know that if your story says "FOR RELEASE TUESDAY, JUNE 5th" every other paper has the s.ame story, with the same release date. Develop a reputation for reliability -.. it is important! DON'T (and this is very important) try to use pressure --threats and complaints are out! These tactics will only produce hard feelings. Never ask an editor to print a story as a personal favor --if it is really news, it will stand on its own feet! Never thank an editor for printing a story --every editor prides himself on knowing a news story when he sees it and that is enough for him. DO cover the small papers. Send your stories to the county newspaper, the small weeklies, the trade press --labor news and so on--and to the foreignlanguage papers. The circulation of these papers is usually small compared to the metropolitan dailies. However, they often have very faithful readers who read the paper thoroughly. There is another reason why you should cover these outlets. Small papers usually have small staffs and few re-write men. Your stories are more likely to appear complete, as you wrote them. Most small papers stress news of a local nature, and yours is a local organization affecting local citizens. 4-57 DON'T try to cover more than one story with a single release. If you have three different stories, write three releases. Attempting to describe several unrelated incidents in the same story usually results in confusion. DON'T overlook the value of photographs. A good photograph attached to your copy will often provide the little additional incentive an editor needs to make him use your story. This is where your photographer comes in. Remember, the public information section should be a team of which you are both members. Work with them as you· would with any other team-mate. Together, you'll get more stories --and more photographs --in the papers. Publicity is merely telling lots of people the same thing you might tell a neighbor. The people you reach through any newspaper are affected favorably or unfavorably toward you by what they read. If you live like a hermit--are never seen or heard from --people will pay little attention to what youdo, But if you are enterprising in the community --and you let people know the good you are doing --they will pay a great deal of attention to you and give credit where credit is due. That is the value of good publicity ... if you handle it right you have a lot to gain. 4-58 VII. Radio and Television Publicity An Introductory Comment Radio and television are among the most powerful means of communication man has ever developed. Today, more-than 93.0o/o of all the homes in the United States have television sets ... 97.9o/o of the homes in our country have radios. In an average year advertisers in our Nation spend over one and one-half billion dollars for radio-television time. Obviously, radio and television reach people ••• lots of people. Obviously! radio and television can sell products. Radio and television can sell your product, the Marine Corps, if you know how to use them. Who should you see at a radio or television station? What should you offer ••• what should you ask for? When is the best time to approach a station? Where is the best place to sell Marine Corps material for radio and television? Why should you try to get radio-television time? The answers follow: Who To See At a Radio or Television Station Most radio and television stations of any size and stature have a well defined table of organization. It breaks into three categories: management (responsible for the business side of the station, the station policy and the selling of air time); production (responsible for program scheduling and program content, including talent); and engineering (responsible for maintaining and running the equipment on the air). For the present we can forget about the engineering side of station operation. Engineering will enter the picture later on, but you should not see someone on the ~ngineering staff for the purpose of placing Marine Corps material on the station. Rarely, if ever, will it be necessary for you to talk with the manager of a station about Marine Corps participation on the station. Very few stations have a policy which would prohibit public service material 4-59 such as yours. Likewise, very few stations carry a programming policy which would be undesirable for the Marine Corps to associate with. However, do not neglect the station manager ••• particularly after you have succeeded in placing Marine Corps material on the station. By all means write him a letter of thanks for allowing Marine Corps material on his station (even though he may not have known it was on the air), or send him a carbon copy of another letter of thanks which is going to the station. There are good reasons for this, and it is certainly not just blind flattery. First, chances are that the station manager does kndw about your material being used on the stationandhewillappreciateyour thanking him for a service which so many other people tend to take for granted. Secondly, the person with whom you have worked and will work again will greatly appreciate your letting his boss know that he's doing a good job for the Marine Corps. It1s the old truism of "don't thank me, thank my boss o" If at all possible, meet the managers of all the stations in your area. Solicit their interest in the Marine Corps ••• it will pay off in big dividends. Your main point of liaison at a radio or television station will be with people on the production staff. Usually, this group is headed by an individual called the program director or the program manager. The news director will also be a man you should know. Some of the larger metropolitan stations also have a public service director. Ifyou are trying to place Marine Corps spot announcements, live or recorded, or a Marine Corps series for radio such as "Sounds of Solid Gold" or "All Kinds Of Music," this man is your most important party. You must have his approval before one second of Marine Corps material can be used on the station. Once you have gotten his approval, leave him alone ... he is always a busy guy. Send him a letter of thanks. Program "Traffic" After you have received his approval, your best way of insuring that Marine Corps material will be used on the air is to talk with the person in charge of the traffic section. Usually this is a woman, and it is her responsibility to fill the gaps in the schedule which have not been sold to commercial sponsors with public service announcements. This she does on a dayto daybasis since the amount of air time which is sold can vary overnight. Get to know her well, check with her from time to time about Marine Corps material. o. ask 4-60 if she needs more copies of a particular spot announcement, double check with her to make sure all film and recorded spots are in good condition ••• in other words, remind her that the Marine Corps appreciates her consideration and is willing to do everything possible to make her job easier. Placing More Material If you already have spot announcements on a given station and wish to place a large Marine Corps item on the station •••go again to the program director. Such series, unlike spot announcements, will call for special consideration in adjusting the programming schedule and some special selling on your part. This pretty well covers who you should see at the station to place Marine Corps spots and film or recorded series. But, you have another program possibility to offer any station aside from these pre-packaged items •••Yourself. Who should you see to place yourself, as a representative of the Corps, on a radio or television station? Personal Appearances Almost all radio and television stations today have local live shows; i.e., programs which originate from the local station and are not picked upfrom a network or pre-recorded. These programs are presented by station personnel: announcers, disc jockeys, women's feature specialists, etc. And, these hosts or MC's are the people to see to get on the air. If Bob White has a televisionshowontheairatyour local station ••• see Bob White, not the program director or anyone else. Always use this principle: go as high up as possible •••talk to the person who can make the final decisions. Above all, don't be reticent about approaching these people ••• they want you to do so. Television is something of a monster, it devours ideas more rapidly than any one person can produce them. Local air personalities are faced with the job of coming up with new and interesting air material day after day. If you offer them something new and different ••• they will use it and thank you for it ••. and ask you back again. 4-61 US.MARINE CORPS When you talk to an air personality about appearing on his show, bring him more than just yourself and your dress blues. This brings us to our next question:::: What Should You Offer •••What Should You Ask For? In order to appear as a guest on a live television or radio show ••• offer the program MC an idea~~~ It is not necessary that you sit down and write out a complete script. In fact, if you did go to all this trouble chances are the program would not use it. Each program has its own personality, its own character. The program host will want to tailor your idea to fit the personality of his show. So, approach these people with an idea for a program ...an idea in which you and the Marine Corps play a prominent part. Be prepared to back up your program idea with solid facts. Make a list of the available props which the show will need if they use your idea. Double check to make sure all these people are immediately available before you go to the station with your idea. The same goes for the necessary people to appear on the show. Never, never sell a station on a Marine Corps idea and then fail to deliver the goods. This is certain death. Make sure your program idea is fle_xible. If you approach the program host with an idea which you think would take about 15 minutes of .air time ••• and he only has five which he can give you, take the five minutes and thank him. Likewise, if he wants 30 minutes of material by all means expand your idea to fill the 30 minutes. Make your ideas easy to use. more people will use them. Now, what are some specific ideas which you can take to a program host which are flexible, easy to use and interesting? Following are a few suggestions that are intended merely to stimulate further ideas in your own mind. Perhaps some of these can be developed directly into programs for your local stations. We suggest that you use them as creative springboards rather than final ideas. Patriotic Days The observance of historic occasions is a natural possibility for an appearance. Your suggestions to the station will receive a better reception if they do not follow the usual line of holiday programming. By this we mean that it would be to your advantage to present a program idea that is slightly off-beat. For example, 4-62 it might be possible to arrange with the local museum to help demonstrate some of the natural obstacles and conditions that Marines encountered ina famous battle. Relics and weapons that would help to depict some of the realism of the battle would help. It need not be pointed out that sometimes the tie-in with the holiday need only be a thread. It takes imagaination to find the off-beat idea but it will pay dividends in audience attention. Firearm Safety In areas where hunting is prevalent (and there are 14,000,000 hunting licenses issued annually in the United States) a series in cooperation with the local rifle or pistol club around the safety theme might provide a good program and some interesting activity. Demonstrations of the proper methods of handling, cleaning, storing and firing weapons would be a natural for a Marine. It would also be a series which would attract attention for many people who are interested in weapons, if only from a spectator point of view. In this regard, the local chapter of the National Rifle Association would be helpful. Judo This suggestion would provide a program that is off the normal public service offering. If, in your area, there is a judo expert, or if you are proficient yourself, a segment, program or series on the art of self-defense would be a public service in its own right. The possibility of working with high school or college coaches in your area will lead to many direct contacts. History If you are in a position in your district to obtain period uniforms, a series of appearances in the different uniforms with a short bit of Marine History from each of the periods represented would be a very interesting venture. Among the many apparent amplifications of this type of program would be the explanation for the various p.uts of the uniform, how they were developed and why. For instance, the Marines 1 "stock" from which the term "Leatherneck" originated would provide a busy five minutes or more of good television time. The piping on the blouse, the dress blues, the thirteen buttons, and many other items offer a wealth of television and radio material. 4-63 Boy Scouts A cooperative venture with the local Boy Scout Troops in a program about hiking, outdoor cooking, camping and all phases of outdoor life would be appealing to a civic minded television or radio station. Also it would pay to bear in mind that members of a Boy Scout Troop are potential future Marines and your efforts with them would be long range recruiting work. Women's Interest Programs Nearly every television and radio station has a woman's personality program of interest to the womeri of the community. This type of program is one that is generally the most receptive to material from civic and military organizations. It is of great value to you for it is reaching the mother of your potential recruit. There are many segments that can be prepared for this kind of program that will have an off-beat appeal and at the same time show the mothers some facets of Marine life that they might not be aware of. Diet, for example, is a worn out subject on a woman's program. However, a diet which calls for twice the number of calories consumed by the average civilian would attract attention. Imagine giving a recipe that called for "400 Pounds of Potatoes, Twenty Pounds of Butter •••etc." From such a beginning you could go into Marine Corps training, taking weight off of one recruit, putting weight on another. This approach will have a sure appeal to any mother struggling to place healthy meals before a growing family. Another idea that could have an off-beat appeal to the female audience is the subject of military living. Any housewife trying to pack all the things needed for a two-week vacation will perk up her ears if you show how a man can pack all of his belongings into a sea bag. Show how to roll a pair of trousers and hold the crease. Folding a shirt can be a constant problem. Any tips you have picked up in traveling or transferring posts can very well provide you with program ideas. It has been estimated by some sources that the average housewife walks four to five miles a day in the normal course of her household chores. Since a Marine is trained to hike a minimum of fourteen miles a day 4-64 with full equipment it would seem logical that you, as a Marine recruiter, should be in a position to pass along some very helpful hints on foot care. This subject will have great interest to many a housewife. From poc;ture to proper shoes, the instructions you have received as a Marine will provide interesting program material. This type of program would be a logical place to clear up some misconceptions about military life and the Marine Corps. Mothers often have a hazy picture of what is involved in sending their sons off to the service. Tell them of the origin of the term "boot" and eliminate the fable of the recruits getting booted around in training. "The Marine Corps is entirely infantry, there is no specialized training." This myth possibly stems from the fact that the Marine Corps is the only "force in readiness" the United States has. However, it would be well to discuss the more than four hundred specialized skills that can be learned in the Marine Corps. In your work as a Marine representative you encounter daily examples of misconceptions regarding the Marine Corps. Television and radio offer you the opportunity to slay these dragons. These are just a few suggestions that might make television and radio pay for you. Remember, in your area, there is a wealth of material. You can find it and use it. The most important principle to remember in working with television and radio, or any other medium, is to think creatively of ideas that will interest audiences. Do not feel that the only thing you can do on television and radio is wear the Marine Corps uniform and talk about recruits. The fact that you are on a television or radio show and are introduced as the Marine Recruiter will be payment enough for your efforts, if the program you present is interesting. How To Use Prepared Program Material In addition to your personal appearances on radio and television, there is Marine Corps radio and television material prepared at Headquarters. This material must be placed on a station before it will do you or the Corps any good, and there are many good reasons why you should make an all out effort to sell a station on using this material•••and keep on selling them. First, a pre-recorded spot announcement for radio or television can make a more direct sell for Marine 4-65 Corps enlistment than you may be able to do through a personal appearance. Notice that we say a more direct•••not necessarily a more valuable sell. Regardless, there is a great need for both the direct sell afforded by pre-recorded spot announcements and the sell by example, if you will, ofthe Marine appearing in person. Secondly, the radio-television material which you will receive from Headquarters is professionally produced, using the best known personalities and the finest quality production methods. Radio and television people in your community will recognize and appreciate this quality and will be glad to use the material. More important, your market, the potential recruit, will also recognize the talent and accept them as authorities. Thirdly, a spot announcement or recorded Marine Corps series can sell the Marine Corps without taking your time to be at the station. In other words, you and your message can be in more than one place at the same time. In advertising, the strength of a campaign is measured by the number of listener "impressions" which the campaign makes. Obviously, the more "impressions" you make on a potential Marine audience •••the more likely you are to sell your product. The more spot announcements and series you have on the air, the more stations that carry your message•••the more impressions you and the Corps will make. It all follows that it is much to your benefit to place as much Marine Corps material on the air as possible..•on as many stations as possible. How To Produce Your Own "Spots" We have now covered two areas of "what to offer the station'': yourself as a guest and the pre-recorded or pre-written material received from Headquarters. There is a third possibility.••one which requires a little work but can pay off in a big way. That is, you should produce your own spot announcements, either in written or recorded form, and offer these to the station also. Why is this important and why is n profitable? Well, for one thing, Headquarters must produce material which can be utilized anywhere in the country under all situations. There is neither enough personnel nor money to produce spot announcements and series which are keyed to a particular area or 4-66 market. In other words, Headquarters cannot localize the material it sends you. This you must do yourself. This technique of writing and recording spot announcements which are keyed directly to your own area is important. People.