TOOLS FOR CITIZENS
Tips and ideas for enhancing your political voice
WRITING
LETTERS
The more personal your letter is, the more influence it will have. Say
what’s on your mind and in your heart. You don’t have to be an expert—you’re
a concerned citizen. Describe briefly how the policy in question affects you
or your community.
Hand write your letter if your writing is legible. This way the receiver
can tell you’re a real person. If you do type, add a hand-written note. Be
brief, clear, and specific. Keep your letter to one page if possible, and
get right to the point. Ask for a written response from the policymaker,
stating his or her position on the specific issue you raised. Don’t let them
off the hook with a generalized response! Be courteous with the people you
contact even when you disagree with them. Include your address on your
letter. An envelope can get lost.
Regarding e-mails and faxes: Again, the wisdom is the more personal the
communication, the better. While some congressional offices do give e-mails
and faxes the same weight as letters and send a formal response, others
simply tally electronic letters and don’t give them the same importance as
"real letters."
These methods are best if time is of the essence. One idea is to print
and mail letters you compose on an activism web site, or at least
personalize your e-mail. It is very important that you include your address
and zip code in all correspondence, because congressional offices only count
opinions submitted by the people in their districts.
PHONE CALLS
If you are calling a legislator, ask to speak to the aide who works on
either defense issues or the environment. If that person is not available,
leave a clear message with your name, address, and phone number. State why
you are calling and what you want your legislator to do. You can ask for a
written response to your message.
Optional Enhancements
Enclose an article that bears on the policy in question. Remind the
policymaker if you have a personal association with him or her. Use
professional letterhead if possible. Write or call a second time, thanking
for help or pressing for satisfactory answers.
MEETING WITH YOUR LEGISLATOR
The most effective thing you can do as a citizen to influence policy is
meet with your Legislator. Elected officials and their staffs regularly meet
with constituents to hear their views on an issue. Yet the majority of
legislative visitors are paid lobbyists representing industry and
corporations, so it’s critical to counterbalance those voices with opinions
of concerned citizens.
You can approach a legislative office by yourself, with friends, or
Legislators of other groups that share your stance on an issue. You can
arrange a meeting in the district office or to their offices in Springfield.
Remember, your Legislator is there to represent the views of the people, and
anyone can request a meeting!
Before the Meeting:
- Make an appointment. Simply call your legislator's office and tell
the staff Legislator that you are a constituent and you’d like a meeting
with your legislator. If you can’t get an appointment with your
legislator, ask to meet with the staff person who works on the issue you
are concerned about. Don’t take "no" for an answer.
- Gather a delegation. Your legislator may be more open to meeting
with you if you go beyond the usual suspects. For example, pair
taxpayers and environmental advocates, or religious and business
leaders. You will have a greater impact if you can demonstrate that not
just a small segment of the population is sympathetic to your cause.
Preparing for the meeting:
- Establish your agenda and goals. Decide what kind of commitment you
are asking for (i.e., voting for or against a specific bill,
co-sponsoring legislation, or ratifying a treaty.)
- Check your Legislator’s stance. Call his or her office.
- Select someone to act as the group leader and make a list of points
to be made and questions to be asked by each person. A rehearsal is a
great idea, if you have time.
- Prepare materials. For greater impact, bring a packet to the meeting
with materials such as: fact sheets from various organizations,
supporting op-eds, editorials, and letters to the editor or news items
that illustrate your issue. Include your name and phone number so that
your Representative can contact you for more information.
During the Meeting:
- Be concise and diplomatic. Keep your presentation short and to the
point, as you will only be allotted a few minutes. Make clear exactly
what action you wish you Legislator to take. It is important to listen
to your Legislator even if his or her view differs from your own. Don’t
be argumentative or confrontational.
- Put a local and personal angle on the issue. Stress why this issue
concerns you and others the Legislator represents. Be specific. Cite
local statistics, give examples of communities that will be most
affected by this issue, or mention who supports your issue locally.
- Press for a commitment. Don’t let your Legislator evade the issue or
change the subject. Ask specifically for his or her position on the
issue. If they agree with you, ask them to co-sponsor legislation, make
a floor speech or sign a "Dear Colleague" letter on the issue—all of
these can help sway other legislators too.
- Don’t be intimidated. If you are asked a question that you do not
know the answer to, simply say that you don’t know, but that you will
find out. Get a fax number and a staff contact and be sure to provide
the necessary information as soon as possible.
After the Meeting:
- Thank your Legislator and/or the staff for their time, summarize the
key points you made during your visit and include any information you
promised to provide.
- Provide follow-up Information. If your Legislator asked questions,
or was particularly interested in one aspect, seize the opportunity to
follow up with a letter, fact sheet, phone call, or second meeting.
