Marta Evry of Venice for Change has a great diary up on Kos with tips for calling Nevada Democrats about Harry Reid and the public option:

TIPS FOR MAKING SUCCESSFUL PHONE CALLS

I ran hundreds of phone banks during the general election last year. Here are a few tips I hope you will find useful.

1. Read the script a couple of times before you start, so that you feel you understand the concept. If you don’t feel comfortable reading off of it verbatim, don’t. Make it your own. Make it conversational. But be sure to ask all the questions on the script.

2. You’ll only reach 15-20% of the people you attempt to call at any one time. Most will not be home. Some numbers will be wrong. Some people will not be supporters. This is normal for every phone bank, and it’s why we ask so many people to make calls, because it usually takes several attempts to reach a voter.

3. If someone is unsure, feel free to tell them why you personally support a public option. You don’t have to site a bunch of facts and figures. For instance, I tell people that I want a public option because my brother in law joined the army 15 years ago because his wife was pregnant and they couldn’t afford insurance. 15 years and 3 kids later he still can’t. He’s about to be sent to Iraq for the third time. No one should have to make that choice.

4. If someone says they don’t know if if they’ll call and you can’t get a definitive answer from them, I would recommend marking them as “not home”. That means someone else will call them later and try and persuade them again.

5. Don’t take rejection personally. Even a “no” is valuable information and will help refine the list down to real supporters.

Call now!

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