•.teenagers particularly, consider their town and the people in it just as important as, let's say, New York or anywhere else for that matter. They look up to their local radio and television personalities, to their school teachers, city officials, and coaches as authorities in their field. Take advantage of this fact and put it to work for the Corps. Add some local color to your spots whenever possible. If the high school coach agrees to record for you, take a portable recorder along to a practice session or a game and include the background. People in your audience will be better able to identify themselves with it and will listen more closely. Another thought is to have a Marine returning to your town from boot camp record some spots. Here is a real authority on the subject. Don't worry about the fact that he is not a professional announcer and that the quality will suffer a little. His sincerity and believability...and his ties with your audience, will more than compensate for these shortcomings. For a real off-beat recruiting message, record the parents of a recent recruit. Perhaps they could read part of a letter from the young Marine which describes his life in the Corps. Don't fail to take advantage of any well known people passing through your area who might record spots for you. Ask such people to support the Corps while they are in your area and work with them in every way possible. If you get a refusal.••don't be discouraged. Try it again and keep on trying. Serving the Station The last part of this section deals with the question of what you should ask for when you go to a radio or television station to place your Marine Corps material. Ask for the opportunity to be of service to the station whenever possible...and nothing else. There is one way of assuring that you will never place Marine Corps material on a station, and that is to assume that the station owes you something. It does not! There is 4-67 no law or regulation, written or un-written, that says that a station must program public service material. In addition, just because a station is using material from the other services, it is in no way obligated to give the Marine Corps "equal time." This is sheer myth. Never try to pressure a station into using your material. Never hint that you "know certain people"••• it will never work. More to the point, it will damage you and the Corps beyond repair, not only in the one station but in all the media of your area. Remember these facts when you approach a station: 1. All media are being constantly deluged with requests for their public service time. They have more requests than any three stations could take care of if they devoted all their time to public service. 2. Any station's first responsibility is to its audience. Everything else is secondary. Thus, if the material and ideas which you offer are designed to please the station's audience and attract listeners.•• your material will be given serious consideration. 3. A station will not continue to use the same public service spots day after day. This means that you must get fresh material to the station as often as possible•••and on a regular basis if possible. 4. No station will give its best ai.r time to public service announcements...so don't expect it. However, station people are business men and they will realize that you are looking for the best air time available for your Marine Corps messages. This means that if you can get better air time for a Marine Corps series on one station than on another•••take the better time without worrying about offending anyone. They will know why you did it•••and respect your judgment in doing so. Do not attempt to play one station against another in order to get a better air time...it will never work. Take the air time given you at its face value and don't attempt to barter with the old play••• "Well, station WXY Z wants this very badly, but I'll give it to you i£. ..11 This does not mean that you cannot offer the program to three stations and take the best air time•••but let all three stations know what you are doing. 5. Be careful about g1v1ng a station an exclusive on one of your ideas. Sometimes it is to your advantage•••other times it can hurt you badly. Mostly, it will depend upon how much effort and time the station is investing in your idea or material. For instance, in the case of "Take Five" we were asking the 4-68 station to invest 15 minutes a week in Marine Corps material. It was felt that such an investment should carry with it the prestige value to the station of having the program on an exclusive basis. Mostly you must play it by ear and use your own judgment. Certainly you would never wish to let a station have spot announcements on an exclusive basis•••and it is very doubtful that any station would ever ask for this. 6. Finally, never lose sight ofthis one fact as you approach a station: you are offering it something which it can get from no other person. You are the exclusive agent for the Marine Corps and you have the pride and the prestige of the Marine Corps backing you up all the way. You do not have to apologize to any station on earth for seeking air time in which to tell the Marine Corps story. Approach the station on its own terms and let your Marine Corps recruiting material stand on its own merits•••the stations will use it. When Is the Best Time to Approach a Station for Air Time? The best time is now. Never before in the history of broadcasting has there been such emphasis on the broadcasting industry• s responsibility to the public. Never before have stations been so engaged in the search for good public service material. However, do not think that they will come to you for it. They will use that which is made available to them. It's your job to get your Marine Corps material to them. It1 s also imperative that you continue to get material to them. If you don•t•••someone else will be there asking for •••and getting•••air time which was previously used for your material. Competition for public service time is greater than ever before and this makes it doubly important that you check with the stations in your area as often as you possibly can. Getting down to brass tacks, try to avoid calling station personnel at their homes•••unless you are personal friends. Remember that television and radio people also lead private lives and they do have working hours which do not stretch around the clock. Also, check your program schedules and try to avoid calling just before someone1 s program goes on the air.••and certainly not during air time. Also, avoid having station people return your call. If you can• t reach them on your first call, leave a message that you called and will call again. Whenever possible, make your calls to the stations in person•••not by phone. This is especially true when 4-69 you are presenting a new program idea or program package. They will appreciate your taking the time to see them per::;onally.••and you are much more likely to sell your program idea. Where is the Best Place to Sell Marine Corps Radio Television Material? This is an obvious question to which there is an obvious answer: at the station. It is not necessary to say that you should not impose upon the station people by having them come to your office to sell them your product. You should go to them. The real heart ofthisquestionliesinanother area••• that of meeting outside the realm of the station or your office. In your life as a public representative of the Marine Corps, you will find many occasions which bring you face to face with radio and television people outside the station•••both public and private. Do not use these occasions to sell station people on using Marine Corps material.••even though the opportunity may be very tempting. They will respect you and the Marine Corps for avoiding a situation which many others find too tempting to pass up. This tip will pay off in the long run.••even though it may seem that you are letting other people take advantage of a natural situation. Take advantage of these situations to talk about the Corps and what it stands for .••save the specific selling for business hours. Why Should You Try to Get Radio-Television Time? First, just as radio and television can sell products, they can sell potential recruits on the Marine Corps. Any medium that can accomplish this is valuable and should be exploited to the fullest extent. Secondly, these media give your recruiting message immediacy, range and repetition. One television announcement is. likely to reach more potential recruits in one minute than you would be able to talk with in a week. Multiply this fact by the number of recruiting spots you can place over stations in your area and you will come up with staggering figures which represent people being told the Marine Corps story. Thirdly, and certainly not to be overlooked•••whether you place Marine Corps material on television and radio or not..•your competition will! And, let's face it, recruiting is one of the hottest competitions around today. If you want your share for the Corps you've got to make radio and television play a big part in your recruiting campaign. 4-70 Conclusion Radio and television are powerful recruiting tools if you put them to work. In order to utilize successfully these two media to the fullest extent you must be three things: 1. A salesman, selling your spot announcement, radio and television series to the stations in your area. 2. A producer, constantly on the outlook for new ideas which will tell the Marine Corps story over radio and television in a manner which will make the station eager to use it•••and ask for more. 3. An adaptor, translating ideas which have worked elsewhere into workable programs for your own area, adapting programs which have worked on one station or program to fit another, utilizing your available props and personnel in new and different ways. It's a big order, but you cando it if you will work at it. 4-71 vm. Public Service Advertising What Is Public Service Advertising When you, as a Marine representative, visit a newspaper or a radio or TV station and ask for time or space for a Marine recruiting advertisement, you are aksing for public service time or space. By that we mean that you are not in a position to purchase this time or space and it must be donated by the media as a public service--or, to put it another way, as a service to the public. There is no cause for alarm over this procedure. This is a legal requirement, therefore there is no s~nse stewing over it. And, it is also a fact that the Marine Corps probably gets more advertising as a public service than if it had an advertising budget to spend. No one can accurately guess how many Marine billboards, radio spots and newspaper ads have been placed in the nation's media as the result of good work on the part of Marines. It no doubt runs into millions of dollars of free space, donated by friendly and interested citizens. The Value of Advertising There are 14 mountains in the state of Colorado each of which is taller than Pike's Peak. Can you name one? Pike's Peak has been advertised. The others have not. Marine advertising, regardless of the fact that it is public service advertising, is a valuable selling tool for you in your recruiting assignment. The reason why the great corporations today spend millions of dollars each year in advertising is simple --it pays off in sales, and they can prove it. Advertising is a dynamic part ofthe American economy. Military organizations, as well as such charitable organizations as the Red Cross, are wise to enjoy the fruits of advertising. Why Accept Public Service Advertising It is logical to ask, why should a station take valuable radio or TV time and give it to you, when perhaps he has paying customers waiting to buy it. The answer is threefold: l. Stations, magazines, newspapers, outdoor advertisers, and other media devote a certain amount of their time or space to worthwhile public service. It reflects well on their own 4-72 business. It brings good will, public appreciation and acceptance. As a matter of fact, radio and TV stations are required to log public service time given to worthwhile organizations, and this becomes part of their report to the FCC. 2. Public service advertising material can be as entertaining and informative as paid advertising. Often public service material is better~ The Marine Corps has long been aware of the importance of putting out the finest material --recognizing the fact that the race for free space and time is highly competitive. Often a program director will choose one program over another simply because it was more professionally done --it will have greater appeal to his audience. And that, after all, is what he is concerned with; picking material people will enjoy reading, watching or listening to. So quality is important in the acceptance of public service material. 3. Finally, acceptance of public service material often depends on how it is presented --how the recruiter offers it to the media. Stick a record in the mail, have it arrive bent and without instructions, and the chances of its getting aired are slim. People do not have time to look into the details of what the program is all about, or how many there are in the series, so they will set it aside and try for something else. Whereas, if the smart recruiter delivers the material in person (after having set up an appointment) and he takes the time to explain it to the program director, there will be more interest. What Advertising Is Available Generally speaking, the following types of advertising are at your disposal: 1. Newspaper advertising, usually prepared inthe form of matrixes. Newspaper ads, as a general rule, are small simply because there is an obvious limit to the amount of free space you can request. But, a small mention of your product can reach a large audience if it is in a good paper. 2. Outdoor posters; these are the large bill boards you see outside of town or along the highway. In the trade, they are referred to as 4-73 24-sheet posters, because they are actually printed on 24 separate sheets of paper for easier posting. 3. A-Signs, or posters, which are usually displayed in front of post offices and other public buildings. The Marine Corps currently owns 7,000 A-frames in which Marine advertising is posted. Millions of prospects see these displays each year. Great care and study goes into the production and distribution ofA-signs, so as to reach maximum readership. 4. Window cards, placards, and car cards, are displayed wherever space and permission allows. Street cars, subways and commuter trains are excellent outlets. As a rule, the same "format" or words and pictures are used throughout all Marine material of this kind. This produces greater continuity for the overall Marine Corps advertising campaign. 5. Radio advertising takes the form of spot announcements, either "live" or transcribed; and program material, where a whole 5, 15 or 30 minute entertainment program is offered, and includes, as part of the package, Marine Corps spot announcements. The Marine Corps has a continuous flow of good radio material entering the field, produced and planned with great care. Top performers and radio personalities are booked. Professional recording houses are used to produce the programs. 6. Television advertising, adds another dimension to radio advertising --visual impact~ There are both live announcements --which make use of the spoken word plus a "slide" which is flashed on the television screen, and filmed or recorded commercials, varying in length, and either "cartoon illustrated" or using filmed action shots. There are also television programs usually presented to a station in a series of 13 programs. (This is a traditional program sequence.) Once again, the Marine Corps has provided you with professional material. No reason to feel you are "going begging" when you leave word you are on your way to see the station manager. If there is room on his schedule he will gladly accept your television material because it presents entertaining talent which costs him nothing, and which is practically guaranteed to please his audience. 4-74 National Advertising In recruiting aids produced for national distribution, the basic advertising strategy involves the preparation of programs and materials positioning the Marine Corps in the minds of prime enlisted and officer prospects as a military organization offering avenues for training, leadership, self-development and personal prestige. Secondarily, it provides supportive information for the general public, including special interest groups such as educators, parents and civic leaders. The underlying purpose of all Marine Corps advertising messages, ofcourse, is to attract prospects. Marine advertising must convince the prospective volunteer there is no military training finer than Marine training-this training running the gamut of general building of body, mind and spirit through the more specific skills. Historically, creative themes used to promote the various programs available in the Corps have been tailored to a specific category-"Be A Leader of Men" for the male officer, "Share A Proud Tradition" for the female enlisted, and so on. The theme "The Marine Corps Builds Men" was introduced as the mainstay in enlisted Marine Corps advertising in the early 1950's. In 1959 the tag"... body, mind and spirit" was added. The theme "Ask A Marine" first appeared several years later. Today the "umbrella" for male recruiting programs, officer and enlisted, is THE MARINES ARE LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MEN. The theme emphasizes the uniquely selective nature of the Corps and its uncompromising standards of training. If everybody could be a Marine, we wouldn't be the Marines. For almost two hundred years, we've kept our standards high and our ranks small. Today it is harder than ever to be a Marine. We're a tough club to join, a tough team to make. And that's exactly the way we're going to keep it. We want quality, not quantity. We want men who are proud of their country and want to serve it proudly. We want men who seek a challenge and aren't afraid of tough physical training. We want men who believe that while nobody likes to fight, somebody has to know how. We want men who want to become part of an elite force of extraordinary men. We want good men-and then we make them better. 4-75 If you have finished high school but haven't finished withlearning ... Or if you are a college man who is ready for leadership andresponsibility ... If you've got it and you want to stand with the Marines,you'll be welcome. But it won't be easy. We train our men theway we've always trained them. No compromises. No shortcuts. No promises except one: You'll be a Marine. One of thefew. And one of the finest. The theme attracts interest. It offers an exciting, invitingchallenge. It offers a great reward.It lends itself to print and broadcast advertising. It adaptseasily to various special audiences. To college students, forinstance, the appeal can be: The Marines are looking for a few good men ... who want to lead. To enlisted prospects who wantto learn a skill, the appeal is: The Marines are looking for afew good men who want to learn something worthwhile. Agreat many other variations on the basic theme are possible.Utilizing this broad-based "Few Good Men" theme in yourlocal cooperative advertising not only complements our national efforts, but serves to strengthen the impact of your localmessage. 4-76 Advertising Cooperation There will be times when you will be approached or when you will want to approach --a company or organization to see if you can get together on some advertising. Take an example. You know there is going to be a big 4th of July celebration in your area. You also know that the very reputable bank on the corner is planning to run a special 4th of July advertisement in the local paper. You are sitting over a cup of coffee with the banker one day and you discover he needs a good photograph of a color guard to help illustrate his 4th of July ad. What to do? Provide him with the picture, of course. Now, this does not imply endorsement of that bank by the Marine Corps. Nor does it put the Marine Corps in an embarrassing light. Further, people have no objections to the association of the Marine Corps with a banking institution. Liquor, race tracks, saloons, etc., are another matter. The guide to when and when not to encourage advertising cooperation is common sense: l. If there is no implied endorsement of the product or service. L.. If the material has been cleared with the proper Marine Corps authority. 3. If the ad contains no classified material. 4. It must, of course, at all times be in good taste. 5. There can be no compromise of the dignity of the Corps. 6. It must be accurate and true to fact. 7. Marine models used cannot accept monetary compensation. 8. Marines used in testimonials cannot be identified by name. (NOTE: These points were taken from Official Marine Policy Manuals (The Information Services Manual) which you should review carefully.) 