Constituent Meetings Training

Let’s break down what to expect in a constituent meeting! Please read through this training document in its entirety. You will not be added to a constituent meeting invitation until you have affirmed completion of the required training at the bottom of this page (don’t worry—you only have to complete it once).

General tips

Your goal in this meeting is twofold: yes, you are persuading the office to act on your concerns, but it is also a reconnaissance mission. Find out why the representative may be resistant to taking the action you are requesting, or at least what their public reasons are. Pay attention to the messaging points being relayed by the staffer.

Make it personal and always tie it to the district/state. Prioritize getting to know the staffer. If they seem receptive and warm, don’t be afraid to show your personality while staying professional. Most staffers are as passionate as you are about one policy issue or another, so tap into that shared desire to make the world a better place.

Video call etiquette

• Be sure to arrive promptly at the time on your calendar hold to provide runway for any last-minute preparation, logistics, or technical difficulties.

• Call in from a distraction-free environment. That means no loud background noise or people/pets interrupting your video feed to the extent possible to control.

• Although you don’t need to dress up like you would if you were on Capitol Hill, make sure any visible clothing is clean, contains no offensive phrases, and easily passes a test of “would you wear this inside an elementary school?”

• Ensure your display name is professional—we recommend your name and location within the jurisdiction of the lawmaker (e.g. Gabrielle - Manhattan)

• Always turn your video on unless the staffer indicates that the meeting will be audio-only.

• Keep your audio muted unless you are speaking.

• These are private meetings—don’t take any screenshots without the staffer’s permission. As a heads up, it’s unlikely that a staffer will agree to posting any screenshot publicly.

Language and tone

You’ll probably be meeting with staffers and not the legislators themselves. But Capitol Hill can be a traditional place with strictly adhered-to norms. The level of formality varies quite dramatically between offices; on average, Senate offices lean more toward the formal end than House offices. Besides basic conversation etiquette (don’t interrupt, etc.), below are Capitol Hill-specific tips:

• Express gratitude for positive aspects of your lawmaker’s work (as reflected in the meeting outline template).

• Refer to the member with their title attached: either “Senator Murphy”/“Congresswoman Clark” or simply “the Senator”/”the Congresswoman.” You might relax this rule once you have built a friendly rapport with the staffer, but always initially default to this naming convention.

• Mirror the tone of the staffer. If they want to the treat the relationship more casually, you can follow their lead. If they keep up a level of formality, you should match their professionalism.

• The more often you reference specifics about the member (committees, legislation they’ve introduced, Tweets, etc.) the faster you can earn respect and build a relationship.

• Don’t presume you know more than the staffer about your policy topic, even if the member of Congress isn’t known for being outspoken on climate. Present your arguments declaratively but humbly, taking cues from the staffer as to how much they’re already plugged into the issue.

Suggested 15-minute prep period

• We recommend that your group convenes 15 minutes before the meeting starts. Everyone should have the prep document open on their screen. Designate empty space in the prep document for back-channeling during the meeting. In other words, you should have a place where you could write a message to the other participants and trust that they’ll see it.

• Review and confirm speaking roles that were assigned in the prep document. Ensure the meeting requester is prepared to open introductions.

After the meeting

1. Send a follow-up email to the staffer thanking them for meeting with you. Download the one-page fact sheet for the policy priority from the Issue Briefings page and attach it to your email. Your goal is to build a rapport, so feel free to reference something that was discussed in the meeting or send additional information you might have on hand. Let them know you’d love to keep an open line of communication. You can copy advocacy@climatechangemakers.org on your emails.

2. Monitor the senator/representative’s communications channels and share with the community if they post anything about the policy priority or climate more generally.

3. Keep the staffer’s email handy for scheduling your next meeting!