Her book, “The Joy of Talking Politics to Strangers: How to Save Democracy, One Conversation at a Time" is a must read.
Elizabeth was on the Friday Power Lunch podcast last week and delivered a fabulous overview of her book. Check it out. You'll be glad you did. Her stories help you understand that talking to strangers can be fun and rewarding, even for introverts.
Thank you so much, Robbin! It was an absolute honor to be invited to the Friday Power Lunch, and everyone had such great comments and questions afterwards. Thank you for all you and the Network NOVA do to protect and nurture our democracy!
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment and observations. Yes, it often feels like I'm trying to pry information out of a sullen teenager! But if they're still talking to you (even in monosyllabic responses), that's a plus - they haven't shut the door in your face or hung up on you yet.
One suggestion would be to rephrase some of your questions below as open-ended questions (can't be answered with "yes/no") vs. closed-ended.
So for example, instead of “Have you thought about (candidate)‘s race and about what’s important to you?” you could try one of these:
"What, if anything, have you heard about Candidate X?"
"I'm curious - if you were in an elevator for one minute with the President/Candidate X, what would you tell him/her?"
"If you were in charge of the country, what 2 or 3 things would you change?" (Listen intently, then ask some follow-up questions, such as). "If that happened, how would your life be better/different?"
Sometimes, especially for young people or men, I think there's a reluctance to admit that anything is less than great. Perhaps there's a shame in losing face, especially with a stranger. If they say everything is fine and they wouldn't change anything, one tactic you could experiment with is:
"I'm really glad to hear things are going well with you. (slight pause) I'm curious, if you could change anything to make life better for your *family or friends,* what would it be?"
The most helpful thing for me has been bringing nonjudgmental curiosity to the conversation. I really want to know more about their lives, what's challenging, what their goals are for themselves and their family, what keeps them up at night.
It can also be helpful to me personally to reframe the idea of "low-information" voters and instead, approach them as experts in their own lives and what's important to them. Seek their expertise, and learn more about the details of their lives and their pain points. It's my job as a canvasser or phone banker to try to find out more about what they care about. I might ask three or four open-ended questions before landing on one that seems to open the door to more detailed responses.
Here's a story from my book from Chapter 5: "80% Them, 20% Me":
When trying to elicit information from a taciturn voter, I sometimes feel like I’m a safecracker trying to open a combination lock. There can be a lot of trial and error, and it’s important to take my time and pay attention to subtle details. I try to act like I have all the time in the world, and to home in on any cues that indicate a voter might have more to say about a particular topic.
For example, I talked with a college student I’ll call Elena. A couple of weeks before the election she was still undecided about how she’d be voting, and said she needed to do more research. When I asked her, “If you were the president, what two or three things would you change about the country?” she couldn’t think of anything. When I asked, “If you were in an elevator with the president for two minutes, what would you ask him to change?” she drew a blank.
But then when I asked her, “How would Biden’s student loan program make a difference in your life?” she told me how she left her house at 5:20 a.m. to work all day harvesting grapes, getting home in the afternoon for a quick shower before going to evening classes, then coming home, eating dinner, studying a little, and crashing, only to get up and do it all over again the next day. She didn’t want to get her textbooks dirty in the fields, so she took photos of a few pages using her phone, then tried to read them during her work breaks. She said how it was hard to really focus on her classes and absorb the concepts because her study time was so fragmented.
She hadn’t been able to think of anything she’d change at the start of our conversation. However, once we started talking about how lower tuition costs would make her life better, it turned out she had lots of opinions. That led naturally to a discussion about why it was so important to elect Democrats in the upcoming election.
I’m struggling to adapt to a dynamic I’ve not seen much before in canvassing: the “wall” of non-answers (makes me sympathize with my mother back when I was a teen, skilled in the art of the non-answer answer).
“Have you thought about (candidate)‘s race and about what’s important to you?”
“No”
“Are there particular issues or concerns you have, things you want from your representative in Washington?”
“Can’t think of any”
I’ll have to try the Congressional version of your President question: “If you were elected to Congress, what would be your goal on Day 1?”
I occasionally get the “I don’t want to share that with you” response; I like your gambit to continue the conversation — but that’s rare.
Sometimes if the voter figures out I’m canvassing for a Democratic candidate, then they’ll feel safe enough to share more (I’m talking with them because they’re thought to be a low-information voter so they won’t necessarily be familiar with the candidate or their party affiliation).
I’m a male so I wonder if it’s a physical safety concern for women voters but I get similar responses from men; and the women I canvass with report a similar experience.
Historically this congressional district has not seen much canvassing so the experience of having a stranger knock on your door to ask about the election is quite odd for most people.
Do you have other thoughts about how we might break through to a real conversation?
Hi, Thanks for writing. I empathize. Finally to get a live person at the door and then to have an unproductive conversation always feels disappointing. I liked many sections of Elizabeth's book. You might find advice in other sections. I sometimes revert to revealing my motivation. I'm here because my sister ... or in my district .... If I reveal something personal, the other person is more likely to as well.