4-77 0 IX Prospecting In order to make the most efficient use of your time and energy, and the energies of your recruiters, you should know someting about your prospect --who he is and what he is looking foro Here are the obvious facts about the high school student who is eleigible to join the Corps: he is 17 or 18 years old, he is unmarried, has no financial dependents, and no previous militarty training. There are a number of other factors involved, just as important to your sales approach, which are not as easy to detect or define. To thousands of Americans, the war meant travel. They were moved all over the United States, and to many foreign countries. They visited faraway places, listened to strange languages. They returned with souvenirs and a brand new vocabulary ••• words like Shanghai, Casablanca, Tokyo. To the youth of this generation, the 17 and 18 year olds, this vocabulary represents romance, excitement, travel, adventure. When a boy joins the Corps, whether he knows it or not, and whether he will admit it or not, he is trying to become a part of the romance of the Marine Corps o He does not particularly want to fight and he certainly does not want to die. But he wants to know and use easily a vocabulary with which he is vaguely familiar --the military vocabulary --and he wants to wear a uniform. He is a teen-ager, and suffers from the uncertainties and lack of confidence common to all members of that age group. He wants very much to feel that he belongs, that people like him. Your organization can fill a real need in his life --the need to become an accepted member of a group. What is the significance of this description? What does it mean to you as a recruiter? If you are an "average" recruiter you have spent some years in the Corps; you have learned to look out for yourself; been a few places and seen some things. It is easy and natural for you to overlook a most important fact; your pospect is usually a teen-ager, subject to all the uncertainties and frustrations characteristic of that age group. This is the way one recruiter expressed it: 11A principal objection toenlistment is reluctance to convert from civilian to military life, and a feeling of apprehension and uncertainty." 4-78 To understand him, you must first understand why he is uncertain and sometimes unhappy with himself, his home and his way of living. He is unsure of himself mainly because he is inexperienced. Literally thousands of your best prospects will be men who have never been in an airplane, never spent more than a few days away from home, never earned their own living. Part of the attraction of military life may be his dP-sire to share these experiences. He wants to feel accepted, to know he is part of the group. This desire to belong is one of the strongest of all human motivations. It is pa:t"ticularly strong in the teen-ager. The seasoned, mature recruiter recognizes that uncertainty is normal among teen-agers, and makes allowances for it. He guards against snap judgments. He is careful to bear in mind that Marines are made, not born. It is interesting to note in this connection that a successful recruiter tends to regard many of tht men who visit his recruiting station as good prospects. The recruiter whose record is less impressive, on the other hand, feels that he seldom gets a rea}ly good prospect. The difference often lies in the recruiter's attitude, rather than the quality of the prospects. Most good recruiters are amateur psychologists, whether they know it or not, and they perform this "sizing-up" operation automatically. They have learned that the majority of prospects fall into fairly definite categories. As a rule, they can determine the man's "classification" after talking to him for only a few minutes, and slant the interview accordingly. Accurate appraisal of the individual is an ability that can only be acquired through experience, But perhaps we can help you acquire it more quickly by showing you what to expect. Let's look at a few of the more common ''types.'' Some Types of Applicants The Wise Guy--He talks loudandbig. Tries to give the impression he is always about three jumps ahead of you. When you draw one of these, cash in on his big mouth --let him talk himself into enlisting. Many recruiters say that a branch or species of wise guy is the "What Can The Marine Corps Offer Me?'' type. The individual who walks into a recruiting station anywhere and asks that question is in danger of being immediately classified as a wise guy, and often the 4-79 ..WISE GUY"' nlE CLAM TNE TIMID 1VPE accusation is entirely fair. The Marine with many years in the Corps but only a few days in the Recruit ing Service is prone to reply: "What can you offer the Marine Corps, crumb?'' This is not the proper approach. If a young lad is really out of line, you will do well to slow him down a bit. However, there are many good prospective Marines who are comparing all the armed services --"shopping around." When such a man asks what the Marines can offer him he means no offense; he is honestly and sincerely interested in finding out why he ought to become a Marine. He may never find out, unless you tell him. Go easy on him, tell him what he wants to know. Find out his interests and capitalize on them. The fact that the man before you is not straining to get into the Corps does not make him a poor prospect. The Clam --Often hard to interview, because he gives you no clue as to what he is thinking. As a result, you cannot tell which of the selling points you are using are effective. Do not mistake his silence for disinterest. Whether he says so or not, there are bound to be many questions in his mind. Ask leading questions; draw him out. Try to determine his interests, and lead the conversation along those lines. Once you have found a common ground, he will probably begin to open up. The Timid Type --Shy, modest, reserved. Mayex press doubts as to his own ability to absorb physical punishment. May even come right out and ask "Is boot camp really as tough as they say?" ••• or ••• "Do you have to be big to get in the Marines?" In talking to the timid type, bear in mind there is a reason for his timidity. Perhaps he has never been invited to join the high school club or included in social affairs. He may appear to lack confidence in himself. You can turn this to your own advantage. Find out what he would like to do. Then explain to him how the Corps teaches leadership --how proud he will be when he returns from boot camp with his shooting medals -how muchfunhe can have with his shipmates on liberty. Imply to him that he can be as good a Marine as the next man. And, above all, YOU be friendly with him. Chances are no one has ever paid him much attention. Put him at ease. You may be just the person he is looking for. 4-80 The Tough Guy --This gent is the opposite of the "Timid Type." When he shakes your· hand he tries to break it. As you talk with him he cracks his knuckles and squeezes a golf ball to build his grip. He is often an athlete. If he is young enough, he wears a highschool-letter sweater with four stripes on the ::~leeve. From his key chain dangles a gold basketball and three gold footballs. Talk sports with him. Point out the excellence of Marine sports. Show him he will be traveling in fast company if he can make a Marine team. The Skeptic --The skeptic is a rare bird whom you will probably encounter only occasionally. He may think he knows as much about the Corps as you do. His brother or cousin rna y be a Marine veteran who has both encouraged and discouraged his enlisting. In any event, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and he may be hard to handle. This type often takes the attitude of challenging you to enlist him. Take him off the offensive and place him on the defensive --make him do the talking. This will enable you to determine the reasons behind his skepticism and deal with them accordingly. The Impulsive Type --Quick thinking, quick to act; often moves and speaks quickly. Let him sell himself. If he is eager to enlist, by all means accommodate him. The Indecisive Type --Lacks self-reliance and hates to make a decision about anything ••• looks for and expects assistance from you. Relieve him of his burden ..• convince him he, has already made up his mind, and has made a wise choice. In order to get him off the fence, suggest that he take the EST test "just to see if you can get into the Corps." Argumentative Type --Argues at the drop of a hat; often tries to talk your arm off. Don't let him control the conversation--take the ball away from him. Interrupt him. Ask him what time it is, make him look at something on your desk, anything to break his train of thought and shut him up. Then step in and take over. This type loves above all else to feel he has won an argument. Let him win his minor points --he will be so glad and feel so friendly that he may agree with you on the really important matter of enlisting in the Marine Corps. 4-81 nlE TOUG~ GUY THE SKEPTIC THE INDECISIVE TYPE n.IE ARGUMENTATIVE TYPE ~E PROI='ESSIOf.JAL SL-lOPP€R The Professional Shopper --This type is most numerous on cold or rainy days. He maybe waiting for the matinee to break or his wife to get off work. Or he may have come to the Post Office Building to buy some stamps. He wanders from one recruiting station to another; he may even come in with an armload of your competitors 1 literature. He may waste hours of your time before you can be absolutely certain he has no real intention of enlisting in any service, Once you have definitely determined that he is a professional shopper, deal with him firmly. Be polite but direct. Point out that you are glad to spend as much time as may be necessary to answer all his questions, but that you have a job to do --enlisting men for the Marine Corps. Where to find them The individual that will make a successful recruiter is the Marine that will establish, use and energetically work a good prospecting system. The more people that you can work into your system, the more individuals you will enlist, It's that simple. Take for example a recruiter working with thirty or more names in his prospect file; he may well enlist 1 or 2 persons per month from this list. But ••• suppose he were energetically working with 300 or 400 names from his prospect file; then it is conceivable to think that he or she may enlist l 0 or 20 a month from such a prospect list. Of course, this figure may seem high to you. However, the point is that the more prospects you have to work with, the more enlistments you will obtain. The prospect, like gold, is where you find him or her. They can be found almost anywhere, but experience shows that most recruiting usually breaks down into the following categories: High School List: The high school mailing list is used in conjunction with the "Direct Mailing Campaign." The results of the Fiscal Year 1971 Direct Mail Campaign showed a reply percentage of 1.5 which is considered excellent and well worth the effort. Are we through with our high school list? Of course not! We still have 98.5 percent of our list that we should try and contact. A big job, yes; but think of the results that can be obtained. Set up a system; let's call as many applicants as needed in order to procure a set number of appointments. Never forget that all-important "telephone appointment." 4-82 The Buddy program: The Buddy program affords the individual an opportunity to take along a friend to recruit training. Is that all it does? No! It gives the recruiter an opportunity to create the picture in the "future Marine's" mind of he and his buddy taking the challenge of boot training together, and of returning home on their first leave together in their newly won, smartly tailored uniforms. This picture itself, is more than enough incentive for our young man or woman to become a "recruiter." You should always bring the buddy program up when talking with a prospect; the results will surprise you. Make it a point to obtain at least five names from each applicant as you can send up to five men on the Buddy program. Draft List: In most areas it is possible to get a list from the Selective Service Offices of the men who have registered for the draft in your area. In some areas it is more difficult to get this list than in others, but again, the enterprising recruiter can usually find a way. Don't waste time; contact this young man im mediately. Remember, he has made his first positive step in the direction of the Armed Forces when he registered. Remember, too, that if you have this list, then it's quite possible that recruiters from other services also have. So, act ••• Pre-induction Physical Lists: The Armed Forces Examination Station normally sends this list out to all services. The list contains the names and addresses of those individuals who have just completed their pre-induction physical and mental examination. What better list of prospects could you get? It lists the physical and mental qualifications. Weed out those who are not highly qualified, and then act. Again, keep in mind that all services receive the list about the same time. Act today; tomorrow may be too late. Requesting names from prospects and applicants: Lots of prospect information can be obtained by merely remembering to ask for it at every opportunity. Question your applicants and prospects for the names of individuals that they think might make good Marines, or for that matter, are even thinking about the service. As far as he is concerned, this is true. But we have many acquaintances. People that we know well enough to be able to give their names and addresses and to be able to say, "I think he would make a good Marine", or possibly, "I heard he was thinking of joining some service." This is an excellent way to build your prospect list. One person gives you the name of one or two others; you contact them and they give you additional names. The chain is endless as long as you don't break it. 4-83 Take-one boxes: The proper placement and replenishment of Take-one boxes is very important. Such boxes must be placed where high school students are most likely to observe them; where young people between the ages of 17 and 28 most frequently congregate. When you receive a Take-one card in the mail, act on it. The person has shown a desire to learn more about the Marine Corps; let's accommodate the person by contacting him personally as soon as possible. Newspapers: After a days work, it is most enjoyable to sit in your front room at home, and read the daily paper. Why not accomplish your recruiting mission at the same time? Look at the local news, the sports pages, etc. Did John Q. Smith, a senior at Beaumont High School, score 36 points in the basketball game? Did Willie Smith make the winning touchdown? Did Tom Adams receive the Eagle Scout award? Did Jim Graham risk his life to save someone from possible death? These are the items we are interested in. Wouldn't it be a good idea to drop these persons a personal note, congratulating them on their feat? These are the leaders of tomorrow that we need in our Marine Corps. Let's go after them~ Let's tell them about the Marine Corps, it's elite features and benefits that are theirs, by qualifying fortheUnitedStatesMarines. Malt shops and hangouts: One of the best places to find future Marines is the popular malt shop or drug store. It is the wise recruiter who makes it a point to drop by, right after the school day is over. You will be surprised to find that the young men and women are very receptive when within their own environment. The questions that they ask give you the chance to invite them over to your office to d:lscuss the Marine Corps in more private surroundings. Organizations: Only your interest and imagination restrict you here. Are you a good rifle marksman? Maybe you would be interested in the rifle and pistol clubs in your area. Do you belong to a church? Perhaps the church would welcome you to help with the Boy Scout troop. Again, your personal interest must tell you what organizations you like. Each and every organization has it's prospects -go after them~ Make it a known fact among your friends, and friends of the Marine Corps, that you are most willing to explain the military obligation. Let it be known that the Marine Corps has many interesting films that you are ready to show to them. Get around in your area -be known and the names of prospects will come. 4-84 Recruiting In the High Schools Good Material --High school students should and probably will comprise the largest source of prospects. They are among the most desirable recruits you can hope to obtain. They are younger, healthier, more enthusiastic. These are also the characteristics of many junior college students, most of whom are only a little older. Establish Good Relations --If you gain the cooperation of the high school authorities a large part of your problem is solved. These people are vital to the success of your recruiting effort. They can smooth your way, or make it very difficult. In dealing with them, be straightforward, and do not try to highpressure. What To Say --School officials believe that the role of the educator is to educate, and they feel rather strongly about it. In spite of the fact that Marine training programs are nothing new, a good deal of misunderstanding still exists. Stress the fact that the Marine Corps encourages boys to stay in school. Point out that your organization helps to educate, by teaching new skills; that you help to solve one of youth's greatest problems: that of personal adjustment to group living. Go Through Channels --Get in touch with the chief school administrator first. In the public school system he is the superintendent, and the principals of the individual schools are his subordinates. In the denominational or parochial schools there is usually an administrator who is designated superintendent or principal. Policies vary in different communities. In some cities word of the school superintendent is law, in others the school principals make their own decisions regarding many matters of policy. Try to get advance information before you make your initial approach. Under normal conditions you will not have to meet the Board of Education or any other school authorities higher than the superintendent. Most board members do not want to be bothered with internal problems of a routine nature. You can get just as fouled up in this respect as you would by going over the head of your Marine superior. If the superintendent refuses to permit you to enter his schools report the matter to your District Headquarters. 4-85 Some private schools object to any form of recruiting. For example, the Seventh Day Adventists prefer not to be approached. When objections are made by such school authorities, omit them from your future calendar. Here again, your committee or delegation representing all the Armed Forces components in the area will prove very valuable. Such a committee can meet with school officials and establish policies acceptable to everyone concerned. The Regular recruiting service usually puts on its biggest drive during the spring, at the close of the school year. It tries to get the men who are finishing a school term. The most profitable time for a Reserve recruiting drive is in the fall at the beginning of the school year. Attrition tends to be reduced automatically, because school keeps students in town, making them more available for unit activities. Get the Leaders --Schools are really small communities, and like all communities, they have their thought leaders. Use the same methods you applied in dealing with your community --try to get these leaders on your side first. "It is believed that e11ery effort should be made to enlist young men prominent in school and civil life. This unit enlisted the Senior Class President of the High School and in the following thirty days this boy was responsible for the enlistment of fifteen of his classmates. A prominent member of the university football team was enlisted and six of his team mates fell in line. We have found this trend to hold fast in every instance: find out who the youth leaders are, and concentrate on them, it will pay off in recruits." Recruiting Athletes --Many times the thought leaders are also the athletic leaders. Athletics are a big thing in high schools, and the outstanding athletes are often the idols of the student body. One way to reach these boys is through the coaches and athletic instructors. "The athletic instructors, through the deans of the local colleges, arranged for me to speak to every physical education class. Many men were obtained through the cooperation ofthe college deans and athletic instructors." "Athletic instructors and coaches are enthusiastic about the Reserve summer training program." 