How To Write A Successful, Strong Persuasion Script
For many campaigns, persuasion will be an important element of their field campaign. Following an ID program, you will want to dispatch your persuasion program. Launching this program is especially important as the election nears as voters become increasingly persuadable. Among the three primary types of field scripts (ID, persuasion, GOTV), GOTV scripts tend to be the longer because you attempt to engage your target in a conversation.
The secret to writing a strong persuasion script is simple. It has to come from the volunteer. Whereas ID and GOTV scripts can tend to be quick and formulaic, a good persuasion script has to come from the heart and is largely contingent on the person who is giving it. In this way, the candidate is likely one of your strongest persuasion messengers.
The key to writing an effective persuasion message is contrast. The majority of people don’t have the time to be able to talk with a volunteer at the door for 20mins. So you have to be able to discern quickly to deliver a strong contrast. There are a lot of different ways that you can develop contrast. This can be overt (i.e. candidate A will fight for the schools that candidate B left behind) or tacit (candidate A is a fresh start for us). Regardless of the way you choose to put it together.
The important element to delivering a strong persuasion message is to develop a connection. In order to successfully deliver your message, volunteer training is essential. You need to work with your volunteers to make sure they are comfortable enough with the script and with the subject matter to be able to engage in a real conversation on the phone or at the door. Depending on the subject matter, this can mean being vulnerable or telling their personal story, which can be hard for anyone to do.
Do you have any other tips on developing a strong persuasion script? Share them below!