IF YOU WANT to present your case to your legislators effectively you need to understand how they think and appreciate the demands on their time.
You need to look at the world through their eyes, not yours.
That is the advice of Steve Duncan, a consultant for the Washington Library Association, who spoke at Council 2’s recent Legislative Weekend held in Olympia
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In his talk, Duncan provided tips on how to get your message through to legislators.
• Study them to understand who they are and what they care about.
“The best way to do this is through their campaign and legislative web sites,” he said. “Determine their interests, what bills they have prime sponsored, and what committees they sit on. They tend to specialize in specific issue areas.
“Keep in mind there are more than 40 policy committees so the most important thing to you may not be the most important thing to them. Frame your message accordingly.”
Duncan also suggested using Facebook
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“Invite a legislator to be your friend. You will learn a lot about them. It gives you a good insight into what’s on their mind.”
• Contact them often.
“The way to get your message to stick is through frequency of contact,” he said.
“Most people want to cover all their points in one great mega meeting or letter. Unfortunately, this usually overwhelms them.
“Short, crisp letters, e-mails, and personal visits all combine to sink in a message. It’s a lot like TV advertising. A 30-second spot played multiple times is more effective than one five-minute infomercial.”
• Consider writing a letter.
“I am big on letters because no one uses them anymore,” Duncan added. “A stamped envelope with a handwritten address will stick out and draw attention. But keep it short.”
• Use e-mail effectively.
“E-mail is the quickest way to communicate, but also easy to delete or triage,” he said. Duncan suggests being clear in the subject line. Write something like, “Vote NO on 7004.” Then make your case in one or two paragraphs.
“Don’t use hot links,” Duncan adds “If the information is that important, paste it into the body of the e-mail message. Don’t make them do the work.”
• Practice is the key to good testimony.
He advised against reading from a prepared script.
“People usually write out their testimony in advance,” Duncan said. “But testimony by its very nature is oral. It’s important to practice what you have written by reading it aloud, then edit it for flow and brevity.
“Don’t get hung up on grammar,; write it the way you will speak it. The goal is to make it conversational versus reading a written statement.”
• Remember to say “thank you.”
“It is really easy to do, means a lot, and people rarely do it.”
