Advocacy Made Easy: Twitter Actions

Tweeting with Jennifer Burden about poverty from the 

World Bank for World Moms Blog

I have a confession to make. I don't really like Twitter all that much.

"OMG! Have you seen your own Twitter account?! You're on it all the time," I imagine my friends saying.

Yes, well. Despite that, I came slowly to Twitter. It's not a super-easy format for me to use. However, it’s one more tool in the advocacy toolbox. To quote Kolleen Bouchane, Policy and Advocacy Director of A World at School, “I know great advocates who use Twitter and wonderful advocates who have no idea what Twitter is.” You don't need a Twitter account to create real change in the world. But if you use one already, by all means use it to advocate as well! Twitter has connected me to many wonderful activists who wouldn't be in my life otherwise. 

I hesitantly started tweeting when I attended the first-ever Shot@Life Summit. Many participants were social media pros and they encouraged me to get on the Twitter wagon. Mistakenly, I thought I should build up a big following so people would take the actions I suggested in my tweets. Wrong! Maybe I’m just not very convincing with a 140 character limit. Followers may take action with me if they’ve seen me in some other venue, but Twitter seems to act mainly as a reminder to take an action. It’s rare that my tweets move people to action even among my steadfast advocacy friends.

But enough about what Twitter won’t do for you! Over the years, I've actually become pretty proficient at using it to the point where I even get paid for my live-tweeting skills. Here are 5 ways Twitter has been quite effective in my advocacy work and can be in yours:

#1 Add leverage to an Action Day or a movement 
If you see a hashtag (a keyword preceded with a "#" to make it more searchable) about one of your issues showing up in your Twitter feed a lot – like #EndPolio – it might be alerting you to a day of action started by an organization connected to your issue. When your organization has a phone call-in day, your tweets about it with a link to the action and the appropriate hashtag will act as your endorsement that the action is a good thing to do. Note: The action must be SIMPLE, like asking someone to "re-tweet" a message to the White House or member of Congress. (Example: "Pls RT: @ClairMC Pls sign onto S. Res. 108 to help us #EndPolio & give kids a @ShotatLife ")

The #BringBackOurGirls hashtag went globally viral very quickly after the Chibok schoolgirls were abducted in Nigeria by terrorists in 2014. As of today none of the girls have been recovered yet, but the movement lives on and I've had the privilege of meeting and working with Aisha Yesufu, one of the activists who has dedicated every day since the kidnapping to forcing her government to be accountable for the return of the girls. I would not be in contact with her at all were it not for the Twitter movement.

#2 Tweet content to build relationships your allies
If you're a blogger, tweet links to your blog posts and tag other people who are interested in the same issue. Also re-tweet related content from people you admire and want to work with. If they like what they see, they may start following you and re-tweeting. When they do, you’ll have new allies helping you build a bigger audience. These are also people you should seek out at conferences or ask to meet, so you can work on joint projects and extend your mutual reach. Occasionally, I’ve also been asked by national organizations for permission to re-post my writing that I tweeted to them. 

Live-tweeting doesn't lead to pretty pictures of yourself,
but it gets the word out!

#3 Live-tweet an event
When a special event is going on with your organization, sending out tweets about it in real time is a great way to help your followers feel engaged with the action. It extends the impact of the event. Live-tweeting is a tricky skill to learn, but here are the basics.

• Have Twitter open and at the ready. 
• Listen for key short, quotable sound bites from a speaker 
• Quickly type it in and include the hashtags of the event and any associated with the topic, so that interested people can find it even if they don’t directly follow you 
• Tag speakers by including their Twitter handle in your tweet, so they and their followers can see it and re-tweet 
• Try to tweet every 10 minutes or so during a speech 
• Re-tweet other people also live-tweeting the same event. 
• Warning: Don’t live-tweet too many events too close together or this will become annoying and people may start un-following you. At some point, we all get tired of one person dominating our Twitter feeds.

An example of a Twitter Party invite graphic 
from World Moms Blog

#4 Participate in Twitter Parties to raise awareness
A "twitter party" is a virtual event that brings people together to discuss an issue on social media while raising awareness with their followers. Generally about 1 hour long, they are especially effective if a celebrity participates to bring hundreds of fans to the conversation, but a smaller party can get help your connections, too, if you have fun and informed people involved. Before you organize one, it can be helpful to join one to see how it works in person or team up with someone who has hosted one before.

