Meeting with your lawmaker can be intimidating – especially if it’s your first time. If you’re advocating with a group, it can help to prepare by splitting up responsibilities ahead of your meeting. With your group, divide up the following roles and practice acting out the meeting with your legislator. Assign each person in your group one of the following roles:
Role #1: Make Introductions
Start the meeting with a brief round of introductions. If you’re representing an organization, introduce yourself and tell your elected official or staff person about your organization and where it is located.
Example: Hello Representative/Senator _________. My name is _____________ and I live in ___________ (city/town) in your legislative district. I’ll let everyone introduce themselves as well.
Role #2: Name the Issue
State clearly and concisely what issue you want to discuss, what your position is, and what action you want your elected official to take. Offer a few supporting facts about why they should take your position.
Example: I’m here today to talk about _________ (name of a program/issue). This is an important issue to our community because _____________. We are hoping you will __________.
Role #3: Storyteller
Share a personal story or concrete examples that highlight your experience with the issue and why you care about it.
Example: ___________ is important to me because___________. It helps me meet my basic needs, like ____________. Before this program, my experience was ____________.
Role #4: Make an Ask
Make an explicit “ask”. Pose a direct, yes-or-no question to which the legislator can respond.
Example: Can we count on you to support our bill to undo harmful TANF policies?
Role #5: Keep Up the Pressure
Be prepared for how you will respond to your member’s position. Have a plan to turn a “Yes” into a champion, an “Undecided” into a Yes, and to learn from the objections of a “No.”
Example (if “yes”): How will you work to elevate this issue among other members of the legislature?
Example (if “undecided”): What additional information do you need from us to support this bill?
Example (if “no”): We really want to emphasize how important this issue is to our community because ___________. Is there anything that might change your mind about this issue?
Role #6: Follow up and Share Resources
Your lawmaker might have many meetings in one day, and it’s helpful to give them a written version of your main points. You can always follow up with an email thanking your lawmaker for the meeting and sending factsheets or resources to support your conversation.
Download this worksheet as a PDF
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