Here’s a rule I wish every candidate learned before their first fundraising call.
You’ve got about 30 seconds of green light with anybody you’re talking to. Donor, voter, doesn’t matter.
For those first 30 seconds, they’re listening. Locked in.
Keep going another 30 seconds and you’re in yellow light territory. Attention’s slipping.
Push past that and you’re in the red. Full stop.
They’ve checked out. You’re not having a conversation anymore. You’re giving a speech nobody asked for.
I’ve watched candidates do this at doors, on fundraising calls, everywhere.
They get nervous, or excited, or just love hearing themselves talk, and they blow right through every yellow light straight into the red.
Here’s the problem. Nobody writes a check to somebody who won’t stop talking at them. Nobody votes for a candidate who never asked what THEY care about.
Here’s how you fix it.
Fundraising calls: Ask a question. Let the donor answer. Actually listen to what they say instead of waiting for your turn to talk again. Donors give to candidates who make them feel heard, not lectured.
At the door: Don’t launch into your stump speech the second somebody opens the door. Ask what’s bothering them. Then shut up and listen. You’ll learn more in thirty seconds of listening than three minutes of talking.
Volunteers: Same rule. Ask why they want to help. Let them tell you. People commit harder to something they got to talk about, not something they got talked at.
Beating your opponent: While he’s droning on at every event about his eighteen-point plan, you’re asking voters questions and actually listening to the answers. Guess who they remember.
The takeaway: You don’t win people over by talking longer. You win them over by making them feel like the conversation was about them, not you.
Dr. Chuck Muth, PsD
Professor of Psephology*
(homeschooled)
* Psephology (see-follow-gee): The study of campaigns and elections