Voter Canvassing and Phone Banking

Canvassing Tips

  • Know your stuff! Like any speech, organization talk, presentation or oral report you’ve ever done in your life. You will come off stronger if you rely as little as possible on “cue cards” or other aids. Carry a clipboard, maybe with some graphs and other information.
  • Leave some information behind, if possible. Leaving information for people to mull over when you leave is a good idea. If they are not home and you want to leave information behind, you cannot put it in their mailbox!
  • DON'T GET DISCOURAGED! Whether it is "Get off my lawn!" or getting a door slammed in your face, some people are unreachable. Know when to cut your losses and move on. Just smile, and ALWAYS thank them for their time.
  • Practice, practice, practice. Practice in front of the mirror, practice in front of your significant other,
  • practice in front of a stuffed animal. Just practice!
  • Do your research. Get a list of voting locations, and a list of local rules and regulations on voting. Make SURE you remind people of places to vote/times you can vote.

Phone Banking Tips

  • Be prepared to be hung up on and don't take it personally. As election day gets closer, a lot of people are receiving several calls a day. A lot of people will hang up on you quickly. Forget it and move on.
  • Politeness ESPECIALLY counts on the phone. These people can't see you to know
  • you’re a good person. Remember your “Sir”s, “Ma’am”s etc.
  • Have information in front of you, but don’t appear to be reading. Remember, you want to be conversational. You're SELLING your candidate so give clear, concise reasons to vote (or to register to vote).
  • Time is limited. People are quick to hang up. Get to the point, make sure you have a
  • good “hook” to keep them interested.
  • Volume, volume, volume. Calling people is pretty quick, most people do NOT want to have a 20 minute conversation with you. Some will, and those people should be treated well. Don’t waste time with people who are “unmovable”. Spend as much time as possible on fence-sitters.
  • When you get a new phone script, take a few minutes to run through it with another phone banker.
  • Be prepared to be asked who you are and why you are doing this. Have a couple of sentences ready to explain this.
  • If a voter wants to be removed from your call list, make sure to mark this down so you
  • are not setting up the next caller for failure.

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