(WC3)  HOW (AND HOW NOT) TO TALK ABOUT YOUR CANDIDATE
When working for a campaign, there is only one goal.  You want to persuade those who are not sure or who do not know much about your candidate to go into that booth on November 7^th and vote for YOUR candidate. 

Cicero’s Rule for Effective Persuasion

The single biggest mistake people make when promoting a candidate is the failure to follow Cicero's advice.  The famous Roman lawyer was one of the most effective social influence agents in human history, and his secret was a simple rule he followed in every case:  Before arguing your case, you should first see it from your client’s point of view, then from the other side’s point of view, from the view of the judge and from the jury, and finally from the view of the person in the street.  In other words, before crafting your message, you should see it from the points of view of all who are likely to be touched by your attempt to influence the vote.  In competitive influence situations, such as an election, it is even helpful to think of what the other side might say four or five moves in advance.

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they attempt to have an influence is to assume that just because they find an argument compelling or would be influenced by a certain tactic, everyone else will also be persuaded.  If that were the case, you wouldn’t need to use influence – the person would already believe and think as you do!  In fact, each of us brings unique experiences and perspectives to each situation (indeed, that is one of our strengths as a species – we have the ability to learn from others’ experiences).  Successful influence recognizes those differences and makes use of those differences in crafting a message – just as Cicero did. 

How to Use Cicero’s Rule in Campaigns

So, how do you make Cicero’s rule work for your candidate?

* First, pick up whatever information you can about the person (or audience) to whom you are speaking.  What issue is important to them that your candidate supports?  Don’t waste your precious time on issues that are important to you but not likely to be of much interest to those you are talking to.  Examples:  If you are talking with parents of younger children, education and jobs are best bets.  If it’s an older person or crowd, health care and retirement security are sure winners. 

* If you have very little time (maybe just one minute), it is important that the interaction be especially effective.  What is your candidate’s very best feature?  Do you get any hints from the person or audience as to what they might see as your candidate’s best feature?

* Introduce your candidate in the context of what the audience might find interesting.  Listen to their responses—and HEAR what they are saying.  If the response is positive, move them towards a commitment to vote for him/her.

* Remain confident and upbeat about your candidate.  If others see your confidence, then they know to take your view seriously.  Confidence does not mean in-your-face, just a secure belief in the value of electing your candidate expressed through manner and voice tone.

* Do know a lot about your candidate, but don’t come off as a know-it-all.  That will make others feel as though they have been placed in an inferior role.  As a result they may try to get away from you or stay to refute you.  Either way you probably lost a vote.

* It is important to think about WHO YOU ARE when approaching another person and to present yourself in a manner that gives your message the best chance of succeeding.  One role that may be useful is to think about yourself as a “fellow citizen, concerned about the course of the country, who is open to talking about the directions our nation can take.”  Such an approach places an emphasis on openness (as opposed to closed-mindedness) and facing the issues that your candidate has endorsed.

* If someone says something positive about your candidate, ask the person to elaborate.  If that person has an issue, explain your candidate’s position and ask if that will be a help to resolving it (and, if so, how?)

* Securing a commitment to vote for your 2006 candidate is of utmost importance.  One way to do this is to ask people to predict what they plan to do in a way that ensures a “yes” to your question.  For example, “You seem pretty excited by X [your candidate].  Do you plan to vote for him?”

* When someone shows strong interest in your candidate, ask him or her to do something (even a small task) for the campaign.  Wear a button.  Complete a form.  Sign a support petition.  Make a contribution.  Hand-out leaflets.  Go to a website.  (Always have appropriate materials handy to distribute.)

* Remember the norm of reciprocity.  In all human societies there is a rule:  If you do something for me, then I do something for you in return.  This is an important rule for maintaining dialog.  For example, if you have listened to other people and taken their position and feelings seriously, then it is their turn to do the same for you.  This gives you another chance to say what you believe about your candidate.

* To sum up, prepare for your chance to persuade others about the value of your candidate.  Think about what your candidate stands for and why.  Think about who he or she is and why we need this sort of leadership.  Then imagine different types of persons and ask yourself:  “What aspects of my candidate will that person find to be most appealing and exciting?”  Once you do that, you are ready to help win back the House and the Senate and to restore some sanity to the leadership of this nation.

Created by the Four Star Democrats for the Wes Clark Countdown to Change (WC3) Project. 

Questions?  Comments?  Contact:

Cheryl at Cheryl@SecuringAmerica.com
Debby at DBurroughs@SecuringAmerica.com
Stan at SDavis@SecuringAmerica.com or
Tricia at TSpiegel@SecuringAmerica.com