HOW TO USE PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATION PAPERS Since 1990, Narcotics Anonymous world services has prepared three papers for use in making presentations about our fellowship to government, trade, professional, and civic organizations: "Facts about Narcotics Anonymous-a Society of Recovering Drug Addicts" (English) (Información sobre Narcóticos Anónimos-una Sociedad de Drogadictos en Recuperación - Español) "Narcotics Anonymous and Harm Minimization Strategies" (English) (Narcóticos Anónimos y las Estrategias para Disminuir Daños - Español) "Narcotics Anonymous-a Commitment to Community Partnerships" (English only, for now) These papers are available for use by any local public information subcommittee, either as the foundation of an oral presentation, for distribution, or for enclosure in mailings. Where did these papers come from? They were developed cooperatively by World Service Office staff and members of the World Service Board of Trustees External Affairs Committee for presentations at meetings of the International Council on Alcohol and Addictions, the major international network of governmental, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental organizations dealing with addiction-related issues. Since their ICAA debuts, they have been used in similar fashion for world service presentations about Narcotics Anonymous to other international organizations. What are they about? Facts about Narcotics Anonymous is our basic presentation. It describes NA's historic roots, how our recovery program works, and how our service organization operates. It clarifies NA's traditions of nonaffiliation and neutrality on public issues while encouraging cooperation with NA's friends in the community. The paper closes with a few basic indicators of NA's success and some simple features of an NA membership profile. About 2,000 words long. Narcotics Anonymous and Harm Minimization Strategies is aimed at policy makers and care providers who are approaching their community's drug problem from a new angle: Rather than saying that total abstinence for all drug users is the only acceptable goal, harm-reduction advocates seek to reduce the harm done to drug users, their families, and the community-at-large in the course of drug misuse or abuse. We remind the harm- reduction advocate that, while Narcotics Anonymous is a program for addicts who desire a drug-free outcome for themselves, NA is not a prohibitionist or anti-drug organization. We take no position on the treatment philosophies of other organizations or agencies, and we do not judge addicts who choose to continue or resume using. We simply make ourselves available to addicts and the community as one resource among many within the harm-reduction continuum. About 1,700 words long. Narcotics Anonymous-a Commitment to Community Partnerships is addressed specifically to addiction care providers. It comprehensively describes the services local Narcotics Anonymous groups and committees can offer to treatment professionals and their clients and how to access those services. About 3,400 words long. How do I use one of these papers to prepare a talk for a professional convention or community meeting? You can use one of these papers as the written foundation for your oral presentation. Chances are, even the shortest of these papers will be far too long to read aloud just as it is. Your oral presentation will have to hit the main points presented in the paper you choose to deliver, but will only be able to touch briefly on each one. Prepare an outline listing the main points you want to hit. If possible, prepare a set of transparencies showing your outline for display on an overhead projector as you move through your presentation-when your audience hears you with their ears and sees your outline with their eyes, you will stand a far greater chance of getting more of our message across to them. Can our PI subcommittee copy these papers and distribute them at health fairs or other public events? Absolutely! These papers are not copyrighted-anyone may make as many copies of them as they like and distribute them to anyone they choose. Depending on the type of event, one or more of these papers can serve as great take-home reinforcers for conversations, workshop talks, or public meeting addresses you have with people in the larger community. If you need a clean master copy to use for reproduction, call or write the Communications Officer at the World Service Office. Can our subcommittee give an organization outside NA permission to reprint any of these articles-for instance, after we've used one as the basis for an oral presentation to their meeting? Certainly! You may yourself distribute copies of the paper you have used as the basis for an oral presentation to a public meeting of one sort or another. Or you may give event organizers permission to reprint the paper you have delivered in their published proceedings. If you need a clean master copy to use for reproduction, or if event organizers want a computer disc to use in compiling their proceedings, call or write the Communications Officer at the World Service Office. Can our subcommittee copy these papers and include them in mailings to local educators, government officials, clergy, community leaders, etc.? Yes! Depending on what your mailing list looks like, you may choose one or more of these papers to include with your cover letter as descriptions of Narcotics Anonymous to leaders in your community. If you need a clean master copy to use for reproduction, call or write the Communications Officer at the World Service Office. For more information, contact: Narcotics Anonymous World Services PO Box 9999 Van Nuys, CA 91409 USA Telephone +1.818.773.9999x148 Fax +1.818.700.0700