4-86 "Athletic instructors have cooperated fully in permitting talks to be given to athletes and teams and in most cases have encouraged them to become members of the Marine Corps. Many outstanding local athletes have become Marines." For detailed information regarding playing fields, athletic facilities, gym floors, rifle ranges, and for advice concerning the local leagues, see your City Recreation Director or the recreation head of the city parks board, the YMCA, the churches and the industrial recreation departments. Be Selective - "Recruit for quality above quantity; it will pay off within a year." "Don't let the physical and mental standards be lowered just to get another member. You want the best men in the community." "In recruiting be a little choosey, you'll be happier in the end." "Try to be selective in accepting personnel, or you will drive some desirable applicants away. A rigorous interview, even if 99% of applicants are accepted, gives recruits an impression that they are being carefully screened, and impresses them with the feeling that they are among the chosen few." "Be choosey in your recruits--one goodhigh school youngster with an IQ is worth five who sign with an 'X' and who need clothes for their backs. Good men attract good men--borderline delinquents, loafers and the curious may look good on the strength or quota report but will not make good Marines. The word will get around that you are choosey, that you're not just taking anybody, that the qualifications are high. If they are interested in becoming m·embers of the Marine Corps Reserve, insist on good men who will attend drill and make no bones about telling them about annual field training. You will see the difference in the unit's drill attendance and morale." Keep the Ball Rolling --Once your recruiting program is functioning smoothly and successfully, once you have the ball rolling, you will have to keep it rolling by continuous efforts. Products which are not well advertised usually disappear from the market. You must "advertise" your product, andfollowthrough on your advertising with hard selling. Remember, it is not enough merely to fill your quotas. You, at all times, are seeking quality. You cannot do the job alone. To accomplish a job as big as this one, you will have to delegate authority to responsible men. 4-87 Many of the problems you will encounter have not been covered by this booklet. As we said before, there are too many variables. Understanding the principles involved is important, but your success will be determined, in large part, by your industry and imagination. Use your initiative. Make use of your knowledge of the Corps and your enthusiasm and experience as a Marine to "Tell the Marine Corps Story." You have to tell this story before you can sell the Marine Corps. And you must sell the Corps to qualified young Americans in your community if the Marine Corps is to maintain the strength needed to insure that it will remain the nation's force-in-readiness. 4-88 TELEPHONE APPOINTMENTS The mailing list is your biggest source of prospects. Along with this excellent source are such other means of obtaining names, such as, friends of Marines, the buddy program, take on cards returned, church officials, newspaper leads and many others. Only your imagination restricts the source of your prospect list. We have our prospect list, but we must turn them into applicants, and thus Marines. To accomplish this task we must come face to face with them and many times with their parents. The telephone is our way of bridging the gap from a name to their front room. We do not sell the Marine Corps over the telephone, all we are after is the important appointment. Making appointments by phone can be a simple matter or a time wasted effort, depending on your preparation before the call. When making a telephone appointment, it is necessary that we plan our call first. When utilizing your phone for making appointments, the following guide is a sure way to get desired results. Follow it and your phone appointments are sure to come rolling in. QUALIFYING PROSPECTS AND MAKING APPOINTMENTS JOB-AID I. Pre-Call Planning Step l. List Potential Prospects a. PIP List b. High School List c. Registration List d. ASVAB Test Step 2. Set Call Objectives a. To Qualify the Prospect b. To Get an Appointment Step 3. Plan an Opening Statement a. Identify Self b. Establish Rapport c. Interest-Creating Remark II. The Telephone Call Step l. Identify Self and Service Step 2. Establish Rapport-reduce unfavorable reaction 4-89 Step 3. Give an Interest-Creating Remark-focus atten tion on product/service Step 4. Fact-Finding Step 5. The Sales Message a. Stress Benefits over Features b. Use a Sales Vocabulary Step 6. Ask for the Appointment Step 7. Overcoming Objection a. Confirm Understanding b. Prepare the Prospect for the Answer c. Answer the Objection d. Stress a Benefit Step 8. Confirm the Appointment Step 9. Express Thanks 4-90 X. The Recruiting Interview Introduction Interviewing prospects is an essential process in the recruting procedure. This chapter tells you how successful recruiters say you should conduct the interview. It is based on experience of Marine Corps recruiters in all parts of the country and represents a cross section on their opinions. Further, it is based on hundreds of interviews, studies, conversations and the experience of the sales industry. You will find here in these pages, many quotations, you may find that we have quoted you. The recruiters operational emphasis is constantly changing, because the attitudes of his prospective applicants are constantly changing. There have been periods in the history of the recruiting service when recruiters could select the cream of a large crop of applicants and conversely, there have been other times when recruiters worked seven days a week and still experienced great difficulty in meeting their production quotas. Recruiting involves many kinds of activity. There is the advertising phase ••• getting the message which supports the Marine Corps image, to the market. There is the community relations phase ••• keeping the community informed about their Marine Corps and how it serves their vital interests. Recruiting also involves presenting yourself to the public, making speeches to influential groups and to the market, prospecting, routine administration, stimulating interest in your proposition and keeping the Marine Corps1 p!'e stige viable and reputable. And of course, there is the interview phase .•. the face to face discussion between the recruiter and his prospect. It is impossible to say which phase is most important; they are all essential parts of the recruiting process. But this much is certain ••• the interview is the pay-off. It is the culmination of the entire recruiting effort, the point at which the prospect is won or lost. Actually, every prospect represents an investment in Marine Corps money a-nd effort. Somewhere, sometime, somehow or someone influenced him to talk with you. A newspaper account of Marine Corp~ activity, a Television program or advertisement, a ·movie, a copy of the Leatherneck in a local barber shop, a copy of a recruit platoon book in a school library, the advice of a friend or relative, an ''A'' sign or 24 sheet 4-91 poster may have struck his fancy, a recruiters high school talk or the direct mail letter he may have received; these events or combination of them, serve to influence your prospect and prepare the ground work for your face to face discussion about the Marine Corps proposition. Interview Techniques Courtesy--When an applicant enters your office or when you are at the applicants home and he enters the room, rise to greet him. Look interested in him. Give the impression you regard him as an individual, rather than another member of the herd. Shake Hands --A handshake can go a long way toward breaking down natural reserve that always exists between complete strangers. Ask what you can do for him, and show him where he can sit down if he comes to you. Most people are more at ease sitting down. There are many little tricks you can use to make the applicant feel more at ease. H you have a comfortable chair, let him have it. H you are talking near a window, place his chair so that he faces away from the light. Remember the old business about the thirddegree ••• making the suspect face the bright light? You are actually giving the applicant the same treatment, to a lesser degree, when you make him face the window. These are small points, buttheyadd up to more recruits for you. First Impressions Are Important --In the course of your career in the Marine Corps you have probably talked to hundreds of Marines. Chances are you have forgotten most of them ••• what they looked like, what they had to say. But unless you are an exception to the rule, you'll never forget the recruiting sergeant who enlisted you, although he was one of the very first Marines you met. This is just one illustration of a well-known fact --first impressions are important. A Marine recruiter talks to hundreds of prospects. After a time, there is a tendency to regard every man with whom he talks as ••just another applicant.•• Guard against this tendency. Remember that although you have talked with hundreds of prospects, this particular prospect may be talking to a Marine for the first time in his life. It is natural for him to look you over very carefully, and be considerably influenced by the way you act and what you say during the first few minutes of the interview. 4-92 In this regard, it should be unnecessary to point out that your personal appearance is extremely important. Whether you are aware of it or not, the prospect is going to be comparing you to other servicemen, and probably other recruiters. There is a good possibility that he thinks of the Marines as a smart-looking outfit; you should strengthen that impression. Be diligent in the care of your teeth, finger-nails, and hands ... shave daily, and have your hair trimmed at regular, frequent intervals, as you would expect to do on any Marine post or station. See that your uniforms are properly cleaned and pressed. Be careful about your posture. Your success as a recruiter depends in large part upon public esteem. You should make a special effort to insure that every person with whom you associate admires you not only for your appearance, but also for your courtesy and considerate attitude. Privacy --Most experienced recruiters try to conduct the interview where they can have some degree of privacy. The reasons are obvious: When the applicant knows that only one man is listening he feels free to talk more, and to ask questions of a personal nature. If you do not have a separate room you can use for interviewing figure out ways of arranging your office to achieve the same thing. Eliminate distractions. Seat the applicant so that it is difficult for him to see other recruiters or applicants who happen to be in the same room at the same time. In talking with him, carry out this same idea. Make him feel you are talking to him, not addressing a body of men. He wants to regard the interview as a private conversation, and you should respect his wish. Many applicants avoid being seen talking to a recruiter because they fear the curiosity or kidding of their acquaintances. Some prospects travel miles to visit a recruiting station in another city, avoiding the recruiting office only a few blocks away in their home town. They want privacy. Try to accommodate them. Be Friendly "Meet people and be friendly." "Remember names and faces." "Friendliness must be practiced in dealing with applicants. Too many times a prospect is lost due to 4-93 a short answer or 'too-busy-at-this-time' attitude, on his first visit. All prospects must leave your interview with nothing but good to say of the Marine Corps." Bear in mind that your prospect may be considering joining the Corps because he wants friends. For the duration of the interview you represent all Marines. If you are relaxed, friendly and easy to get along with, he will tend to think of all Marines in these terms. This feeling of confidence is the basis of all sound business and social relationships. Give the impression that you want to help him, not only because that happens to be your job, but because you like him and think he would make a good Marine. Make It Personal Everybody is essentially selfish; we are all interested in "Number One." Experienced recruiters try to find out what the prospects' interests are, and concentrate their sales story on those points. "Study your prospect, find out his interests and expound on them." Try to use the word "you" as often as possible. This is not to say that you shouJ,d avoid talking about yourself. You can describe personal experiences more convincingly than the experiences of others. If some incident in your own experience helps to illustrate a point, by all means tell him about it. Whenever possible, refer to people, places and things with which the prospect is familiar. When you learn where he attended school, tell him about a man you may have enlisted from that school. Try to find out if you both know a few of the same people, have fished in the same river, anything that will make him feel you two have something in common. This will help dispel his impression of you as a stranger; make him feel you are no different from other people he has always known. "Never argue with a prospect. Meet his objections tactfully with the facts. If you can't gain an enlistment, gain a friend." "Don't argue, don't contradict, and don't express disapproval. This is a general rule and like all rules, it has its exceptions. If the applicant's conception of the Corps is completely off base, you will have to straighten him out. 4-94 "Do not 1high pressure• an applicant." "Interview the applicant and draw him out. Persuade him towards the Marine Corps without using 1high pressure• methods." Talk with him, not at him. Make the interview a conversation, not a quiz. Give him every opportunity to express his qualifications, himself. This is the only way you can determine the nature of his objections, doubts and apprehensions, and take steps to eliminate these obstacles to his enlistment. Talk his language, and above all, avoid talking down to him. Use short words, short sentences, everyday language --avoid sounding like a page from Marine Corps Regulations. And avoid Marine Slang which he will not understand. Control the interview. Avoid letting it degenerate to an aimless bull session. As the conversation progresses, you should form some idea of what sales approach you should adopt. Guide the conversation in that direc,tion. This will enable you to cover all important points before either you or the prospect gets tired of talking. Assume He Will Enlist--In talking with the prospect, always act as if you are assuming he will enlist. Do not say "thus-and-so would happen." Say instead 1'thusand-so will happen." Say "when you become a Marine" rather than "if you decide to join." This helps to resolve the doubts in his mind and gets him used to thinking about himself as a Marine. It will serve to break down his natural caution and hesitancy about becoming a member of a strange organization. Always Tell The Truth "Answer all questions--be truthful in all answers.1' "Use truthful sales talks on what the Marine Corps can offer the applicant." "Be extremely careful that enthusiasm and your sales talk do not lead you into making any promises about which you are in any doubt." "False promises ..• to get a man signed up only serve to do the Marine Corps harm." "Tell the truth, never exaggerate or make misleading promises." 4-95 Don't Criticize Other Services "Do not talk down the other services." "Never criticize another branch of the Armed Forces, but point out the advantages of the Marine Corps." "Do not talk down other services, but conteract their publicity by using appropriate USMC literature." "Never talk down another branch of the armed services in public, when trying to sell the Marine Corps to an applicant. The Marine Corps' record speaks for itself." Avoid getting into a verbal wrestling match with the prospect over what various services can offer. You know that the other services have selling points, as well as the Marine Corps. The prospect may have a brother in the Army, or his father may have been in the Navy, in which case criticizing these services becomes a personal affront. In other words "Sell what you have to sell and avoid making derogatory remarks about the opposition.11 Seeing is believing. Show him, by referring to your literature that the Marine Corps offers many of the advantages he may think are offered only by the other services. Take Your Time --When you are really interested in a subject, you can talk about it all day. If you happen to be a baseball fan, for example, you can probably talk ball players till the cows come home. It is interesting to note in this regard that many of the most successful recruiters in the country are those who spend the most time on each individual interview. This is not because they are bigger blabber-mouths. It takes two people to make a conversation. If he is interested, do not rush him. Avoid making him feel you are busy and anxious to get rid of him. Even if you have eight hours paper work waiting for you, try to appear unhurried. It is also interesting to note that these same successful recruiters are visited by a very high proportion of the men they enlist, when those recruits get home on leave. This is because they "made friends" with the prospect, made him feel they were personally interested in his future welfare. That takes a little time. 4-96 A long interview is not necessarily a good interview. But a good interview often lasts a long time. Long interviews naturally mean a good deal of wasted conversation. But the record shows they can also mean a higher batting average. Tell him the story as completely as possible, but do not talk him to death. When he shows signs of wanting to shove off, begin immediately to bring the interview to a close. Delivering the Presentation Preliminary Details --Normally this presentation will be made to a prospect in his home. Condition your opening remarks to the situation. If someone else comes to the door, ask for the prospect with whom you have an appointment. When he comes to the door, proceed with your best smile displayed. Once you have entered the house, make an appropriate complimentary remark, such as: "This is a very nice home, Paul." "Have you lived here very long?" Sit on the couch ifpossible and put your briefcase on the floor, out of sight for the time being. You are now ready to start the preliminary talk (small' talk) to loo·sen up the situation. Make a comment about the news of the day, the weather, sports attraction, etc. After a few minutes of this easy conversation, say something to this effect; "Bill, my purpose in coming here today is to bring you up to date on your military obligation and to test your qualifications to serve in one of the Armed Forces. I hope that this service will provide you with some knowledge that will assist you in planning your life." "Have you ever been tested for the Armed Forces?" "Of course you would like to know what your qualifications are wouldn't you?" "Well Bill, I have a screening test that is standard for all the services. (Pull out your briefcase and extract the EST.) "This only requires a few minutes of your time and will provide you with some valuable information." "Where would you like to sit while answering these questions?" Very carefully explain to him how to take the EST. Work the sample problems with him and once you are sure that he is ready, then set the time and proceed. Never allow more than 30 minutes for completion of the EST. If he makes a passing score, compliment him by saying something to this effect: "Bill, you 4-97 demonstrated that you have a good basic education by making a very high score on this screening test," or perhaps you may find this more appropriate: "John, your score indicates that you have a pretty good chance of passing the Armed Forces Qualification Test for enlistment in any of the Armed Forces. WARNING: You must tell the truth. Any attempt to mislead the prospect will surely backfire on you when the moment of truth arrives later on at the AFES. If he doesn1t have the mental gear to qualify then tell him that he must return to the books or perhaps face the draft. Don1t be big and give away points. For purposes of the presentation, we will assume that our prospect made a passing score on the EST. Our next step is to get informationfrom him. We must know certain facts about our prospect in order that we may make a judgment as to his qualifications for joining the Corps. Also, we want to find out what his interests are, what his likes and dislikes are and whether or not he will respond to our tough boot training and our Esprit de Corps. So, we question him about his background. Here are some of the Qualifying que stions we ask: How many grades of school did you complete? Did you play any sports? (If so, get all the details such as positions played, achievements and injuries, etc.) Did you get along with all of your teachers? To what do you attribute the reasons for not getting along? Were your parents too strict on you? Who was your favorite teacher? What did you like about him? When was the last time you were arrested? When were you last in a court of law? Were you ever a patient in a hospital? Are you married? Have you ever been married? Have you ever held down a job? 4-98 When were you last fired from a job? Why/ (Explore this) What job did you like the best? What do you think this job had that others didn't have? Do you like girls? Do you have many friends? How do you spend your spare time? The prospect's response to questions like these will give you a very good idea about his qualifications. You ·must let him do the talking, you merely direct his line of thought and sit back and drink in what he tells you. Be sure to get the full meaning of a statement and have an attitude of a good listener on your face. Pay com plete attention because you don't want to miss any clues or hints. Don't let him get away with giving you half the answers, wring it all out of him. Once you are reasonably certain that he is phys~cally and mentally qualified, that he has a clean police record, and that he will respond to our training, then size him up and go into the Basic Individual Presentation. Try your best to emphasize the features that he indicated a primary interest in during the interview. For example, if he talked more and showed more enthusiasm when you were asking about his school days then you may want to place more emphasis on education, (off duty, formal schools, NESEP, Naval Academy, MCI, USAFI) Your prospect may indicate a great interest in people so that you would want to emphasize travel, adventure and comradeship. Your prospect may be a very practical young fellow and not have very much interest in formal schooling except that which will qualify him for a job, such as shop training in a particular machine. He would be a good prospect for Marine Corps on the Job Training and schools which teach MOS training such as Motor Transport, cooks and bakers school, etc. Whatever his interests, you are going to begin your presentation in the same manner. You will tell him about body, mind and spirit but you may branch out from your script in order to bring-more information to bear on his natural interests. The Presentation: "Bill, have you ever given serious thought to gaining an important business position? Well, if you are like other young men your age, you have often thought about the type of work you would be doing to earn your living. 