Tips for Effective Advocacy

• Treat every legislator equally regardless of party.
• Treat every legislator with respect. They were elected, you weren’t.
• Come to a meeting armed with statistics about the legislator’s district and issues.
• Don’t make enemies of legislators; you’ll need them later.
• Call every legislator back before the end of the day, even if it’s late at night.
• Always take the higher ground.
• If you have to say no, do it in a way that allows the legislator to maintain his/her dignity.
• Don’t overstay your welcome; make your visit brief and stick to your allotted time. Don’t drone on.
• When giving testimony, don’t use text as a crutch. Never speak from notes or written text. Limit your testimony to 5-10 minutes. Write your testimony out in advance. Read it and reread it until it is committed to memory. Include one or two facts legislators will remember. Edward Bennett Williams: “For every hour I spend in the courtroom, I spend 15 hours preparing.”
• Never lie. Do it once and you will never be trusted again.
• Never surprise a legislator; describe what the opposition will say about your issue.
• Never kill your opponent; always leave him/her a way to retreat with dignity intact.
• Never burn bridges.
• Power is transitory. Comport yourself as if the environment will change tomorrow.
• Compromise is the essence of politics.
• Persuade in simple terms, in the briefest words, and clearly.
• Bring pressure to bear in the legislator’s home district with grassroots advocacy.