Elected officials will respond better if they see you as providing
information useful to them, rather than just pushing your own agenda.
- Share the knowledge you learned. Be sure to tell the IARF office
what you learned about your Legislator’s position.
- Build a relationship. A first visit should never be the end of
contact. Make sure you or someone in your group stays in touch with the
staff on the issue.
GENERATING LOCAL MEDIA ATTENTION
There are several ways of generating local media on an issue, any of
which can serve to educate the public, stir up a debate, or put elected
officials on the spot. The most basic of these is writing a letter to the
editor of your local newspaper.
If you’re already comfortable with this, you might consider writing an
"op-ed," a longer opinion piece responding to an editorial written by the
newspaper’s staff. You could even schedule a meeting with the editorial
board of the paper, to educate them on an issue and encourage them to write
an opinion in an editorial piece.
Tips on writing effective letters to the editor Writing and publishing an
op-ed Influencing editorials Calling a talk radio show Tips on writing
effective letters to the editor
Letters to the editor are an easy way for you to voice your opinion to
policymakers and to educate readers about issues that concern you. You can
use letters to correct or interpret facts in response to an inaccurate or
biased article, to praise or criticize a recent article or editorial, or
simply provide your opinion on a current issue. Without exception, the
letters section is one of the most highly read sections in any newspaper or
magazine, and now many web sites also have places for readers to comment
instantly on issues of the day. Make sure you read the paper before you
write to get an idea of the format, and be sure to have the name of the
editor you’re addressing. Don’t miss out on this chance to reach the
public—write early and often!
Be timely – Capitalize on recent news and events, within 24 hrs of a
story if possible. Keep it short and simple – Keep your points clear and
stick to one subject. If you look at the editorial page, a few paragraphs is
all they usually print! Think locally – Demonstrate how this issue effects
you locally, and mention lawmakers by name to ensure you get their
attention. Sign your letter. Include your name, address and telephone
number. Papers may need to contact you if they are considering printing your
letter. Don’t worry—they won’t print your phone or street address.
Follow-up. If the newspaper doesn’t call you, call the newspaper. Ask to
speak to the person in charge of letters to the editor. Ask if they plan on
printing your letter, and if not, see if they have any feedback for you.
Don’t be discouraged if your letter is not printed. Every time you submit a
letter, you are educating the editorial board of your paper and paving the
way for future letters to be printed. Keep trying! Seal the deal. If your
letter is printed, be sure to send us a copy so we can track our
effectiveness. If you mention an elected official, it’s a good idea to send
them a copy too! For a sample of a letter to the editor on GE foods click
here and for a sample of one on de-alerting nukes click here.
Writing and publishing an
op-ed
Opinions-editorials are written by local citizens, experts, leaders of
organizations— people like you. If you can get one printed, op-eds are an
extremely powerful and cost-effective way to both educate a large number of
readers about our issues, and to influence policymakers.
The pointers for writing a letter to the editor are also applicable for
op-eds. In addition, we emphasize the following:
- Timing is the most important factor in whether the newspaper picks
up your submission. Is this issue already in the news? Is a
controversial vote scheduled in Congress? Is there an appropriate
holiday or anniversary you can relate your piece to, or is there a
recent article or editorial to which you can respond? Remember that it
can take up to a week for a paper to review submissions, but it’s still
a good idea to check and see if your piece is being considered.
- It’s the messenger and the message. Finding a prominent person to
sign the letter will have a big influence in the paper’s consideration.
For example, if you and a group of IARF Legislators got together to
write a piece about air quality and public health just as Congress is
considering legislation on cleaning up emissions, it would be great to
have a physician sign the letter.
- Know the guidelines of the newspaper. Text of an op-ed should be
300-500 words. You’ll need to identify yourself, and you might suggest a
title. Many papers require exclusivity, meaning that you can’t submit to
another paper at the same time. Find out how submissions work—
increasingly, editorial departments prefer e-mail. Again, read the
paper’s editorial page to see how their format works. Identify the
largest newspaper in your area for maximum exposure. If you don’t have a
copy of the paper, call to get the name and address of the op-ed page
editor before you mail it off.
Call to follow-up.
- Ask if your submission is under consideration. Even if they don’t
publish your piece this time, this is a great opportunity to educate the
editor about the issue. Building a relationship with editors and
reporters will prove helpful in the future. It might even lead to an
editorial meeting
Influencing Editorials
- Editorials are the voice of a newspaper, and the only place where
opinions are openly stated, as opposed to "unbiased" news stories.
Editorials are the first thing people look to when they turn to the
editorial pages, located in the back of the "A" section. An editorial
endorsing a particular position or piece of legislation has been known
to change even the most committed policymaker’s mind, and can do much to
influence public opinion.
