Mandat, Belgrade (2026)

17/09/2025

It started with boredom.
Then it became a picture book about campaign management.
At first, I tried to say as little as possible.
Then I started saying what I thought mattered.
Because no one was commenting.
Because no one was liking.
Because no one was reading.
Because it was boring.

I realized I had to change the rhythm.
Just like when I give lectures.
I look at the audience.
I see when they’re bored.
And I know when to switch gears.

It’s not liked. It’s not shared.
Instagram confirmed the theory:
It’s made for beautiful pictures.
Not for education.
Not for politics.

Facebook gave better results.
Because I have 2.5x more followers there.
X was a disaster.
At least my corner is now filled with:
hate, division, sides, black and white, right and wrong, no gray.

Let’s be honest.
⚠️ I’m aware there were visual errors.

AI made the slides. Not a designer.
But it took time.
It read the campaign.
It rounded the visuals.
It often created an image for the first time.

Faster, cheaper, more accessible.
But not always what we were looking for.

16/09/2025

What does the chief of staff do?

Susie Wiles — known among insiders as the “Icebreaker” — was appointed White House Chief of Staff after the 2024 win.
Not because she’s loud, but because she believes in the operative.

The chief of staff is not just an organizer.
They stabilize the system.
They translate political messaging and strategy into operations.
Their job is not to be everywhere — but to know what’s happening.

They connect messages, people, campaign HQ, digital and field ops, central and local committees — into one system that runs without mistakes. Or with as few as possible.
At the end of the cycle, the better result belongs to the candidate or party that made fewer mistakes.

In the campaign, the chief of staff:

• Synchronizes messaging from top to local
• Defines goals by phase and measures progress
• Coordinates sectors inside HQ
• Manages crisis without panic
• Makes decisions based on research and analytics — not gut feeling
• Pushes motivation to the last polling place
• Doesn’t shut down until the last vote is cast

Their strength isn’t improvisation — it’s the system.
They sit while everything falls into place — because everything is already in position.

This series breaks down the chief of staff into 10 key functions.
For every candidate or party, the most responsible person.
In America, neither campaign nor administration runs without them.

15/09/2025

🎯 From Doorstep to Result: Why DtD Underlies Field Campaigns

Direct contact is the most powerful tool of political communication. In the noise of digital channels, flyers, and media, door-to-door (DtD) canvassing — when preceded by call center outreach — is not a nostalgic relic. It’s the most precise instrument for building trust, understanding voters, and mobilizing them.

Even though I dislike the metaphor, I’ll use it: TV ads, billboards, posters, brochures, and digital marketing are like machine gun fire. Canvassing, followed by call center feedback, makes DtD a sniper.

If we simplify the system: designate ALL voters as the target zone, and conduct DtD based on their indecision. Sounds simple. But we’ve spent years perfecting the technology behind it.

We have an internal version of DtD called “carpet.” Most topics and teams don’t have the resources to operate at that level globally.

This series will break down every piece of the DtD campaign: from team architecture to front-end planning and the follow-up system that enables the best interactions.

And here’s a warning: campaigns that rely solely on social media are important — but they’re not the main ones. Digitally, one thread might be missing. What if no one meets you on that path?

Ask a newer team member who’s taken 3 months of online courses but has never knocked on a single door. Ask them why someone who’s never knocked is laughing at DtD.

Then get dressed.
And start building the bridge to fellow humans.
That’s what it’s all about.

14/09/2025

Call Center in Campaigns

The first time I saw a call center in action was during the Conservative Party’s 2004 campaign, inside their election headquarters. I’d return to the hotel in the evening, close my mouth, and spend hours talking with experts to understand the principles behind it all.

I applied that knowledge in the 2005 local elections in Kula. It was primitive: torn-out sheets from phone books, a landline, and Excel spreadsheets. But it was the beginning of a Door-to-Door campaign built on the results of those calls.

