Phone Banking with Anxiety: a thread

Making calls to strangers is hard when you have anxiety—after years of campaign work I still get nervous every time I pick up a phone. Here are some tips I have for phone banking that help me power through: (1/7)

1. Familiarize yourself with your candidate so you feel prepared to answer questions. What town do they live in? What are their major policy priorities? What is their current job? If you’re ready to talk about your candidate, you’re ready to phone bank. (2/7)

2. Familiarize yourself with the script—know exactly what you’re going to say in all the likely situations. What is your hard ask? What do you say if the voter is undecided? Do you know how to help a voter request a ballot? If you know the script well, you’ll feel prepared. (3/7)

3. Know who you’re talking to. Are these ID’d supporters of the campaign? Are these undecided voters? Are these people you’re trying to recruit to volunteer? Knowing your audience will help you feel prepared to speak to them. (4/7)

4. Before you phone bank, make yourself a nice cup of tea, or your favorite drink. I like to drink chai tea or hot chocolate as I’m phone banking—every time I make a call, a take a sip as a reward. It keeps me going and helps me stay relaxed! (5/7)

5. Take it slow. Autodialers can move quickly, so you might request a traditional list instead. Then you can move at your own pace. Need to take a break in between calls to breathe? Totally fine! (6/7)

6. If the phone bank arrives and you’re too anxious, THAT’S OKAY. Cancel if you need to, but try to commit to another phone bank within the next week. Not up to it? Ask the campaign if there’s a less anxiety-inducing way to help out, like text banking or data entry. (7/7)