4-99 You sure don't want to slave all your life just to keep bread on the table ••• do you? Everybodys idea of work isn't the same but we do have one thing in common and that is the desire to succeed •••to be a succes :s am I right about that, Bill? Yes all of us want to be a success, but we can't expect to start right off at the top, but· one real nice thing about Marine Corps training is that it teaches us how to go about climbing that long ladder to success. Wha:t do I mean by that? The Marine Corps has built a first class leadership training program that will start you on your way to success, early in life. For example, based on our almost 200 years of experience in leading men, we teach our Marines that before you can become a useful citizen and begin to enjoy the fruits of success, you must first master a few very important points. You must develop plenty of confidence in yourself, as well as a sense of responsibility to your comrades and society in general. Therefore it is to those ends that Marine Corps training is directed. We advance our Marines just as rapidly as they demonstrate the ability and desire to assume more responsibility. For instance, your responsibility begins just as soon as you report for recruit training. Once you have mastered the technique of managing yourself, we advance you to the first leadership position. This first step is the responsibility of leading and managing 3 more Marines. After you have mastered this step, you are advanced to a more demanding position--that of leading 13 Marines, then 43 Marines and so on until you have achieved the highly respected leadership position of carrying great responsibility for the Marine Corps and the Nation. Of course, you will have the trust and confidence and rewards of this high rank which you will have earned. It's just plain common .sense that you must first learn, then demonstrate your knowledge, then teach others. Now Bill, doesn't that sound like a real good plan to you? . You aren't expected to learn it all by yourseU.Other Marine leaders make it their job to teach you--and we have schools established to help you along the way. Then too, we have ••on the job training11 in over 400 job skills, allofwhichmeans moneyin your pocket and what's more .important--a good solid foundation which will benefit you the rest of your life, no matter what career you may choose to follow. {3) Here, I can best explain our training by use of these color graphics. We have organized our effort into 3 categories, namely, Body, Mind and Spirit. 4-100 THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN •••IN BODY! (4) All Marines participate in an outstanding physical fitness program. It begins upon reporting for recruit training and continues as long as you are a Marine. Sports are an important part of your Marine physical training, with football, basketball, track, judo and many other teams competing at every level of the Marine Corps ••• from company level teams tothose representing an entire Marine Corps base. (5) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN ••• IN MIND~ The Marine Corps has formal school training, college extension courses and on-the-job training in over 400 job specialties. On a percentage basis, the Marine Corps sends as many men to formal schools as does any other service. But, the most important part of building of a Marine .•• in mind ••• is the development of judgment, alertness, and common sense which every Marine attains, no matter what special schooling he receives. On this note, let me add that the Marine Corps encourages every one of you to stay in school and graduate ••• and to go on to college if possible. For the college man, the Marine Corps has seven different programs that lead to a commission as a Marine Officer. (6) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN ••• IN SPIRIT! There is a phrase often used by Marine called "Esprit de Corps." Simply translated, it means the spirit of the Corps. This spirit has been a part of the Marine Corps since it was founded ~n 1775. You can see it on the parade ground as rank upon rank of Marines in Dress Blue uniforms pass in review. Others have seen it on the field of battle, where spirit becomes a will to win which no enemy of our nation has ever defeated. As a Marine, you too will share this spirit of the Marine Corps. You will know the self-confidence and enthusiasm that comes from being a member of a winning team. (7) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN ••• BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT! Through the development of a body able to meet the rugged challenges of the Marine Corps ••• through the training of a mind ready to keep pace with modern methods of combat ••• through the building of a spirit which will never acknowledge defeat ••• the Marine 4-101 Corps forms a complete man, a man who knows that he will succeed no matter what career he chooses after his service as a Marine is complete. WHEN YOU VOLUNTEER FOR SERVICE AS A MARINE• . . • YOU WILL HAVE TAKEN AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD AN ENTRY INTO MANHOOD. THIS IS THE PROMISE THE MARINE CORPS MAKES ••• AND WE WILL KEEP IT. One question probably remains in your mind. (13) "Is Marine boot training really as tough as they say it is?" Well, as one Marine who has been through that training, let me answer that question with a very simple ..• (14) ••• ''Yes" And, let me add to that by assuring· you that no Marine who has been through it would want it any other way. Marine training is as rugged and difficult as any military basic training on the face of the earth. The hours are long ••• you will be on the go from early morning until late at night. More effort will be demanded of your mind ••• your body and your spirit than perhaps ever before in your life. But, let me also remind you of this simple fact: There are 240,000 Marines serving today who got through it. Millions more before them passed the same test. When they started they were just like you ••• and they did it. I believe th3t yo11 c;:~n make the grade in the Marine Corps ••• if you want to badly enough. And, that is the secret right there. If you want to be a Marine ••• then you'll make the grade. Quitters won't get to first base in the Corps. But then, quitters won't make it no matter where they go. Now, no matter whether you attend a formal school, or are assigned to duty directly from your basic training, (18) you'll eventually take your place in the Fleet Marine Force ••• known to Marines as the "FMF". The FMF is the Marine Corps. All the training, all the schools are for the sole purpose of preparing a Marine to take his place as a member of the Nation's Force in Readiness. Describing the Fleet Marine Force is a big job. The FMF is a self-sustaining air/ground team, containing every element needed to place Marines in any spot in the world ••• and keep them there. (19) To accomplish this job, the Fleet Marine Force spans the world ••• operating on land, at sea and in the air ••• always ready. For instance Marine Air units fly from Japan, Okinawa, and from giant carriers around the world, from Marine Air stations on both coasts of the United States. Marine landing teams cruise with the fleet in the Mediterranean, in the Pacific ••• they train on Okinawa, in California, in North Carolina, in the Caribbean. These 4-102 combined units are constantly training, constantly on the move. (20) As a result, the men of the Fleet Marine Force call the world their home. Travel to foreign lands ... with plenty of free time to explore them ... is one of the greatest benefits you will enjoy as a Marine. I know that I have seen parts of the world as a Marine which I would never have seen on my own. The opening phrase of the Marine Corps Hymn starts, "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli," and although this hymn was written many years ago, the Marines are still on the go ... all over the world. And, speaking of Marines on the go, you may not realize it, but there is a Marine detachment assigned to every United States Embassy in the world. In addition, there is a Marine detachment aboard all the heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers of the Navy. In every corner of the globe, Marines are on the job. (21) That is the story of what you can expect as a Marine. The training you receive as a Marine is rugged and efficient, designed to prepare you so that you can take care of yourself under all circumstances. It is training which builds self-reliance and leadership. You will have the opportunity to travel to places all over the world which you might otherwise have never seen. Perhaps you may qualify for the Marine detachment at one of the many United States Embassies abroad. You will find ample opportunity to advance your education, to learn new skills, to receive formal schooling. As a Marine you will share . the priceless heritage of the Corps . which has been the proud possession of countless Marines who have served our country with distinction since 1775. As a Marine ... you will become a man ... in body ... in mind ... and in spirit. So, if you are willing to accept the challenge of the Marine Corps. If you think it is important to grow in body, in mind and in spirit. If you want to begin the path to manhood and success with a winning team ... then we will welcome you as a United States ·Marine. OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS The following examples of overcoming objections are designed to assist you in presenting your Marine Corps Story in an effective manner. They are samples of field tested replies and can be relied upon to provide your prospect with a clear understanding of the United States Marine Corps. Learn these answers or develop your own, 4-103 for any objections you anticipate. Don't depend upon the hip-pocket approach. Be prepared Be organized. Sample Objection. The training is too tough. Listen to the complete objection. This has the effect of deflating it. Then with all due sincerity, say this, "What your question really is, (Name), is 'Can I make it through boot camp?' isn't it? I think you may have been listening to some Marines home on leave! Let me explain why they tell those tall tales ... sea stories, we call them. You see, everyone wants other people to admire them, to consider them strong and tall in the saddle. These fellows feel that by telling how rough and tough boot camp was, that they will in turn convince people how rough and tough they had it! Now you have probably done the same thing at some time in your life. All of us do things like this. Do you see what I mean? Here read this letter I received from (Name), while he was taking his training. Let him tell you what it's really like. (Let him read the appropriate parts of the letter or letters.) (Name), recruit training is thorough and exacting, but it isn't impossible. Men smaller than you make it through. These pictures will give you the dope on the full routine." (Show him your visuals) (As you· look through the pictures pause on pictures of recruits on parade on graduation day and say this) "Let me put it this way, (Name), boot camp is like an initiation into a fraternity ··~ the finest fraternity in the world, the U.S. Marines. If you give me your word that you will give it your best effort, I'll promise you that boot camp will be one of the most treasured experiences of your life. Besides, we don't gamble that before we enlist you. Now, to get you tested in (Name of AFEES) on Tuesday, it will be b~st for you to start early so that you will be fresh. Let's check the bus schedules. (Continue with arrangements to ship him if you have qualified him with the EST, etc.) Sample Objection. No school guarantees in the Corps. First, listen to the complete objection. Then say "What you're asking is, 'Why can't the Marine Corps guarantee me a certain school?' We can't, I'll tell you why. We are not in a position to determine what you are best suited for. And to be honest with you, I doubt if you can determine just where your true talents lie. Now, some recruiters will guarantee you certain schools; they call this choice not chance. But actually, if you think about it a minute, they are really guaranteeing you nothing but chance ... the off chance you 4-104 will be suited and happy with the school you are stuck with. You and I know that it's best to let experts measure and determine exactly and precisely the school you should attend. Then there is no chance that you will be a misfit ... unhappy and wishing you were in something else. Don't you agree that you would rather have it that way?" Sample Objection. The Marine Corps is slow on promotions. Listen to the objection, then say ... "What you're really asking is 'What are my chances for promotion in the Corps?', aren't you? The Marine Corps has had the fairest and finest promotion system of all the armed forces ... You will be promoted in line with your ability rather than because of some duty assignment. The Marine Corps wants you to advance in rank because as you advance you take on new responsibilities, learn more and by doing so, you become a better Marine. Let me put it this way your promotions will only be limited by your willingness to work hard. Here is a picture of a young man who joined the Marines through our Recruiting Station. He won his first promotion before he even finished his basic training and seven months later, he got his second. Have I made promotion clear to you (Name)?" Sample Objection. Not ready to make up mind yet. Maybe in a few months I'll come to see you. Listen to the complete objection then say "You're asking, then, if this program will still be available to you in a few months from now? Well, (Name), a good many young men have the same problem. But we want to make sure there is a vacancy for you when you are ready to leave for boot camp. We have a wonderful program that just fits your situation. We can get you processed now, enlist you and let you select the day sometime within the next · 5 or 6 ~onths when you want to report for active duty. Wouldn't you prefer to do this, (Name)?" (If he still hangs back then say to him ... (Name), if you were my own brother I would say to him what I'm going to say to you now" (he should say, "What's that?") "Take advantage of this opportunity and let's get started now!" Sample Objection. 4 years is just too long, some other services let you go for 3 or even 2 years. Listen to the objection then say "Well, (Name), your question is, 'Why do I have to enlist for 4 years?' 4-105 Let's look at the advantages of a 4 year enlistment. If you should decide to get out of the service after your first enlistment, you will want to be qualified for a good job in civilian life. Right? Well, the Marine Corps is like any civilian business. The best opportunities are afforded to those who are going to be around the longest. It is our belief that we should assist you in making sure that you pick the correct program. You strike me as a young man with a lot on the ball. This is why I am encouraging you to take advantage of the four year program. If this does not meet the objection, then bring into play: "By enlisting for four (4) years you might qualify for the Aviation School Guarantee or the Ground F,nlistment Program." If you meet the necessary qualifications for these programs you may attend a formal school la~ting up to 56 weeks. Closing the presentation: "Bill, I have provided you with the straight facts about Marine Corps service. I feel that you are qualified for the Corps, or else I wouldn't be here talking to you. As you can see, the opportunities are quite wide for the right man. Don't you agree Bill, that serving the Corps is a fine way to discharge your military obligations?" (Get any objections at this point and answer them using the technique of turning the objection into a representative question and answering it.) "Bill, I can arrange to get your examination out of the way on most any day of the week, how would next Tuesday suit you, or would Thursday be better?" (Sometimes he will want some time to think over your proposition. In this case, be sure to set up another appointment. You can expect to call on a young man several times before you lock him in the Corps. Always have the initiative and be ready to ask him for 5 names of young men whom he recommends you talk with about a cruise in the Corps.) 