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Mondaire for Congress Volunteer Training

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Who are we and what are we doing here?

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What the heck is Reach?

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Let’s join!

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Become a Reach user

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Join an elite squad!

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Search for a voter...

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Collect information!

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Add contact information (no one will see it but you!)

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Choose a script and send a message from your own phone!

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Add someone to your network so you can find them easily!

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Check out the leaderboard and the chat feature...

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How are we going to be using Reach?

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTA

REACH

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Let’s talk about organizing!

the first thing i want to say is that i take organizing very seriously. it is a real job that people work their whole lives to get good at the same way you can get good at writing code or writing articles or surgery. it’s one of the hardest jobs i’ve ever seen anyone do. and these skills are skills people get paid real money for. i didn’t just pull a bunch of random slides of out of my ass, these are real concepts.
when we talk about organizing, we’re going to talk about a type of story-centered, person-centered organizing that is really common in union organizing settings.
who knows what a union is?
who knows what a union organizer does?
does anyone know any organizations that are organizing right now?? (amazon and instacart are organizing to get better working conditions/sick + hazard pay. they’re threatening to strike)
why is it likely to be effective?
a union organizer goes into a workplace where people are often have bad working conditions, and convinces people to do something very risky: to stand together and negotiate with their employer, while threatening to strike.
it’s one of the most risky types of organizing, right? in electoral organizing for politics, the worst thing that will happen if you vote or don’t vote for a candidate in a secret ballot, is just that your candidate could win or lose. that can have big consequences, but they’re not direct and public and person to you in the way that standing with a union can be, right?
say a union organizer comes in, and persuades you to unionize... your job might fire you. you might get demoted. you might try and strike and people might betray you and cross the picket line and work anyway. there’s a lot of personal risk to unionizing... which means that a union organizer has to be REALLY REALLY GOOD at persuading people to work with them and do these risky things, right?
so all of these clips come from union organization websites– and they all have some similar principles in common.
what is the main one?
LISTENING.

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At minimum, what does a successful 1:1 conversation with someone look like?

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At minimum, what does a successful 1:1 conversation with someone look like?

You now understand the person’s goals, beliefs, and concerns.

They feel heard by a representative of Mondaire’s campaign, and they believe that Mondaire shares their values and concerns.

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People won’t always agree with you. Sometimes they won’t even a little bit agree with you. Some of them may still vote for Mondaire, just because you listened to them and acknowledged their concerns.

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Have you ever had a conversation with someone you didn’t agree with, and you knew they weren’t listening to you?

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How do you start a conversation through active listening?

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How do you start a conversation through active listening?

So, what kinds of issues are important to you when you’re figuring out who to vote for?

Is there anything you’ve been thinking about or worrying about a lot lately?

It’s been a tough time, so Mondaire is asking us to check in with people in the district and hear their most important concerns.

How has this crisis been affecting you?

Your job must be crazy right now.

How are you feeling right now?

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How do you KEEP LISTENING and move the conversation forward?

So, what kinds of issues are important to you when you’re figuring out who to vote for?

Is there anything you’ve been thinking about or worrying about a lot lately?

It’s been a tough time, so Mondaire is asking us to check in with people in the district and hear their most important concerns.

Why do you think we’re having this problem?

What do you think is the best way to fix it?

How is that affecting your family?

What do you need?

If you could improve one thing, what would it be?

How has this crisis been affecting you?

Your job must be crazy right now.

How are you feeling right now?

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How can you SHOW people that you are listening to them?

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How can you SHOW people that you are listening to them?

Eye contact

Focus on the other person

Lean forward a little

Nod

Let the other person finish what they’re saying without interruption

Interested silence

Give them time to respond

Stand still

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Some DON’Ts

Don’t ask closed-ended questions that easily lead to yes or no answers that curtail a real conversation.

Don’t assume you know the person’s issues because you’ve seen “that type of person” before.

Don’t assume you know that person’s issues because of what you’ve heard before the conversation.

Don’t transfer the result of previous conversation with other people to the one you are having.

Don’t interrogate or go on fishing expeditions for the issues you expect to hear.

Don’t assume or fill in the facts for yourself-- when in doubt, ask more questions.

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Once people feel heard, how can you show them that you (as an extension of Mondaire) empathize and share their feelings?

