Committee for a Unified Independent Party

Dear :

  

Thank you for participating in IndependentVoting.org's first Spokesperson Training. 

 

There were 24 of us on the call and we had a good Q & A section, so if you missed it or just wanted to review, the call was recorded and can be heard by dialing the numbers below.

 

Recorded Spokesperson Training Call

Call-in: 218-844-0952
Pass code: 732282#

 

As promised, below are links to materials to get you started as a spokesperson for the Congressional Hearing campaign.

  

I look forward to working with you!

     

Sarah Lyons
Dir. of Communications

IndependentVoting.org
Getting Started - Write your Congressman 
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Below is the letter I sent to my Congressman last summer requesting a meeting.  I've interspersed some notes [italizied and in brackets], to address possible questions you might have about how to customize the letter for your locale.

 

Sending the letter accomplishes two things.  It gives you something to talk about as an independent voter activist and a spokesperson in-the-making, and at the same time, starts another ball rolling in our campaign for Congressional hearings. 

 

* * *

Independence Party of Richmond County

Sarah D. Lyons - Chair

36 Hamilton Avenue, Apt. 3N

Staten Island, NY 10301

Ph: 718-447-9689 / Email: slyons@ipnyc.com

www.ipnyc.org

 

[If you don't have an organizational name, perhaps now is the time to make one up.  "Independent Voters of __(name of state)__" is always a good place to start. If you're not ready to do that, you can simply use your connection to IV.org in the following way.  Under your name on the next line, identify yourself as part of the IndependentVoting.org network.]

 

Jane/Joe Doe, member

IndependentVoting.org

 

[That provides the reader -- a Congressional staffer -- with a sense that you belong to an organization, in this case, a national network of independent voters. As small of a detail as this might seem, it's already established you as someone who is part of something bigger. That's important for spokespeople because a big part of the job is to create the context in which you are being listened to.]

 

VIA FACSIMILE & POST

(718) 980-0768

 

Honorable Michael Grimm

265 New Dorp Lane, 2nd Floor

Staten Island, NY 10306

 

Dear Representative Grimm,

 

The Independence Party of Staten Island is participating in a national campaign among independents calling on Congress to hold hearings to examine ways in which partisanship is so hardwired into the political system, as to have created structural discrimination against independents. 

 

[You can subsitute the name of your organization or "As a member of the IndependentVoting.org national network of independents, I am particiating..."]

The purpose of our campaign is two-fold:  1) To educate Congress and shine a light on the effect of partisan control of the election process, namely that 40% of Americans have a second class status; and 2) to urge Congress to investigate these biases by holding hearings.

 

I'm writing to request a meeting with you to present the motivation for this campaign and ask for your help.

 

Recent polls show the number of Americans identifying as independents has surpassed that of Democrat or Republican. This disconnect-between the growing independence of the citizenry and the highly partisan nature of our governing process-is creating an unhealthy situation for our democracy.

 

Indeed, many have noted that the budget negotiations are so driven by partisan considerations as to put the country at risk. They urge that structural reforms are urgently needed in order that we may find genuine solutions to the problems we face. I have attached several articles on this theme for your review.

 

[The above paragraph can be updated to refer to the budget negotiations in the past tense or generalized to say that "Congressional debate is so driven by partisan considerations..."]

 

I will follow up with your office shortly.

 

Sincerely,

 

Sarah Lyons
Chair, Independence Party of Richmond County

 
Getting Started - The Bill of Particulars
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This document was created by a committee of independents from Rhode Island, Virginia, South Dakota and New York. It gives examples of the kinds of barriers to political participation that independents face. Familiarize yourself with 3 examples and then add a few particulars relating to your state.  

 

It's important that you know off the top of your head, how many voters in your state are independent which can usually be learned from your Board of Elections website. Also, if your state is an open or closed primary state (or semi-open primary state).

 

In radio shows that we've done, about 30% of the interview is educating the host and audience about the kinds of concrete barriers independents face.  Another 50% is letting them know what independents are doing about it. The rest is filled with questions and comments from the host and audience and promoting ways for the audience to connect to other independents either thru a local organization or IV.org.

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Talking Points I - III cover the basics of our Congressional Hearing campaign and are formatted in a progression where the concepts get increasingly fushed out. This is to make the process of learning them a little easier but also because in any given setting, you have to choose the best way to get something across. Alot that depends on the level of interest from the host and the audience, so feel free to move from the simple to more sophisticated formulations based on whatever will help you build the conversation with your audience. I'm eager to write specific Talking Points for your specific situation so please don't hesitate to ask.
 
In Case You Missed It - Spokesperson Training #1 - Video to Review
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Shanna Brown and Tom Williams ACA

Whether you're speaking to one person or--as in the case of this video--130 people, becoming a spokesperson requires that you perform! 

 

In this video Cathy Stewart, host of the 12th Annual Anti-Corruption Awards, introduces two independents, Shanna Brown and Tom Williams, who give short presentations.  Watch carefully and take note of what they're projecting as they talk about their respective projects.

 

 

Notice the pacing Shanna uses to deliver her remarks about the experience of becoming a fundraiser for IndependentVoting.org. She turns what could be a mundane topic -- cold calling -- into something compelling. I spoke to Shanna after the event to glean a tip from this actress in training. She told me "an audience wants to connect to a speaker, so when I'm talking, I'm thinking about them and how to help them connect to what I'm saying."  I think she does a brilliant job. Its worth noting Shanna memorized her remarks beforehand. This frees her up to perform her remarks rather than just read them.

 

Tom Williams is on the production team - a group of about 10 people  - for a bi-monthly event in Harlem hosted by Dr. Lenora Fulani entitled "Interviews by a Black Independent." Usually producers are "behind-the-scenes" kind of people, but watch how Tom takes his activism, and turns it into a performance in which he completely "owns" the event he produces. He makes you not want to miss the next one. 

 

This is so important for us as independents -- to learn how to take the things that we are doing, however big or small they may be and talk about them in ways that allows others to connect to us. This is the bread and butter of movement building.  It is making connections with, and among, independent voters and independent-minded Americans.

 
What are you doing as an independent voter activist that we can turn into a story?  Were you on Jackie Salit's national conference call?  Have you signed and sent a postcard to your Congressman urging they hold hearings on the second class status of independents?  Are you organizing an event, a campaign, or just thinking about politics different since you became active as an independent?  How about the fact that you signed up for this training and heard on the call other independents ask important questions? If you don't want to write about yourself, you could write about what another independent is doing that you feel is important or interesting. Any and all of these can be the basis of a story that we turn into talking points for you to deliver in person, in print, on the radio or on TV!