4-106 CHAPTER FIVE SELLING THE MARINE CORPS TO WOMEN I. Opening Comment In general, the basic selling concepts in male recruiting are applicable to recruiting women. However, there are some specialized sales approaches you should consider when recruiting women. The Marine Corps does not mean the same things to a woman that it does to a male facing the reality of a military obligation. In his case, the qualified young man is obligated to a tour and it is simply your job to sell him on the unique advantages of the Corps. A woman, on the other hand, is not as apt to discuss or even think about a service career until she is exposed to information about its benefits. II. Differences In Selling Your Product To Women When selling the Marine Corps to women, you generally will be faced with an audience that is uninformed or has perhaps previously received misinformation about life in the service. You will have to begin with the basics: enlistment obligations, marriage regulations, pay, travel, occupational specialties and duty assignments. You should try to create in the mind of your audience the image of the dedicated, energetic organization of which you are a part. Tell them also of the many young women like themselves who are a part of this organization whose traditions were formed by women as well as male Marines. This should help overcome any problems they might have identifying with an organization they had previously thought of as being primarily male-oriented. Because women in general know very little about what life in any of the armed forces has to offer, you can assume that they know much more about competitive career channels, which outwardly may seem more attractive to them. The airlines, business and secretarial schools are all probably more familiar to women than the armed forces UP TO NOW! 5-l Approach the task of selling the Corps with a sense of logic. The fact that women are often ill-informed about the armed services can be turned into an advantage. Their impressions of the Marine Corps will depend a great deal upon their impression of ••• YOU! How To Project Your Pride In The Corps To Women As a Marine who has built his life around the Corps, your opinion carries a lot of weight with any audience. Like other professionals, you are doing a job that you enjoy for an organization that is worth working for ••• that you believe in. This is something that can be projected to an audience. People tend to become enthused when they see others enthused ••• project this enthusiasm to your audience. Tell them of the traditions of the Marine Corps, and the pride all Marines-both men and· women-have in sharing it. Tell them of the respect of the American public for the Marine uniform and the Eagle, Globe and Anchor emblem. Don't take it for granted that they know anything about the Corps until you tell them! Selling Points For Prospective Women Marines The Corps can offer a woman advantages that few other occupations possess. Most important it offers something more • a deep satisfaction in the knowledge that the work the Woman Marine will do in the Corps will count for something ••• that the work she will do will have a farther reaching effect than almost any other type of work in which she could become involved. Educational and travel opportunities are hers as a matter of course. A chance at responsibility is hers as soon as she is ready and able to assume it. The Corps can mold a young woman into the kind of alert, confident person who can fulfill responsibilities assigned to her. Some women may be concerned about, "becoming a number", losing their individuality, or giving up their femininity in the Corps. Assure them that this is not so. After all, they will be a very attractive minority among many, many men. Tell them of the attractive seasonal uniforms created especially for them by famed designer Mainbocher, and how these outfits most certainly complement a woman's femininity. Always point out to prospective woman recruits, that by serving their country and the Corps, they automatically do a service to themselves as individuals. The skills a woman learns will last her the rest of her life. If she is interested in pursuing more education, the programs offered by the Corps on a correspondence basis internally, and at the college and university level when convenient to Marine installations, places this means of self-improvement within easy grasp. All of this training not only goes towards making a young Woman Marine more valuable to the Corps, but makes her a top job prospect if she decides to return to civilian life at a later date. Tell the prospect about the independent life that a Woman Marine leads when off-duty ••• about dress regulations, recreational facilities and travel oppor tunities, plus the company of other Marine Corps personnel. In short, make each of your prospective female volunteers feel that the Woman Marine is a credit to her sex, her country, the Marine Corps and most important ••• to herself. III. Where to Find Female Prospects At every opportunity, try to make your presentation to groups of prospects rather than individuals. There will be occasions when selling on an individual basis will be necessary, but the obvious advantages of group presentations should be pursued. High Schools - Contact the local high school guidance department, explain what you are trying to accomplish and invite them to suggest appropriate groups for your presentation. Every sizeable high school generally has several organizations that would be natu:rals for the Wo--:nan Marine story. High school sororities, girls 1 athletic associations, home economics clubs and career workshops for seniors are just a few. Always suggest members bring guests, who may not be club or organization members, but who they think might be interested in your presentation. These organizations generally meet after school hours, however, there may be an opportunity at some schools for a general girls 1 assembly during school hours. The chance to hold a program of this type should never be missed. In that way you are reaching nearly every student who may be a prospective Woman Marine. 5-3 Working Women To reach women who have graduated from high school and who may have worked for one or two years (and are ready for a change), contact the local women• s organizations such as Young Women's Clubs, professional women's associations, Y.W.C.A.'s, church groups, etc. Always use an appropriate Marine Corps film to supplement your presentation. Not only does a film make your program a more attractive offering to groups, but it lends a more professional air to your presentation. In 30 minutes of film you can get across ideas that would take hours in speech form. The "picture being worth a thousand words" concept still works. Mention the Officer training programs available for those women who have completed four years of college and otherwise qualify. Indirect Methods Other contacts can be established through senior women's clubs. You might not make your presentation to the prospect herself, but you can reach the parents of prospects. Frequently, they are the ones who must be sold before you can recruit the daughters. Parent-Teacher• s organizations are another excellent way to reach the same group. Remember, many parents would prefer to see their daughters enjoy the security and excellent supervision of the Marine Corps, when they would be reluctant to see them leave home to work in another city. IV. How To Reach Female Prospects One of your tasks as a recruiter is to get the name of the Ma:tine Corps before the public as often as possible. The basic procedures are discus sed in Chapter Fbur, but in considering the recruitment of women, there are some additional points. Most daily newspapers have womens pages written for the housewife, the teenager and other women. Often they contain stories about women who have exciting, dnique or unusual careers. This could be an ideal spot :for a story about a Woman Marine from a particular 'city or state. ,, ' Also, m~ny cities now have local morning shows on their TV stations. With a new show to prepare five 5-4 days a week, they are often crying for human interest material. They should be contacted as a possible source of getting your story across to the public. But when you call, you should have somethir-g definite to offer. For example, a Woman Marine home on leave who can do" credit to the Corps by giving a TV interview, or a short talk accompanied by a film on the Corps. Radio stations are in need of fresh material as well. Phone-in programs are an excellent opportunity to get your story before the general public. This type of program generally has high listener ratings. Your Procurement Aids Catalog can supply you with suitable props for TV and public speaking programs. To sum up your· role as a recruiter of Woman Marines: remember that women do not have the same outlook on military service as do men, therefore, nearly every aspect of your selling technique should be viewed with this fact in mind. You will have to supply your audience with much more basic information than male prospects require. Point out advantages that would appeal to them as women and giv~ them a broad picture of the occupational opportunities and benefits offered by the Corps. When possible include a question and answer period at the end of your presentation. This will provide an opportunity for the women to ask questions that may have gone unanswered. Make sure also, that· you have the names and addresses of all prospects before they leave the meeting. This can be accomplished by passing out blank name and address cards before the meeting, or asking the prospects to come up and fill them out afterwards. 5-5 APPENDIX A U.S. Marine Corps Recruiters' School SCENE #1 (Cover) SCENE #2 SCENE #3 High School Presentation 5-Minute Version Good afternoon, I am Sergeant_____________ United States Marine Corps. I've been invited here to talk to you about the Marine Corps. Beyond that, I will be discussing a very special subject (1) you! Your entry into manhood your future success in life you at this minute. No matter what course your life takes from this moment on, one thing is almost a certainty. That is the fact that each of you must make a decision on your future. Many of you will be faced with an obligation or choose to serve our nation as a member of one of its armed forces. Although service in the military may be a fact of life, you do have a personal choice of the armed force with which you wish to serve. You do, that is, if you volunteer for military service. Whether you volunteer is your decision alone. It is, of course, one of the most important you will ever face. Important, because this decision will affect years of your life perhaps your entire future. Since this is true, you should carefully consider the question, get all the facts available about each service ... and then act! Make up your mind and move on your decision. If you delay you can lose your opportunity to make a choice. My purpose this morning/afternoon is to give you the facts about service as a United States Marine. What you can expect ... what the Marine Corps expects of you. Let me begin by saying that in the Marine Corps, we look upon service to our nation not as an obligation but as a right and privilege. We believe that no matter what armed force you choose to serve with, the experience should be a rewarding one. Service does not have to be something to avoid ... these can be some of the best and proudest years of your life. They will be whatever you make them. (2) Because we believe this, it follows that Marines are volunteers. Officers and enlisted men ... serving in over 400 different specialties wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor because they want to. We take great pride in this ... we would not want it any other way. What can you expect when you volunteer for the Marine Corps? Well, as I mentioned to you earlier, the Marine Corps believes that the period you spend serving your country should be a rewarding one. And, as a Marine you A-1 will receive a reward. That reward comes in the form of a simple promise: (3) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN BODY MIND AND SPIRIT. (4) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN ... IN BODY! All Marines participate in an outstanding physical fitness program. It begins upon reporting for recruit training and continues as long as you are a Marine. Sports are an important part of your Marine physical training, with football, basketball, judo and many other teams competing at every level of the Marine Corps from intramural company teams to those representing an entire Marine base. (5) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN ... IN MIND! The Marine Corps has formal school training, college extension courses and on the job training in over 400 job specialties. But, the most important part of the building of a Marine in mind, is the development of judgment, alertness and common sense which every Marine attains no matter what special schooling he receives. On this note, let me add that the Marine Corps encourages every one of you to stay in school and graduate ... and to go on to college if at all possible. For the college man, the Marine Corps has nine different programs which will lead you to a commission as a Marine officer. (6) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN ... IN SPIRIT! There is a phrase often used by Marines called "Esprit de Corps." Simply translated, it means the spirit of the Corps. This spirit has been a part of the Marine Corps since it was founded in 1775. You can see it on the parade ground as rank upon rank of Marines in Dress Blue uniforms pass in review. Others have seen it on the field of battle, where spirit becomes a ~ill to win which no enemy of our country has ever defeated. As a Marine you, too, will share this spirit of the Marine Corps you will know. the self-confidance and enthusiasm that comes from being a member of a winning team. (7) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN BODY, MIND A-2 AND SPIRIT! Through the development of a body able to meet the rugged challenges of the Marine Corps through the training of a mind ready to keep pace with modern methods of combat .. . through the building of a spirit which will never acknowledge defeat .. . the Marine Corps forms a complete man. A man who knows that he will succeed no matter what career he chooses when his service as a Marine is complete. WHEN YOU VOLUNTEER FOR SERVICE AS A MARINE YOU WILL HAVE TAKEN AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD AN ENTRY INTO MANHOOD. THIS IS THE PROMISE THE MARINE CORPS MAKES TO YOU AND WE WILL KEEP IT. (21) So, if you are willing to accept the challenge of the Marine Corps If you think it is important to grow in body, in mind and in spirit. If you want to begin the path to manhood and success with a winning team then we will welcome you as a UNITED STATES MARINE. A-3 U.S. Marine Corps Recruiter's Presentation 10-Minute Version SCENE #1 (Cover) SCENE #2 SCENE #3 Good afternoon, I am Sergeant-------------United States Marine Corps. I've been invited here to talk to you about the Marine Corps. Beyond that, I will be discussing a very special subject (1) you. Your entry into manhood ... your future success in life ... you at this moment. No matter what course your life takes from this moment on, one thing is almost a certainty. That is the fact that each of you must make a decision on your future. Many of you will be faced with an obligation or choose to serve our nation as a member of one of its armed forces. Although service in the military may be a fact of life, you do have a personal choice of the armed force in which you wish to serve. You do, that is, if you volunteer for military service. Whether you volunteer is your decision alone. It is, of course, one of the most important you will ever face. Important, because this decision will affect years of your life ... perhaps your entire future. Since this is true, you should carefully consider the question, get all the facts available about each servce ... and then act! Make up your mind and move on your decision. If you delay ... you can lose your opportunity to make a choice. My purpose this afternoon is to give you the facts about service as a United States Marine. What can you expect ... what the Marine Corps expects of you. Let me begin by saying that in the Marine Corps, we look upon service to our nation not as an obligation ... but as a right and a privilege. We believe that no matter what armed force you choose to serve with, the experience should be a rewarding one. Service does not have to be something to avoid these can be some of the best and proudest years of your life. They will be whatever you make them. (2) Because we believe this, it follows that all Marines are volunteers. Officers and enlisted men ... serving in over 400 different specialties ... wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor because they want to. We take great pride in this ... we would not want it any other way. What can you expect if you volunteer for the Marine Corps? Well, as I mentioned to you earlier, the Marine Corps believes that the period you spend serving your country should be a rewarding one. And, as a Marine you will receive a reward. That reward comes in the form of a simple promise: (3) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN ... BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT. A-4 (4) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN ... IN BODY! All Marines participate in an outstanding physical fitness program. It begins upon reporting for recruit training and continues as long as you are a Marine. Sports are an important part of your Marine physical training, with football, basketball, track, judo and many other teams competing at every level of the Marine Corps ... from intramural company teams to those representing an entire Marine Corps base. (5) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN ... IN MIND! The Marine Corps has formal school training, college extension courses and on-the-job training in over 400 job specialties. On a percentage basis, the Marine Corps sends as many men to formal schools as does any other service. But, the most important part of the building of a Marine ... in mind ... is the development of judgment, alertness and common sense which every Marine attains, no matter what special schooling he receives. On this note, let me add that the Marine Corps encourages every one of you to stay in school and graduate ... and to go on to college if possible. For the college man, the Marine Corps has nine different programs that lead to a commission as a Marine Officer. ( 6) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN ... IN SPIRIT! There is a phrase often used by Marines called "Esprit de Corps." Simply translated, it means the spirit of the Corps. This spirit has been a part of the Marine Corps since it was founded in 1775. You can see it on the parade ground as rank upon rank of Marines in Dress Blue uniforms pass in review. Others have seen it on the field of battle, where spirit becomes a will to win which no enemy of our nation has ever defeated. As a Marine, you too will share this spirit of the Marine Corps. You will know the self-confidence and enthusiasm that comes from being a member of a winning team. (7) THE MARINE CORPS BUILDS MEN ... BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT! Through the development of a body able to meet the rugged challenges of the Marine Corps . . . through the training of a mind ready to keep pace with modem methods of combat through the building of a spirit which will never acknowledge defeat ... the Marine Corps forms a complete A-5 SCENE #4 SCENE #5 man, a man who knows that he will succeed no matter what career he chooses after his service as a Marine is complete. WHEN YOU VOLUNTEER FOR SERVICE AS A MARINE YOU WILL HAVE TAKEN AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD AN ENTRY INTO MANHOOD. THIS IS THE PROMISE THE MARINE CORPS MAKES TO YOU ... AND WE WILL KEEP IT. One question probably remains in your mind. (13) "Is Marine boot training really as tough as they say it is?" Well, as one Marine who has been through that training, let me answer that question with a very simple (14) "Yes!" And, let me add to that by assuring you that no Marine who has been through it would want it any other way. Marine_ training is as rugged and difficult as any military basic training on the face of the earth. The hours are long you will be on the go from early morning until late at night. More effort will be demanded of your body ... your mind and your spirit than perhaps ever before in your life. But, let me also remind you of this simple fact: There are 240,000 Marines serving today who have gone through it. Millions more before them passed the same test. When they started they were just like you and they did it. I believe that most of the students here today could make the grade in the Marine Corps . .. if they want to badly eno~gh. And, that is the secret right there. If you want to be a Marine ... then you'11 make the grade. Quitters won't get to first base in the Corps. But then, quitters won't make it no matter where they go. Now, no matter whether you attend a formal school, or are assig-oed directly from your Infantry Training Regiment, (18) you'll eventually take your place in the Fleet Marine Force known to Marines as the "FMF." The FMF is the Marine Corps. All the training, all the schools are for the sole purpose of preparing a Marine to take his place as a member of the Nation's Force in Readiness. Describing the Fleet Marine Force is a big job. (19) The FMF is a self-sustaining air/ground