Between 2006 and 2007, we developed our first call center software. Existing options were either too expensive or didn’t meet the standards we set.

That system became a gold standard—not just for campaigns in the former Yugoslav region, but across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. From day one, we’d say: “This is how we work. No spreadsheets. No Excel.”

Forget billboards. They’re 1% branding and 99% improvisation. You win when you realize the call center isn’t optional—it’s the backbone. Now more than ever.

13/09/2025

📞 RUNNING A GOTV CAMPAIGN?

If your regular surveys tell you what drives high versus low turnout, then practically — both outcomes can be shaped through a Get Out The Vote campaign.

If your answers point toward higher turnout, this is your chance to learn the fundamentals — step by step.

From slide one to the last, I’m trying to explain what many campaigns skip:

✅ Who our voters are
✅ Why they do (or don’t) turn out
✅ How we activate them

From team architecture to crisis communication, each slide is a tool for anyone who wants to lead a proactive — not reactive — campaign.

📣 YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• GOTV is not an add-on campaign — it is the campaign.
• Emotion, structure, and rhythm matter equally.
• If we don’t understand ourselves, we can’t activate others.

This is my attempt to write about campaigns again and again — under my favorite conditions.
Thank you for being here.

12/09/2025

🎙 BODY LANGUAGE — YOU ARE THE MESSAGE

Before you say the first word, your body has already said everything to the audience.
A posture, a look, a hand movement, a trembling voice, a stutter — it is speech for which the audience does not need a translation.

During my career, I met with candidates who were fantastic in private, but as soon as they had to speak in front of more than three people, they were blocked.

I remember when my team prepared a candidate for 7 days, only for her to say the night before the performance that she was not ready and would not appear on the TV debate because she was too nervous. The only advice I had was: let's go to the television. Before entering, you will drink two brandies. She tore the other one. If she had drunk a third, she might have beaten him alive.

In this series, we discover:

• Why 65% of communication comes without words
• How body, voice, and attitude build trust
• What are the most common challenges in public speaking
• How to train body language and overcome stage fright
• Why preparation is so important

📌 Each slide is a module. Each module is a tool.
📣 Follow. Share. Write me.

When you know how to speak with your body, you know how to lead.

11/09/2025

🎤 Public Speaking in Politics

Public speaking is a skill. It can be learned, practiced, and improved.
Successful politicians often have strong public speaking abilities.
Every public appearance is an opportunity to leave an impression on voters.

To speak effectively in public, follow these principles:

✅ Adapt your speech to the audience
✅ Use short and clear sentences
✅ Maintain eye contact with the audience
✅ Avoid monotony in your delivery
✅ Avoid nervous gestures and facial expressions
✅ Avoid reading from paper

🧭 Education. Strategy. Vision.

Preparation is the first step.

10/09/2025

🧠 What drives your campaign?

When I worked with parties in Somaliland, I asked a delegation member at a meeting: Where do you stand on the political spectrum? The president answered me like out of a cannon: we are social democrats. Surprised, I ask him, 'Where did that come from?' He tells me, children, honestly: we were in Denmark at a seminar and had a meeting with their social democrats. They offered to finance us. And that's what we became!

Reading the programs of many parties, both in the region and around the world, for work, I get the impression that many parties, like this one from Somaliland, have determined their ideology.

And it shouldn't be like that because when we start a campaign in organized political systems - we always align everything with ideology. It is not just a theory — it is the foundation of every political strategy. From the values you stand for, to your view of society, to the vision you offer voters — all of this makes up your ideological position.

🔍 Three components that shape all messages and derive from ideology

• Values (principles)
• View of current society
• Vision of an ideal society

These three points are not abstract — they are the basis of every slogan, every visual, every performance.

🎯 From ideology to campaign

Ideology shapes attitudes, policies and programs.
The campaign conveys them — clearly, emotionally, strategically.