These are the general steps to putting together your own Twitter party:

• Think up a short, original hashtag to identify tweets as part of your discussion. 
• Advertise your event with organizations in line with your issue by distributing a graphic that can be shared across social media platforms. It should describe what topic you want to discuss. Line up a few participants who have sizeable social media followings to advertise it and ask their followers to join in.
• Think of 10-12 questions to ask during the event. 
• When the party begins, open a window to type your tweets and a separate one to monitor your hashtag. 
• Post a tweet welcoming everyone and reminding them to use the hashtag every time they make a comment. 
• Post numbered questions one at a time with the hashtag for your party. Example: “Q1: How do you involve your kids in fighting poverty? #KidAction” Experienced twitter partiers will leave their answers in a similar format like, “A1: We collect food for our local food bank and deliver it together #KidAction” 
• Leave enough time for everyone to chime in with answers, which you will see in your hashtag window. 
• When the hour is up, thank everyone for participating and give them a website to either continue the conversation or find more information about your issue.

My first viral tweet showed tween-aged fans of 

Percy Jackson books that kids can lobby with 

the ONE Campaign

#5 Get the attention of a Twitter celebrity to boost your message

Getting a celebrity re-tweet for your org could be as simple as wearing your logo T-shirt and taking an awesome picture in front of the poster of a movie they are starring in on opening night. You just never know!

While waiting for a ONE Campaign lobby meeting, I looked over to see my daughter reading a book by her favorite author Rick Riordan (a.k.a. "@CampHalfBlood" on Twitter), creator of the popular Percy Jackson books. Since she was wearing a ONE t-shirt, I tweeted her picture while tagging both ONE and the author. After the meeting, I was shocked to see so much activity on my normally quiet account. It turned out that Riordan himself had re-tweeted it to his 302,000 followers, ensuring his rabid pre-teen and adult fans put eyeballs on the ONE logo and spread the word that kids can lobby and save the world. Twitter reported that 52,393 people saw my tweet on Twitter and 4,755 people interacted with it in some way.

Words of Caution

Twitter can be an ugly world. If you step out in public to speak out for something, chances are likely that someone someday will speak back to you against that thing. Don't take it personally. Block especially viscous people if you have to. As with all advocacy, you'll get much farther and earn more quality allies by keeping your message positive and inspiring. 

• Don't engage in a Twitter war with critics. Twitter moves too fast and is to impersonal for good judgement to reign. The only person who can keep up is comedian and animal lover Ricky Gervais tweeting with big game sport hunters, but he's a quick witted insult comic by trade. Leave that to the professionals!
• Be careful with your personal information Don’t share anything that would be dangerous in the hands of a follower that intends harm to you. Remember that people who oppose your viewpoints could be following you as well.
• Exercise caution with images and information about your children. For example, the picture of my daughter that I tweeted to Rick Riordan purposefully did not show her full face nor her name.

IN CONCLUSION...the only way to really learn to use this tool is to get in there and do it. Start by following some Twitter users you respect, re-tweet their posts, and learn from them. Experiment and see what works for you. It's not for everyone, but it can be a very fun way to connect with people you might never work with otherwise. Good luck!

Advocacy Made Easy: Writing a Blog Post

You may have seen my past posts in my Advocacy Made Easy series. (If you want to see them, type "Advocacy Made Easy" into the search bar of this blog) I'll admit up front that this particular action - writing a blog post - isn't as ready-made for step-by-step instructions as other advocacy actions. It requires creativity, introspection, and a willingness to put your views out into the public that many other actions don't.

I'm still stumbling along in this journey to create compelling posts, but here are a few lessons I've learned that I can share with you about creating blog content.

EPIC Format Still Works
I use the EPIC writing format for writing letters to Congress and letters to the editor. There's nothing wrong with using this tried and true method for a blog post. A blog tends to be more free flowing than a formal letter, so it's okay if you just want to write 6 or 7 haikus about your topic. Nevertheless, for informing readers and asking them to take an action, nothing beats a good EPIC piece of writing. "EPIC" is a handy mnemonic for remembering an order of statements to build your case for an action and engage your reader. Here it is:

Engage: Grab the reader's attention with a question or a startling statement. You could use a surprising statistic or a question. 

Problem: State the problem that you want the reader to address. 

Inform (or Illustrate): Inform the reader of the solution or illustrate how the solution can help. 