team, containing every element needed to place Marines in any spot in the world .. ; and keep them there. To accomplish this job, the Fleet Marine Force spans the world operating on land, at sea and in the air always ready. Marine Air units fly from Japan and Okinawa and from giant carriers around the world, from Marine Air stations on both coasts of the United States. Marine landing teams cruise with the fleet in the Mediterranean, in the Pacific ... they train on Okinawa, Hawaii, in California, in North Carolina, in the Caribbean. These combined units are constantly training, constantly on the move. (20) As a result, the men of the Fleet Marine Force call the world their home. Travel A-6 SCENE #6 to foreign lands with plenty of free time to explore them . . . is one of the greatest benefits you will enjoy as a Marine. I know that I have seen parts of the world as a Marine which I would never have seen on my own. The opening phrase of the Marine Corps hymn starts, "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli," and although this hymn was written many years ago, the Marines are still on the go all over the world. And, speaking of Marines on the go, you may not realize it, but there is a Marine detachment assigned to every United States Embassy in the world. In addition, there is a Marine detachment aboard all the heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers of the Navy. In every comer of the globe, Marines are on the job. (21) That is the story of what you can expect as a Marine. The training you receive as a Marine is rugged and efficient, designed to prepare you so that you can take care of yourself under all circumstances. It is training which builds self-reliance and leadership. You will have the opportunity to travel to places all over the world which you might otherwise have never seen. Perhaps you may qualify for the Marine detachment at one of the many United States Embassies. You will find ample opportunity to advance your education, to learn new skills, to receive formal schooling. As a Marine you will share the priceless heritage of the Corps which has been the proud possession of countless Marines who have served our country with distinction since 1775. As a Marine you will become a man ... in body ... in mind ... and in spirit. So, if you are willing to accept the challenge of the Marine Corps. If you. think it is important · to grow in body, in mind and in spirit. If you want to begin the path to manhood and success with a winning team ... then we will welcome you as a United States Marine. A-7 U.S. Marine Corps Recruiter's Presentation 20-Minute Version SCENE #1 SCENE #2 SCENE #3 Good afternoon, I am Sergeant--------------United States Marine Corps. I've been invited here to talk to you about the United States Marine Corps. Beyond that I will be discussing a very special subject (1) you. Your entry into manhood your future success in life ... you at this moment. No matter what course your life takes from this moment on, one thing is almost a certainty. That is the fact that each of you must make a decision on your future. Some of you will be obliged or will choose to serve our nation as a member of one of its armed forces. Although this decision is a fact of life, you do have a personal choice of the armed force in which you wish to serve. You do, that is, if you volunteer for military service. Whether you volunteer is your decision alone. It is, of course, one of the most important you will ever face. Important, because this decision will affect years of your life ... perhaps your entire future. Since this is true, you should carefully consider the question, get all the facts available about each service ... and then act! Make up your mind and move on your decision. If you delay you can lose your opportunity to make a choice. My purpose this afternoon is to give you the facts about service as a United Stai.es Marine. What can you expect ... what the Marine Corps expects of you. Let me begin by saying that in the Marine Corps, we look upon service to our nation not as an obligation ... but as a right and privilege. We believe that no matter what armed force you choose to serve with, the experience should be a rewarding one. Service does not have to be something to avoid ... these can be some of the best and proudest years of your 1ife. They will be whatever you make them. (2) Because we believe this, it follows that Marines are volunteers. Officers and enlisted men ... serving in over 400 different specialties wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor because they want to. We take great pride in this. We would not want it any other way. The fact that I am here might make some of you think that the Marines are looking for anybody they can get. You might think that we want everyone to join the Marine Corps. Well, if I give you that impression, I apologize. A-8 The Marines don't want a lot of recruits. We're looking for a few good men. If everybody could be a Marine, we wouldn't be ihe Marines. For almost two hundred years, we've kept our standards high and our ranks small. Today it's harder than ever to be a Marine. We're a tough club to join, a tough team to make. And that's exactly the way we're going to keep it. We want quality, not quantity. We want men who are proud of their country and want to serve it proudly. We want men who seek a challenge and aren't afraid oftough physical training. We want men who believe that while nobody likes to fight, somebody has to know how. We want men who want to become part of an elite force of extraordinary men. We want good men-and then we make them better. Ifyou've got it and you want to stand with the Marines, you'll be welcome. But we don't promise you a rose garden. We train our men the way we've always trained them. No compromises. No shortcuts. No promises except one: You'll be a Marine. One ofthe few, and one ofthe finest. As a Marine, you'll be in excellent physical condition-always. Our physical fitness program keeps all Marines in fighting trim. You'll be in great shape for sports which are an important part of your Marine physical training. Football, basketball, track, judo and many other team sports are enjoyed at every level of the Corps-from intramural company teams to those reprsenting an entire Marine Corps base. As a Marine, your mind will have to be sharp to meet the challenges of today's technological specialties. The Marine Corps has formal school training, college extension courses and on the job training in over 400 job specialties. But, the most important part of the building of a Marine is the development of judgment, alertness and common sense which every Marine attains no matter what special schooling he receives. On this note, let me add that the Marine Corps encourages every one of you to stay in school and graduate ... and to go on to college if possible. A-9 SCENE #4 For the college man, the Marine Corps has nine different programs which lead you to a commission as a Marine Officer. There are many reasons for becoming a Marine ... and many ways to attain manhood as a Marine. But none of them is easy. Not everyone qualifies. Not everyone has the extra measure the Marine Corps demands. That's why we're looking for a few good men. Now, if becoming a man is important to you if the characteristics of courage, alertness, judgment and a sound mind and body are goals you'd like to go for then let's follow the chain of events which would unfold after you volunteered for the Marine Corps. You've met the physical and mental standards ... you've taken the oath of allegiance ... you're on your way to an experience which you11 never forget ... an experience called boot camp. (8) The building of men starts at the Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot at Parris Island, South Carolina. (San Diego, California) First off, you will take a battery of tests to determine your aptitude for training in specific jobs within the Marine Corps. You have a chance to list your special interests and to note any training you might already have received in a technical field. Shortly after this mental testing ... comes an initial strength test. I'd like to make it clear right now that you don't have to be a giant, or a four-letter winner to succeed in the Marine Corps. Many of my best friends in the Corps have never weighed more than a hundred and fifty pounds, dripping wet and yet they're great Marines. As you will soon discover as a Marine, it is the amount of determination to succeed which you have that decides whether or not you make the grade. And, as far as I know, this is true everywhere in life. Actually, this initial strength test is not one which you can either pass or fail. Its purpose is to set a mark, and from your scores the drill instructors will determine which areas you need work in. Special emphasis will be placed on these until you are able to perform satisfactorily in all the exercises. Frequent strength tests are given throughout recruit training, and physical readiness tests are given throughout the career ·of every Marine (9). The building continues on the drill field ... we call it "the Grinder." The purpose of close order drill in the Marine Corps is to teach team work. Out of close order drill and the Manual of Arms, comes an ability to respond A-10 to leadership immediately without hesitation. For three weeks during recruit training, there is one phrase which will ring in your ears day and night ... that phrase is (10) "READY ON THE FIRING LINE." All Marines are trained as riflemen officers and enlisted men .. . pilots .. . radar operators intelligence experts. This training makes the Marine Corps unique among all the services. To back it up, the Marine Corps believes that initial training alone isn't enough ... so, once a year, officers and enlisted men alike return to the rifle range to re-qualify with the rifle. Why is this important? Because we want every Marine to be able to defend himself .. . and to be able to depend on all his fellow Marines. (11) As I stated in the beginning, an important part of the building of men in the Marine Corps is the training of the mind. And, much of your recruit training in the Corps will take place in the classroom; you'll study the history of the Marine Corps ... the functioning of the rifle ... map reading ... and many other subjects which will make you a better Marine. I Time to worship at the church of your choice is allowed all Marines throughout the world. And, this is also true during the busy hours of recruit training. Every Marine Corps Post, Base and Air Station has its own chapel where services for all denominations are held. This again, is basic to the Marine Corps' belief that a growth in spirit is part of the total man. (12) You will spend 9 weeks in Marine Corps recruit training. When you begin the training, you will probably be convinced as is every one who starts that those 9 weeks will never end. When your platoon passes in review at recruit graduation, you will wonder how it all went by so quickly. Graduation from Marine boot training will be one of the proudest days of your life. Your family and friends will be invited to attend the ceremony. On this day, members of the recruit platoons display their newly won promotions and rifle qualification medals. for the first time. But, the greatest reward of all comes to each and every man who is a part of that graduation parade. That reward is the self-satisfaction of having made the grade ... that you have what it takes to be a man. That is the story of Marine boot training. One question probably remains in your mind. (13) "Is Marine boot training really as tough as they say it is?" Well, as one Marine who has been through that training, let me answer that question with a simple ... (14) "Yes!" And, let me add to that by assuring you that no Marine who has been through it would want it any other way. Marine training is as rugged and difficult as any military basic A-ll SCENE #5 SCENE #6 training on the face of the earth. The hours are long you will be on the go from early morning until late at night. More effort will be demanded of your mind your body ... and your spirit ... than perhaps ever before in your life. But, let me also remind you of this simple fact: There are 240,000 Marines serving today who got through it. Millions more before them passed the same test. When they started they were just like you and they did it. I believe that most of the students here today could make the grade in the Marine Corps . . . if they want to badly enough. And, that is the secret right there. If you want to be a Marine ... then you'11 make the grade. Quitters won't get to first base in the Corps. But then, quitters won't make it no matter where they go. (15) O.K., boot camp is over. Does that mean your training's finished? Not by a long shot! After recruit training comes more training, but at a different place and for a different purpose. You and your buddies will report to the Infantry Training Regiment at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina (Camp Pendleton, California). Here, the emphasis switches from the building of the individual Marine to the molding of the basic Marine team the four-man fire team within the rifle squad. Advance weapons training . . . battle tactics and squad formations ... night attacks and defense ... these are only a few of the many things you will learn. Here also, leadership abilities are encouraged, and you will be given the opportunity to lead your unit in the exercises. At the end of Advance Infantry training which lasts about a month you're on your way home for a twenty-day leave, in your tailored Marine uniform ... in the best physical condition of your life and with the self-confidence and pride only a Marine can claim. Everyone in town will know that this is not the same person who left to JOin the Corps ... this is a man, in body, mind and spirit! (16) Now, you're a full-fledged Marine! You've made the grade ... you've proven that you're ready to take your place in the world's most elite military organization.· As I said before, the months and years which lie ahead of you at this point can be some of the greatest in your life. By this time, you're going to have made some of your closest friends. These are people who have sweated through boot camp with you. These are fellow Marines that you know and can count on any time and any place. Chances are, you also will have received that first promotion. And, there is a world of action and adventure waiting that you wouldn't trade for anything. Believe me, I know. I've been a Marine for years now, and I've enjoyed every minute A-12 of it. You know, it's the roughest jobs, the hardest marches, the most challenging assignments that you remember best and talk about most. Now you're a Marine ... what's it like? (17) Well, when you left the Infantry Training Regiment for your first leave, you were carrying an official set of Marine Corps orders which directed you to your next assignment. The educational tests given during your recruit training helped to determine the one of over 400 job areas for which you are best qualified. You may be sent to one of 200 schools or you may receive "on the job training" in actual work situations under the supervision of senior Marine Corps noncommissioned officers. And, while we're on the subject, off duty education is available for all Marines who want it, with the Marine Corps paying part or most of the cost. Formal on-campus education in academic subjects as well as through the Armed Forces Institute, is a source of study for many Marines. The Marine Corps Institute offers. free courses in military specialties to the Marine, as do the Marine Corps Schools on basic military subjects. If you want to improve yourself through study, you'll have every opportunity in the Marine Corps. No matter whether you attend a formal school, or are assigned directly from the Infantry Training Regiment, (18) you'll eventually take your place in the Fleet Marine Force known to Marines as "FMF." The FMF is the Marine Corps all the training, all the schools are for the sole purpose of preparing a Marine to take his place as a member of the Nation's Force in Readiness. Describing the Fleet Marine Force is a big job. (19) The FMF is a self-sustaining air/ground team, containing every element needed to place Marines on any spot in the world ... and keep them there. To accomplish this job, the Fleet Marine Force spans the world ... operating on land and in the air ... always ready. Marine Air Units fly from Japan, Okinawa and from giant carriers around the world, from Marine Air stations on both coasts of the United States. Marine landing teams cruise with the fleet in the Mediterranean, in the Pacific ... they train on Okinawa, Hawaii, in the Philippines, in California, in North Carolina, in the Caribbean. These combined units are constantly training, constantly on the move. (20) As a result, the men of the Fleet Marine Force A-13 SCENE #7 call the world their home. Travel to foreign lands ... with plenty of free time to explore them is one of the greatest benefits you will receive as a Marine. I know that I have seen parts of the world as a Marine which I would never have seen on my own. The opening phrase of the Marine Corps hymn starts, "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli," and although the hymn was written many years ago, the Marines are still on the go all over the world. And, speaking of Marines on the go, you may not realize it, but there is a Marine detachment assigned to every United States Embassy in the world. In addition, there is a Marine detachment aboard all the heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers of the Navy. In every corner of the globe, the Marines are on the job. (21) That is the story of the Marine Corps ... the story of what you can expect as a Marine. The training you receive as a Marine is rugged and efficient, designed to prepare you so that you can take care-of yourself under all circumstances. It is training which builds self-reliance and leadership. You will have the opportunity to travel to places all over the world which you might otherwise have never seen. Perhaps you may qualify for the Marine detachment at one of the many United States Embassies. You will find ample opportunity to advance your education, to learn new skills, to receive formal schooling. As a Marine you will share the priceless heritage of the Corps which has been the proud possession of countless Marines who have served our nation with distinction since 1775. As a Marine you will become a man ... in body ... in mind and in spirit. So, if you are willing to accept the challenge of the Marine Corps. If you think it is important to grow in body, in mind and in spirit. If you want to begin the path of manhood and success with a winning team ... then we will welcome you as a United States Marine. A-14 APPENDIX B U.S, Marine Corps High School Presentation Recruiters 1 SCENE 1 SCENE 2 SCENE 3 School To Women 5-Minute Version Good Morning, I am Sergeant , United States Marine Corps. I've been invited here to talk to yu,..l about the Marine Corps. Beyond that, I will be discussing a very special subject .