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About Courageous Voter Conversations
Join us in talking to every climate concerned person we know about voting in the upcoming elections! For the WI Climate Voter Campaign, we are using three methods to reach out to environmental voters: postcarding, climate voter conversations, and phone banking. Conversations with people in our social networks make a difference because:
- We can reach people that aren’t registered, aren’t on campaign lists, or don’t respond to phone calls from unknown callers.
- We can take more time to listen and respond to them, and talk more than once.
- We learn communication skills that are useful throughout our advocacy work and lives.
- We start or deepen relationships in our community
Our Plan
We know that conversations with the people around us are important, and yet it also can be hard to do. So we’ve created a planning sheet to help you find the approaches that work for you, and twice-a-week times you can set aside to do the outreach or tasks that you want to do. We also offer effective communications training based on proven research showing what actually works.
Here’s one way to start those conversations, which is adapted from our phone banking script: “I’m so concerned about this election that I’ve been spending lots of time on it. I’ve been asking everyone I know how important do they feel it is to have a president and Congress that cares about climate change. It’s been interesting talking with people about it. How about you? Is a president and Congress that will be proactive about solving climate change important to you?”
We want to make climate voter outreach as enjoyable as possible. For the rest of the election season you can now participate in regularly scheduled Zoom sessions. This helps you set aside time for the things you want to do, like emailing or calling people you want to talk to, posting on social media, or even writing a letter to the editor. You can come with your to-do list or get ideas at the zoom meeting, then turn off your mike and do them right there. It’s called Zoom co-working. Madeleine Para, Jill Mitchler, Holly Jorgenson and Katy Grogan will meet with anyone who wants to join for an hour on Saturday and/or Tuesday mornings at 9:30, starting on September 7th. All dates and zoom links are listed on our calendar.
Our training has been provided by Brandyn Keating, the CEO of YOUnify. She has years of experience in voter engagement and mobilization, and in deep canvassing on a variety of issues. As the former field director for the 2008 Obama campaign in Wisconsin she also knows and loves our state. Here are the recordings of her three workshops:
- Mapping your Social Networks. Learn how to identify the people in your life that you want to have conversations with about being an environmental voter.
- Effective Conversations Using the BRAVE Technique. Learn and practice skills that help you listen well and activate people’s own stories that motivate them to be an environmental voter.
- Extending and Debriefing our First Courageous Voter Conversations. Share your experience of having your first conversations, learn from others, and get your questions answered as you plan your next steps.
How you can participate
- Join the courageous voter conversations team to stay in the loop.
- Make a plan using our worksheet for how you will connect with people around you about voting.
- Join our Zoom co-working meetings starting September 7th on Tuesday and Saturday mornings at 9:30 a.m.
- Share your experiences, successes and challenges on our CCL WI Voter Conversations google group (you become part of the group when you join the team).
- Learn and use effective conversation skills with our training workshop videos.
- Keep count of your conversations and enter them in CCL’s action tracker.
Resources
- Join the team
- November Election Personal Worksheet
- Brandyn Keating’s 3 workshop recordings
- BRAVE conversations handout
- Personal Narrative Guide by Brandyn Keating/YOUnify
- CCL National’s climate conversations training page