- Outreach to editorial boards can result not only in editorials that
take a progressive stance on an issue; they can also affect news
coverage throughout the paper. If you can develop a rapport with the
editorial staff and are able to arrange a meeting, this is your best
chance to make some serious headway on an issue. Again, it is terrific
if you can bring a well-respected person to the table, though doing your
homework and presenting your case in a clear and compelling way is
equally important.
- Newspaper editorials can be inspired by submitted information,
events, current opinion or even letters from readers. The single best
way to influence the content of editorials is conducting a briefing with
editorial boards, although influencing editorials can be achieved by
simply sending materials and following up by phone.
Prepare Yourself
- Read the paper you are approaching. Asking for an editorial when one
has already been published will waste your time and hurt your
credibility. Outline your intent for the meeting in a letter. State your
goal. Mail or fax your letter and any supporting information to the
editor of the editorial page. Remember to keep copies for yourself.
Follow up with a phone call. After a day or so, ask the person if
they’ve received your materials. If not, be prepared to summarize. See
if they have time to meet, or at least set up a phone briefing. It’s
okay to call back a few times until you get someone, but don’t make
yourself a nuisance—editors are always crunched for time, so be
courteous as well as persistent.
The Briefing
- To be most effective, editorial board briefings should have 2-3
individuals who make a combined presentation of not more than 10-15
minutes. Leave plenty of time for questions, since that’s how
journalists are used to getting information. Again, you don’t have to be
an expert! If you don’t have an answer, reply that you’ll find out and
get back to them right away.
- Show broad support. It’s great if you can demonstrate a coalition of
support, through individuals, or a letter signed by a variety of groups.
If you’re working on a peace issue, you might get leaders from some
local churches, for example.
- Have a game plan. Before you meet, decide who will take the lead and
who will make certain points. Frame your arguments so they are locally
compelling and would appeal to the average Joe. This is better than
being too personal or partisan. After you’ve made your case, go for the
ask. Ask them if they think they’ll write an editorial on your issue,
and if so, when. If they decide not to do an editorial supporting your
position, or take a stance to the contrary, propose that they print an
op-ed piece from you. Be sure to be gracious and thank the editors for
their time, in any case.
-
Calling a talk radio show
Getting your message out on a local or even national talk radio show is
an excellent way to educate the public on an issue they may never have heard
of, challenge popular notions, or mobilize action on an upcoming vote.
Conservatives and Libertarians have long recognized the airways as an
effective way to reach Americans, and have worked strategically to do so.
Progressives need to realize the power of radio too!
Where to Begin
- You’ll have a better chance of finding talk radio programs on the AM
dial, though FM attracts more listeners. National Public Radio
affiliates or college stations may have shows with more progressive
audiences.
- Listen to the show you’re calling ahead of time to get an idea of
the format and the host’s personality. If you are known in your
community or have a respected opinion, you may even be able to get a
spot as a guest.
Tips for Speaking with Confidence
- Keep it simple. Talk in language that everybody understands, and
don’t get bogged down with jargon. Be prepared to make your points
quickly and concisely. Going over your notes before you call will help.
- Keep it local. Bring in an anecdote about your region or your
family. You’re calling as a regular citizen, so sound like it. Name
names. Put policymakers on the spot. Question their stance, or applaud
them for being on the right side of an issue. Remember your audience.
- Check your tone as well as your language. Compassion, common sense
and understanding will help your message be well received.
- Challenge listeners. Ask them to act by contacting the policymaker
in question and talking to their friends and co-workers about the issue.
Give necessary information.
Making the Call
- When you call, be prepared for busy signals or being put on hold.
With the larger shows, you may want to begin calling 10-15 minutes prior
to airtime in order to get through, but whatever happens, don't give up!
When you do get through to the operator, state your main point and your
name. Don't mention your IARF affiliation until your closing point on
the air.
- Lead off with your most compelling fact or statistic, and then
elaborate why listeners should be interested. Repeat the phrase or idea
you are responding to so that a listener who has just tuned in will know
what you are talking about. Also try to relate your comments to both the
guest and the program.
Some Helpful Hints:
- Have a glass of water handy. Turn your radio down as soon as you
begin to speak to the host so the feedback doesn’t confuse you. Breathe;
try to talk normally—not too fast or too slow.
- Your Manner is as Important as Your Message
- Get immediately to the point Talk slowly and succinctly Be personal
and passionate Address the host by name and thank him/her
- Don’t: Be combative Get defensive Use too many statistics or
acronyms Take the bait if asked a provocative question *** Important: If
you do place a successful call, don’t forget to tell us!
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Illinois
