Phone banking 101. Can you hear me now?

Once in a while you must get off your ass and sit on your ass to make a couple hours of phone calls to potential voters. Every contact in a close races makes a difference. When you and 9 of your friends get together, it makes 10X a difference. So here is a Phone Bank 101 for those interested in helping:

Follow your lead. As always, take the following guide as just a guide. Your campaign manager will adjust who you call, when, and what to say. They are in control of the campaign.

Use your inside voice: Remember you have others making calls who need to hear and not be distracted.

Do not use a speaker phone. Again, no one can hear if you are screaming into a speaker phone.

Invest in headphones. Consider buying a pair of headphones for your cell phone or soft phone on your computer. Not only is the voice quality better,  they also shield you from those using their speaker phones.

Use a soft phone. At our call center we converted our computers and laptops into phones with an application like Xlite. When calling using Virtual Phone Bank all you have to do is click on the phone number and Xlite makes the call. It is easy to get into a rhythm. The headphones coupled with a soft phone is a great low cost setup with excellent quality.

Don't argue. Once in a while you will get a hostile individual who will start with something like "I aint gonna vote fer a dag gum socialist......". Just say "Have a great day!" then hang up. Or just hang up. Then tell your other phone bankers to get a quick laugh. It happens. Laugh about it and then mark it in your database.

Adjust the script as necessary. Read the script then modify as necessary. Adjust the script so you are talking naturally. Sometimes the phone bank leader may be a bit long winded and the script doesn't fit your personality. Adjust it. Start calling. And as always run the mods by your lead.

Have reference material available. Have or know your candidates position or other information such as location of early voting, times of early voting, or other material close by to reference.

Have fun. When you have fun, everyone else has fun. Your voice carries on to your caller.

And as always....thanks for helping!