How to be Awesome when you meet with your lawmaker

By Lee Rubin Collins

Being awesome when meeting with lawmakers isn’t about memorizing bill numbers or giving a slick presentation. Rather, it is all about inspiring the lawmaker to want to help!

To inspire the lawmakers or their staff, think about starting with the fact that we are speaking for the extraordinary values of family and bringing children into the world. For several of the bills, we are fighting to help our nation’s wounded veterans have a future that includes children. Expressing these admirable values will touch many lawmakers, don’t you think?

If you find yourself in the right setting, you might even consider this — it is something that an advocacy “old timer” used to do when she met with lawmakers:

She would look around his/her office for a picture of their family on the wall or a bookshelf. She would point to the picture and ask, “Is that your family?” The lawmaker would say yes. Then she would say, “They must be very important – the most important thing to you.” The lawmaker would agree. Then the advocate would pause … and very quietly say: “That is all we want.“

You see, what we want is profoundly moving, and if we can touch people at that level, they will finally understand.