•• YOU! Your plans for the future, your success in life, YOU at this minute. In a few short weeks, (months) you will receive your highschool diploma. You must then make one of the most important decisions of your life. Important because this decision will affect years of your life, perhaps your entire future, Some of you may have already reached a decision --to go on to college, or to be married shortly.Others may have decided to get a job, with no plan as to the type of work they will apply for in the business world, Have you thought about enlisting in the United States Marine Corps? The decision to become a Woman Marine is not an easy one for a young woman to make , •• nor, should it be. Unlike young men, there is no "military obligation" on her part • , . no necessity to serve. But, in the truest sense, there is an obligation on the part of every American to serve our nation . , • to serve it as directly and as proudly as one is able. Only through this sort of dedication , .. this willingness to serve ... will our nation and all that it stands for be preserved, The work Women Marines do is important work , . , it must be done . , • it must be done well, But the true contribution of Women Marines cannot be measured only in terms of records processed or aircraft safely launched. Their spirit is needed, their pride of performance is felt, their readiness to assume great responsibility is a constant source. of strength to the Marine Corps ... to the Nation. Service as a Woman Marine begins with a short and exciting training phase at the horne of Marine spirit and pride ••. Parris Island, South Carolina, Here she learns the ways of a new world, She studies the rich traditions, the important mission and great history of the Marine Corps. From Military Customs and Courtesies to Social and Personal Standards for Women Marines, her days will be filled with new experiences, new friends, new facts about the Marine Corps which she will always remember. B-1 SCENE 4 Graduation from recruit training will be one of the most meaningful days of her life. It is this day that she ·;vill pin on her Marine Corps emblems for the first time. Her uniform will be complete ••• she will be a Marine. From Parris Island she will be assigned to one of many Marine Corps Bases or Air Stations. If she qualifies, she may go on to further training in a specialized field. With the thorough schooling she1s had in personalmakeup, good grooming, posture and nutrition, she is almost a new woman ••• ready for the travel, adventure and important work that lies ahead. She will step into a new world ••• a world of pride ••• and precision • • • and military perfection ••• never smarter than now in hand-tailored uniforms. Her life as a Woman Marine will be a new life ••• new and exciting. Her new job will be vital to the Marine Corps and to our nation. Some ofthe things which she will receive are much more intangible ••• but just as important. There will be the new self-confidence she will feel because of her Marine training. There will be new pride in her work •.• a new polish to her appearance ••• a new purpose to the bright future that lies ahead. Off duty education is available for all Marines who want it, with the Marine Corps paying part or most of the cost. Formal on-campus education in academic subjects as well as through the Armed Forces Institute, is a source of study for many Marines. If you want to improve yourself through study, you have every opportunity in the Marine Corps. Travel •.• all over the United States .•• all over the world • • • is part of the life and education of every Marine. Not only are Women Marines stationed overseas, they take advantage of free military air transportation, called "hops," to travel anywhere in the world during the 30 days of paid vacation they receive each year. Here is an unlimited opportunity to see the world, which seldom comes to women in civilian life. Perhaps the greatest and most immeasurable benefits in the life of the Woman Marine are the close friendships which always evolve when men and women work together in a common purpose. No matter how many miles you may travel, no matter how many different lands you may visit, no matter how many Marine bases you may serve on ••• you'll never find yourself among strangers. The simple fact that you are a member of the Marine family denies this possibility. The United States Marine Corps is an elite organization proud of its rich heritage, jealous of the high standards B-2 which every Marine must meet to become a part of it. ln order to be considered for acceptance as a Woman Marine, you must meet strict qualificatio:r:s .- Should you become a Woman Marine, you will be acting in the highest tradition of patriotism and loyalty to country. More than that, you will become a member of an organization which has been the hallmark of honor for almost two centuries. If you are a woman who has felt this desire to contribute directly and personally to the preservation of freedom, and you can meet the challenge, the women of the United States Marine Corps will be proud to serve with you. B-3 High School Presentation U.S. Marine Corps Recruiters' School To Women l 0-Minute Version Good afternoon, I am Sergeant _____________ _ United States Marine Corps. Women today are a part of nearly every career field you can name. Engineering, politics, aviation, medicine, all fields of science, journalism, public relations; in fact, there are very few fields that women are not involved in today. The expanding scope of business, science and the professions has caused a demand for trained men and women to fill a personnel gap that shows no signs of being bridged for some time to come. I'm here representing an organization that employs women in a multitude of career areas, an organization that is continually on the lookout for more qualified women to share in a work that is challenging, rewarding and vital to the nation's securit.r and to that of the world•.....•the United States Marine Corps. These women are the Women Marines of the United States Marine Corps. Their part of the Corps had its beginnings during the First World War, a period in history, especially in this country, when women were first claiming equal rights politically and professionally. The formation of .the Marinettes, as the first Woman Marines were called, must have seemed a tremendous victory for the Women's Rights and Emancipation groups at the time, but the ultimate victory was won bythe Marines. Woman Marines soon proved that they could handle a variety of jobs from clerical work to driving ambulances and in other ways freeing male Marines for combat. The recruiting slogan at the time for the Woman Marines was ''Free A Marine To Fight''. Today there are more than 2,000 enlisted Woman Marines and more than 200 Woman Marine Officers serving in a wide range of capacities in the United States and at duty stations throughout the world. Today, it isn't unusual for a Marine pilot to receive takeoff clearance or landing instructions from a Woman Marine in Air Traffic Control. Her job is as demanding and critical as the same job held by male civilians at commercial airports throughout the United States. B-4 The fact is, Women Marines have risen to the challenge of any job we've assigned them, expertly and professionally. A young Woman Marine was recently asked how she liked the Marine Corps, and I think her answer may give you some insight into the Corps from a woman's point of view. She said, "I knew when I joined the Corps that I would be doing something worthwhile. And, I find that it offers all the challenge of business, and is as interesting as the so-called glamour occupations like airline hostessing. I get a great deal of personal satisfaction from knowing that the job I do counts." Once a young woman becomes interested in the Corps she should talk to a Marine recruiter, man or woman, who can provide her with many answers to her specific questions relating to her own career goals and the career opportunities offered by the Corps. Before we go any further let me state the requirements for becoming an enlisted Woman Marine. A young woman should be between 18 and 28 years of age, a high school graduate or equivalent, unmarried without dependents, of excellent character and background and in good physical health. Once accepted, she goes to Parris Island, South Carolina, training ground for the Women of the Marine Corps. There she learns the meaning of the Corps and why it is considered one of the few truly elite military organizations in the world today. It is there, through a series of interviews as well as testing, that she may be assigned to a formal school for training in a particular occupational specialty upon graduation. Classroom work, physical training, drills, uniform fittings, work assignments, all lead to the day eight weeks later when she will graduate as a Woman Marine and experience what all Marines, men and women alike, have felt after such training a new self-confidence, a new feeling of well being, a growing pride in the organization they serve. Many Marines look back on their graduation day at Parris Island as their first taste of real accomplishment and success. They know that if they hadn't fully met the standards of excellence demanded by the Corps, they wouldn't be wearing the Eagle, Globe and Anchor, the proud symbol of the United States Marines. After a short leave to visit with her family, the Woman B-5 Marine will probably report to a formal school for further training in a particular occupational specialty. Others may enter on-the-job training programs. .For example, the Woman Marine in Air Traffic Control mentioned before would receive part of her training at one of the military air bases, alongside an experienced Air Traffic Control Officer. Other combination on the job and classroom programs, train Women Marines to become photographers, communications specialists or data processing personnel, where working with the latest in equipment they will learn how computers assist nearly every phase of Marine Corps operations. Women Marines share in all the advantages of the Corps. They earn the same rate of pay as male Marines of equal rank, and also receive food and clothing allowances as well as free medical and dental care. When it is necessary for them to live off-base to be near their duty area, a housing allowance is provided. With many of the basic expenses taken care of, the Woman Marine has more money available for savings, or for use on her 30-days of annual leave. Women Marines have little problem when it comes to off-duty recreation. Every base has recreational facilities available where they may meet with other members of the Marine family. The Corps today offers a young woman excellent training in a wide manner of skills, the chance to assume responsibility and the rewards for doing so, substantial pay, generous benefits, and immense personal satisfaction. She has standing behind her the admiration and pride of the American public, the appreciation of her fellow Marines and the nearly two-hundred year old tradition of the United States Marine Corps. If there are any of you young women who think they might be interested in a career in the United States Marine Corps, please feel free to step up after the question period is over, give ·me your name and address, and set up an appointment with me or a Marine representative to talk with you and/or your parents at our local recruiting office or wherever you would find it most convenient. Any questions? B-6 U.S. Marine Corps Recruiter's Presentation To Women 20-Minute Version Good afternoon, I am Sergeant_______________ United States Marine Corps. You young women today have a wider variety of career choices available to you than any previous generation. A greater number of alternatives may callfor more thoughtful career planning, but it certainly doesn't dim the excitement of being able to choose the career that will suit you best as an individual. It often happens that we are interested in a number of career areas that all seem equally attractive. Career experts advise that when we are faced with this kind of situation we should choose a career that will allow us to keep in touch with our other basic interests, but at the same time enable us to acquire experience that can be applied to some of the other career directions at a later date, if a change is desired. Women today are a part of nearly every career field you can name. Engineering, politics, aviation, medicine, all fields of science, journalism, public relations; infact, there are very few fields that women are not involved in today. The expanding scope of business, science and the professions has caused a demand for trained men and women to fill a personnel gap that shows no signs of being bridged for some time to come. I'm here representing an organization that employs women in a multitude of career areas, an organization that is continually on the lookout for more qualified women to share in a work that is challenging, rewarding and vital to the nation's security and to that of the world••••••.the United States Marine Corps. These are the women of the United States Marine Corps. Their part of the Corps had its beginnings during the First World War, a period in history, especially in this country, when women were first claiming equal rights politically and professionally. The. formation of the Marinettes, as the first Woman Marines were called, must have seemed a tremendous victory for the Women's Rights and Emancipation groups at the time, but the ultimate victory was won by the Marines. Woman Marines soon proved that they could handle a variety of jobs from clerical work to driving ambulances and in other ways freeing male Marines for combat. The recruiting slogan at the time for the Women Marines was "Free A Marine To Fight". B-7 With the start of World War II and during the Korean conflict as well, the response of women in the United States to the call for Woman Marines was tremendous. Woman Marines qualified as jet aircraft and helicopter mechanics for the first time during the Korean conflict as well as in a number of other occupational specialty areas where women had not been previously utilized. The fact is, Women Marines have risen to the challenge of any job we've assigned them, expertly and professionally. Today there are more than 2,000 enlisted Women Marines and more than 200 Woman Marine Officers serving in a wide range of capacities in the United States and at duty stations all over the globe. Today, it isn't unusual for a Marine pilot to receive takeoff clearances or landing instructions from a Woman Marine in Air Traffic Control. Her job is as demanding and critical as the same job held by male civilians at commercial airports throughout the United States. An artillery officer in Gunnery School, a pilot in flight training might receive target coordinates from a Woman Marine in Data Processing. Women Marines also act as communications specialists, as photographers, weather experts, as public relations personnel. ..truthfullyabout the only place where you can count on not running into a Woman Marine is on the obstacle course or in battle zones. A young Woman Marine was recently asked how she liked the Marine Corps, and I think her answer may give you some insight into the Corps from a woman's point of view. She said, "I knew that when I joined the Corps that I would be doing something worthwhile. And, Ifind that it offers all the challenge of business, and is as interesting as the so-called glamour occupations like airline hastessing. I get a great deal of personal satisfaction from knowing that the job I do counts." That young Woman Marine may have first heard about the opportunities for women in the Corps ina group like this. Once a young woman becomes interested in the Corps she should talk to a Marine recruiter, man or woman, who can provide her with many answers to her specific questions relating to her own career goals and the career opportunities offered by the Corps. Before we go any further let me state the requirements for becoming an enlisted Woman Marine. A young woman B-8 should be between 18 and 28 years of age, a high school graduate or equivalent, unmarried and without dependent's of excellent character and background and in good physical health. Once accepted, she goes to Parris Island, South Carolina, training ground for the Women of the Marine Corps. There she learns the meaning of the Corps and why it is considered one of the few truly elite military organizations in the world today. To become a Marine is to share in a rare privilege that, like any privilege worth possessing, makes its demands on individual responsibility and initiative. One soon learns this at Parris Island, and the reason for its importance to her and the Corps. At Parris Island, she will also be familiarized with the customs and courtesies of the Corps, an important part of the backbone of the Corps' record of achievement. It is there through a series of interviews and testing, that the Woman Marine may be assigned to a formal school for training in a particular occupational specialty upon graduation. Classroom work, physical training, drills, uniform fittings, work assignments, all lead to the day eight weeks later when she will graduate as a Woman Marine and experience what all Marines, men and women alike, have felt after such training a new self-confidence, a new feeling of well being, a growing pride in the organization they serve. Many Marines look back on their graduation day at Parris Island as their first taste of real accomplishment and success. They know that if they hadn't fully met the standard of excellence demanded by the Corps, they wouldn't be wearing the Eagle, Globe and Anchor, the proud symbol of the United States Marines. After graduation the new Woman Marine has a few days leave to visit with friends and family. Many of them comment on how much their family and friends admire their new Mainbocher designed uniform, and how conscious they have become of a new maturity they have acquired in just eight short weeks. After this leave, the Woman Marine may report to a formal school for further training in a particular occupational specialty. Many of these schools feature on the job training programs. For example, the Woman Marine B-9 in Air Traffic Control mentioned before would receive part of her training at one of the military air bases, along side an experienced Air Traffic Control Officer. Other combination on-the-job and classroom programs, train Women Marines to become photographers, communications specialists or data processing personnel where working with the latest equipment they will learn how computers assist nearly every phase of Marine Corps operations. The Woman Marine may have been assigned to Military Intelligence school where she will become a part of the security team that protects this · country's military and government installations against sabotage and subversive .activities. There is drafting and surveying school where she will graduate as a draftsman, surveyor or cartogra pher. Supply Administration and Operations, Transportation, Food Services, Information Services are other occupational specialty schools maintained by the Corps, all utilizing the latest in teaching and training methods. Women Marines share in all the advantages of the Corps. They earn the same rate of pay as male Marines of equal rank, and also receive food and clothing allowances as well as free medical and dental care. When it is necessary for them to live off-base to be near their duty area, a housing allowance is provided. With many of these basic expenses taken care of, the Woman Marine has more money available for savings, or for use on her 30-days of annual leave. Women Marines have little problem when it comes to off-duty recreation. Every base has recreational facilities available where Women Marines may meet with other members of the Marine family. When off-duty, the Woman Marine is free to wear civilian clothing of her own choice, provided it is neat and in good taste. Every young woman must decide for herself if the Corps offers her the kind of life she wants. She must decide also whether or not she. has something to contribute to the Corps. The Corps today offers young women excellent training in a wide number of skills, the chance to assume responsibility, and the rewards for doing so; substantial pay, generous benefits, and immense personal satisfaction. She has standing behind her the admiration and pride of the American public, the appreciation of her fellow B-10 Marines and th.e nearly two-hundred year old traditionof the United States Marine Corps. If there are any of you young women who think they mightbe interested in a career as a Woman Marine in theUnited States Marine Corps, please feel free to step upafter the question period is over, give me your nameand address, and set upanappointmentwithme or a localMarine representative. We will be glad to talk with youand/or your parents at our local recruiting office orwherever you would find it m-ost convenient. Any questions? B-11 APPENDIX C SUGGESTED READING The Greatest Opportunity in the World -Selling By: Merle Thorpe Sales Executives Handbook Harry Simmons How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling trank Bettger i :E!Iow to Find and Qualify Prospects and Get Interviews ¢harles B. Roth How to Make Your Sales Sizzle in 17 Days Elmer Wheeler How to Sell Intangibles Appot P. Smith How to Sell Yourself to Others Elmer Wheeler My Lifetime Treasury of Selling Secrets Charles B. Roth 1000 Ways A Salesman Can Increase His Sales Charles B. Roth The Power of Positive Thinking Normal V. Peale Secrets of Closing Sales Charles B. Roth Successful Sales Presentations -How to Build Them Charles B. Roth How to Make Yourself a Born Salesman Wallace K. Lewis The Art of Good Speech James H. McBurney and Ernest J. Wrage Speaker's Guide NAVMC P2541 C-1 * U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1972 0-466-112