How do you share your active transportation planning experience with other professionals?

1 Identify your goals and audience

Before you start sharing your experience, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and who you want to reach. Do you want to showcase your portfolio, network with potential collaborators, contribute to policy debates, or educate the public? Depending on your goals, you may need to tailor your message, tone, format, and platform to suit different audiences. For example, if you want to target other transportation planners, you may use more technical language and data, while if you want to engage the general public, you may use more stories and visuals.

2 Choose the right platform and format

There are many ways to share your active transportation planning experience with others, from writing articles and blogs, to giving presentations and webinars, to creating podcasts and videos. Each platform and format has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on your goals, audience, resources, and preferences. For example, writing articles and blogs can help you establish your credibility and authority, but they may require more time and effort to produce and distribute. Giving presentations and webinars can help you interact with your audience and get feedback, but they may require more preparation and technical skills. Creating podcasts and videos can help you reach a wider and more diverse audience, but they may require more equipment and editing.

3 Use clear and engaging language

Regardless of the platform and format you choose, you need to use clear and engaging language to share your active transportation planning experience with others. You need to avoid jargon, acronyms, and technical terms that may confuse or alienate your audience, or explain them if they are necessary. You also need to use active voice, short sentences, and transitions to make your message more concise and coherent. Moreover, you need to use stories, examples, anecdotes, and metaphors to make your message more relatable and memorable. You can also use visuals, such as photos, maps, graphs, and infographics, to support your message and illustrate your points.

4 Provide context and evidence

Another important aspect of sharing your active transportation planning experience with others is to provide context and evidence for your claims and arguments. You need to explain the background, objectives, methods, results, and implications of your projects and research, and how they relate to the broader issues and trends in your field. You also need to cite reliable sources, such as reports, studies, statistics, and best practices, to back up your statements and show your credibility. Furthermore, you need to acknowledge the limitations, challenges, and uncertainties of your work, and how they can be addressed or overcome.

5 Invite feedback and collaboration

Finally, sharing your active transportation planning experience with others is not a one-way process, but a two-way dialogue. You need to invite feedback and collaboration from your audience, and be open to different perspectives and opinions. You can ask questions, solicit comments, encourage discussions, and provide contact information to foster communication and engagement. You can also seek out opportunities to join networks, communities, events, and projects related to your field, and learn from other professionals . By sharing your experience, you can also enrich your own knowledge and skills, and contribute to the advancement of active transportation planning.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?