🧭 Key issues of every ideology

• How do you imagine economic development?
• What is the role of the state?
• How do you approach human rights?
• Where do you stand when it comes to war and peace?

The answers to these questions shape your communication.

🪞 Look in the mirror

• Which ideology is present in your party?
• How do you recognize ideological messages in the campaign?

Every message carries value. Every value builds trust.

09/09/2025

How to maintain control when questions become uncomfortable?

In an ambush situation, the winner isn’t the one who knows all the answers — but the one who knows what to answer. And even more importantly, what not to answer.

This slide series shows how to:
✅ Set clear boundaries
✅ Structure the press conference to minimize surprises
✅ Respond briefly, clearly, without debate
✅ Leave a visual impression of confidence and focus — make sure your key message is seen

❌ Your focus is not on the questions. Your focus is on your target voters.
❌ The message of the day must be heard — everything else is noise.

Real communication begins after the press conference ends.
Share, follow, like — so others see it too.

08/09/2025

▷ What is ambush journalism?

Ambush journalism is an aggressive tactic where reporters confront politicians with provocative questions—often at press conferences or public events—to provoke negative reactions. These questions typically target personal controversies, past statements, or sensitive topics to portray the subject in a negative light.

This approach is increasingly common, especially among journalists covering political events.

In this series, we’ll break down how ambush journalism works—from the moment a question is asked to the ripple effects across media, campaigns, and voters.

In brief, we’ll answer:
• Where does ambush journalism usually happen?
• What is the journalist’s goal?
• What are the typical traps and emotional triggers?
• What impact does it have on reputation, campaign, and audience?
• Is there a defense?

Each slide will be clear, instructive, and direct—just like communication should be under pressure.

▷ Is there a defense?
Yes. But it requires system, training, and composure.

Like, follow, share.
To help others bring their best.

07/09/2025

In a campaign, every statement must flow from truth. Every statement must align with the core of what we do.
That’s why a campaign shouldn’t work for the media—it should enable the media to carry the case.

Do journalists in your party/movement call the president directly to arrange statements? Or does it go through the press office?
Do your spokespersons know our message box? Have they completed media training?

This series helps you:
✅ Understand how the media operates
✅ Set clear communication rules
✅ Build trust that lasts longer than a single headline

From “Never be rude” to “Systematize your press office” — every slide is a tool for professionalism, speed, and accuracy.
REMEMBER: When you’re a politician — the media doesn’t carry you. They carry your case.

06/09/2025

Surely there are people on the networks who know a lot more about digital than I do. However, I know much more about politics and political campaigns than they do.

So, what is the solution? Who should you listen to?

The truth is in the middle.
The strategist, campaign manager, and head of digital are also setting the foundations for this campaign.

Set aside money to outsource design, production, ads, and optimization. Personally, I always trust professionals more than an aunt's kid who knows it. If it does happen that they impose 'aunt’s small' on me, it often ends with him giving up because he realizes that he cannot fulfil my demands.

Regardless of whether you decide to be a professional or a "little aunt" without a clear plan, everything you do is in vain. When FB appeared, almost all municipal committees in my party opened their accounts on it. I ended that option very quickly because they started posting anything and everything. The culmination was when my colleagues showed me a couple of orders: one of them was a funeral, complete with the wailing and grief-stricken expressions of the deceased. On the second, the president of the local board sang at a wedding at a table.

This series is not about how to design a post, but how to know what you're looking for in a post.
A digital campaign is not a series of posts.
It's a series of decisions.
Who is the audience?
What are we telling them?
What do we want them to do?
Why now?

If you don't understand that, even the best design won't be of any help to you.
If so, even an average design won't hold you back.

That's why we start from the basics.
No noise. No myths. No shortcuts.

Mandat

17/09/2025

16/09/2025

15/09/2025

14/09/2025

13/09/2025

12/09/2025

11/09/2025

10/09/2025

09/09/2025

08/09/2025

07/09/2025

06/09/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category