NEW guide available here. Also check the “Public Talk” tab for more info.


Taken from our Rebel Handbook, the below describes the function of the talk in relation to growing your branch

Delivering the talk should be the first move made in a local town. This way it is clear from the very start what XR is about and how we plan to rebel. In towns that haven’t begun with the Talk they have spent multiple meetings discussing things such as the effectiveness of NVDA. Launching with the Talks draws out the rebels and gets them all on the same page to begin with!

a) Pre-talk

  • Put a few feelers out amongst your friends. Can you find one or two who can help you get the Talk off the ground?
  • Book a venue. We have found cafes are often keen to offer up an evening as a space; alternatively, classrooms or community centres all might be keen to support XR.
  • Create a public Facebook event. It’s fine for it to simply be under your personal profile for now, but if you do want to set up a public Facebook page for your local town then you can host the Facebook event in there AND ask our main Facebook page to be the co-host. Either way, make sure you message Extinction Rebellion Aotearoa on Facebook so we can share your event with our members.
  • Print out flyers and put them along your high street, in the library and community centres.
  • Speak to local people and organisations and ask them to attend.

b) At the Talk

    • Deliver the talk using the presentation below.
    • Have a discussion afterwards about how XR might look in your local town. Take note of any great ideas.
    • Collect email addresses and postcodes (we need both of these for our database).
    • Put feelers out for anyone keen to help launch the group.
    • Make sure you have someone (it could be you) willing to type up the email addresses and postcodes.
    • Schedule your next meeting.

c) Post-Talk

  • Set up a public Facebook page for your local group e.g. “Extinction Rebellion Taupo”. You will create events in here that people can see and invite people too, including your meetings and actions. Always add Extinction Rebellion Aotearoa as a co-host for your events.
  • Set up a private Facebook Group too. This is for discussing and planning and connecting although do not share any plans for illegal activities on here!
  • Always make sure you have two admins on your Facebook accounts!
  • Email everyone who came, pointing them to the page and group and reminding them of the next meeting.
  • Make sure you have someone who is tapped into the Interim National Coordinators team, who can attend fortnightly meetings and feedback to your group. Facebook message the Aotearoa page to receive that invitation.

d) Resources for the Talk

Resources to use if you would like to have information available at your Talk in the form of panels:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14wy3E8xrre2QfYShLjeFYIgcx0ncmNI6