Telling your story (and telling Mondaire’s story).

let me take a step back and talk about why this is important.
here’s what science + experience shows about why and how people vote– we’d LOVE to think that people vote based on the issues. and some people do! many more people THINK they do than ACTUALLY do.
here’s what we actually vote on: TRUST.
if you’re voting based on the issues, you’re in some ways implicitly signaling that a) you trust the candidate has the right stances and b) that they’re gonna fight for them and get them done
because a politician isn’t just about what they believe, they’re about whether they can get it done... and they’re people who are serving you in situations you haven’t ever encountered yet, like coronavirus!
one year ago, i could have told you that i’d prefer to have biden than trump in the white house during coronavirus. why is that? it’s not because i know what biden’s policies would have been– it’s because, to some extent, i trust him.
people are not ONLY gonna vote for mondaire because of policy– the more important thing is to have them vote for mondaire because they trust him.

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Once people feel heard, how do we create that trust?

Speak to why you trust Mondaire & who Mondaire is.

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What does a personal story entail?

Challenge

Choice

Outcome

What was the challenge?
Why did you feel it was a challenge?
What was so challenging about it?
Why was it your challenge?

What choice did you make?
Why did you make the choice you did?
Where did you get the courage – or not?
Where did you get the hope – or not? How did it feel?

What was the outcome?
How did the outcome feel?
Why did it feel that way?
What did it teach you?
What do you want to teach us?
How do you want us to feel?

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What does a personal story do?

Story of self

Story of us

Story of now

Communicate the values that have called you into this fight.

Focus on challenges you’ve faced in your life, the choices you’ve made

in response to those challenges, and the outcomes you’ve experienced.

Communicate the values shared by those taking action.

Connect your values with the listener’s values,

and the listener’s values with Mondaire’s values.

Communicate the urgency of the moment and

offer a clear choice to take action.

Root this in the values you have articulated and include an urgent ask

to get involved (even if it’s just a commitment to vote or a

commitment to learn more and follow up later).

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This is an example.

tell your personal story OR tell why, given mondaire’s experiences, you trust him: you know he’s not going to sell us out! you know he’s going to fight for working people, because policy is personal for him.

- i know you’ve heard it but now you’re going to hear it again
we had to make this terrible decision, right, where we had to choose between subjecting my sister to physical danger and the cops and everything, or choosing to get her medical care
and i’ll tell you the choice
we did not call the cops on my sister
we chose to let her be without health care and try adn help her survive
and then was when i was like holy shit
this is terrifying no one should have to feel how my family felt where the thing we needed was right in front of us, and through the fault of this terrible, profit seeking system, we could not access it
and tht was when i knew that i supported universal healthcare and that it was freakin URGENT to me that we get to it
right now
and here’s how i feel about mondaire: he knows the value of M4A, he’s not going to sell us out. this is an opportunity we have, right now. in a safely blue seat. to make sure that we have a candidate that’s looking to the future. a candidate that’s willing to fight for us.
we can do this right now by winning the primary and that’s why it’s so meaningful to me.

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Let’s build our personal stories!

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Name a time you were angry.

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Name something you value in good leadership.

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Name a moment in your life that led to you being on this call today.

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Name the issue you are most passionate about.

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Name a time you witnessed or experienced injustice.

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Let’s develop our stories!

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What does a personal story entail?

Challenge

Choice

Outcome

What was the challenge?
Why did you feel it was a challenge?
What was so challenging about it?
Why was it your challenge?

What choice did you make?
Why did you make the choice you did?
Where did you get the courage – or not?
Where did you get the hope – or not? How did it feel?

What was the outcome?
How did the outcome feel?
Why did it feel that way?
What did it teach you?
What do you want to teach us?
How do you want us to feel?

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What does a personal story do?

Story of self

Story of us

Story of now

Communicate the values that have called you into this fight.

Focus on challenges you’ve faced in your life, the choices you’ve made

in response to those challenges, and the outcomes you’ve experienced.

Communicate the values shared by those taking action.

Connect your values with the listener’s values,

and the listener’s values with Mondaire’s values.

Communicate the urgency of the moment and

offer a clear choice to take action.

Root this in the values you have articulated and include an urgent ask

to get involved (even if it’s just a commitment to vote or a

commitment to learn more and follow up later).

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Relate your personal knowledge or experience to counter the objection.

“But after I heard him speak, I realized that his time in the Obama Administration gave him valuable experience.”

Connect your own experience with the objection.

“I worried about that initially as well.”

Express your understanding of or empathy with the objection!

“I totally understand your concerns about Mondaire’s age...”

How to deal with objections...

FELT

FOUND

FEEL

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What are some objections to Mondaire’s candidacy?

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How would you counter them?