Her book, “The Joy of Talking Politics to Strangers: How to Save Democracy, One Conversation at a Time" is a must read.
Elizabeth was on the Friday Power Lunch podcast last week and delivered a fabulous overview of her book. Check it out. You'll be glad you did. Her stories help you understand that talking to strangers can be fun and rewarding, even for introverts.
https://youtu.be/XztOMF2Z18o?si=1Awsln0y9MfrRz_9&t=526
Thank you so much, Robbin! It was an absolute honor to be invited to the Friday Power Lunch, and everyone had such great comments and questions afterwards. Thank you for all you and the Network NOVA do to protect and nurture our democracy!
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment and observations. Yes, it often feels like I'm trying to pry information out of a sullen teenager! But if they're still talking to you (even in monosyllabic responses), that's a plus - they haven't shut the door in your face or hung up on you yet.
One suggestion would be to rephrase some of your questions below as open-ended questions (can't be answered with "yes/no") vs. closed-ended.
So for example, instead of “Have you thought about (candidate)‘s race and about what’s important to you?” you could try one of these:
"What, if anything, have you heard about Candidate X?"
"I'm curious - if you were in an elevator for one minute with the President/Candidate X, what would you tell him/her?"
"If you were in charge of the country, what 2 or 3 things would you change?" (Listen intently, then ask some follow-up questions, such as). "If that happened, how would your life be better/different?"
Sometimes, especially for young people or men, I think there's a reluctance to admit that anything is less than great. Perhaps there's a shame in losing face, especially with a stranger. If they say everything is fine and they wouldn't change anything, one tactic you could experiment with is:
"I'm really glad to hear things are going well with you. (slight pause) I'm curious, if you could change anything to make life better for your *family or friends,* what would it be?"
The most helpful thing for me has been bringing nonjudgmental curiosity to the conversation. I really want to know more about their lives, what's challenging, what their goals are for themselves and their family, what keeps them up at night.
It can also be helpful to me personally to reframe the idea of "low-information" voters and instead, approach them as experts in their own lives and what's important to them. Seek their expertise, and learn more about the details of their lives and their pain points. It's my job as a canvasser or phone banker to try to find out more about what they care about. I might ask three or four open-ended questions before landing on one that seems to open the door to more detailed responses.
Here's a story from my book from Chapter 5: "80% Them, 20% Me":
When trying to elicit information from a taciturn voter, I sometimes feel like I’m a safecracker trying to open a combination lock. There can be a lot of trial and error, and it’s important to take my time and pay attention to subtle details. I try to act like I have all the time in the world, and to home in on any cues that indicate a voter might have more to say about a particular topic.
For example, I talked with a college student I’ll call Elena. A couple of weeks before the election she was still undecided about how she’d be voting, and said she needed to do more research. When I asked her, “If you were the president, what two or three things would you change about the country?” she couldn’t think of anything. When I asked, “If you were in an elevator with the president for two minutes, what would you ask him to change?” she drew a blank.
But then when I asked her, “How would Biden’s student loan program make a difference in your life?” she told me how she left her house at 5:20 a.m. to work all day harvesting grapes, getting home in the afternoon for a quick shower before going to evening classes, then coming home, eating dinner, studying a little, and crashing, only to get up and do it all over again the next day. She didn’t want to get her textbooks dirty in the fields, so she took photos of a few pages using her phone, then tried to read them during her work breaks. She said how it was hard to really focus on her classes and absorb the concepts because her study time was so fragmented.
She hadn’t been able to think of anything she’d change at the start of our conversation. However, once we started talking about how lower tuition costs would make her life better, it turned out she had lots of opinions. That led naturally to a discussion about why it was so important to elect Democrats in the upcoming election.
I’m struggling to adapt to a dynamic I’ve not seen much before in canvassing: the “wall” of non-answers (makes me sympathize with my mother back when I was a teen, skilled in the art of the non-answer answer).
“Have you thought about (candidate)‘s race and about what’s important to you?”
“No”
“Are there particular issues or concerns you have, things you want from your representative in Washington?”
“Can’t think of any”
I’ll have to try the Congressional version of your President question: “If you were elected to Congress, what would be your goal on Day 1?”
I occasionally get the “I don’t want to share that with you” response; I like your gambit to continue the conversation — but that’s rare.
Sometimes if the voter figures out I’m canvassing for a Democratic candidate, then they’ll feel safe enough to share more (I’m talking with them because they’re thought to be a low-information voter so they won’t necessarily be familiar with the candidate or their party affiliation).
I’m a male so I wonder if it’s a physical safety concern for women voters but I get similar responses from men; and the women I canvass with report a similar experience.
Historically this congressional district has not seen much canvassing so the experience of having a stranger knock on your door to ask about the election is quite odd for most people.
Do you have other thoughts about how we might break through to a real conversation?
Hi, Thanks for writing. I empathize. Finally to get a live person at the door and then to have an unproductive conversation always feels disappointing. I liked many sections of Elizabeth's book. You might find advice in other sections. I sometimes revert to revealing my motivation. I'm here because my sister ... or in my district .... If I reveal something personal, the other person is more likely to as well.