Call to Action: CLEARLY state what you want the reader to do. It's best if you can do it in the form of a question that should be answered with a "yes" or a "no."

THINK Before You Post
There are plenty of bloggers making names for themselves by being edgy, negative, or snarky. However, my advice to you, especially if you are just starting out and haven't found your voice yet, is to play it positive. It seems like the online universe trends toward the negative side of things. Isn't there enough name calling and disrespect out there? Why add to it? Remember, once you put something negative and nasty out there, you can't take it back once it starts being shared and re-tweeted.

I found a sign in the hallway at an elementary school and thought that its message is even more applicable to bloggers than school children. It encourages kids to think before they speak and ask themselves about what they are about to say: Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind?

I strive to hold similar standards in my blog posts. I want this blog to be uplifting and inclusive, so I also give consideration to "Who might I be alienating with the way this draft is written?" I know I don't always get it right, but stopping to think before posting helps a great deal.

Use Pictures (your own pictures!)
Pictures are a great way to get someone to click on your blog and hold attention. They don't even have to be award winning photography. Just something to give the brain a break from a solid wall of text. Case in point: In the bullet suggestion above, I could have just listed out the bullet points of the "Think Before You Speak" poster. But it was more interesting looking at the quilt-like bulletin board that a teacher spent a good amount of time putting together, wasn't it? I've taken pictures of legos spilled on my floor and heaps of my own dirty laundry to make my points. The main thing is that you own the pictures you use or credit the person who does own the photo (ideally with his or her permission). You can also purchase stock photos on websites for not much money if you wish. Sometimes if I don't have a good photo, I might simply draw a quick sketch like this one I used on a blog about sadness.

http://endpoverty-ccyl.blogspot.com/2015/07/sadness-is-underrated-emotion.html

Be Sincere and Find Your Own Voice
Frank Gilbert, English teacher and fellow RESULTS advocate, guides his students in the art of finding their own writing styles. He tells them, (paraphrased) "If anyone ever tells you that they can hear your voice when they read your writing, then you know you have found your genuine writing voice." When I began this blog, my own writing was quite stilted and - frankly - extremely boring. If you don't believe me, you can read my post from 2007 about the Farm Bill. Or - better yet - don't bother unless your having difficulty sleeping and want to be lulled to unconsciousness. Over time, I found that many more people respond to my posts when I write as if I'm writing an email to a friend. Sure, a post should be more strict about grammar (see Weird Al Yankovic's "Word Crimes" if you don't understand why) than your twitter feed. So, be casual while also being correct. Please also accept my apologies for the unintentional typos you may be reading over in this very post. Additionally, when I became more authentic in sharing who I am - a nerdly stay-at-home mom of two - and shared my opinions through that particular perspective, my posts became more interesting to more people.

Like I said, I'm still growing and learning. If you have more pieces of advice for new (or old) bloggers, please share them in the comments. I'd love to hear it!

Image: Book cover

Buy an autographed copy of "From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started" at my website www.changyit.com or order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any independent bookstore!

Advocacy Made Easy: The Town Hall Meeting

Cynthia at a U.S. Senate podium pretending to give a speech.
Photo Credit: Cynthia Changyit Levin

What comes to mind when you think of the words "Town Hall Meeting"? I think of the Town Council scene in the movie "Footloose." I also think of Patton Oswaldt's 100% Improvised Star Wars filibuster on NBC's "Parks and Recreation." (Wait...I have to watch that again...OMG...hilarious genius...) Believe it or not, there is some semblance to reality in those fictional scenes of democracy in that citizens are addressing elected officials in a public forum. Let me answer some questions about what town hall meetings are and offer tips on how you can add them to your advocacy toolbox.

What is a town hall meeting? It's an informal public meeting typically open to everyone and held at a public space like a library, municipal building, or school. "Town Hall" can also simply refer to a format where attendees generally get to voice their opinions and ask questions of elected officials, staff, or election candidates. They might have different names - like, "Kitchen Table Talk", "Constituent Breakfast", or "Listening Session" - but anywhere the public is invited as active participants instead of spectators is generally thought of as a town hall meeting.

When do they happen? Summer is when many U.S. representatives and senators hold them because they come home to the district from Washington D.C. during August recess. Some members of Congress hold weekly "town hall"-type meetings for visiting constituents in Washington D.C. Some have staffers do them throughout the year even in their absence to create another way for constituents to get information to them.

Do people really yell? It's definitely a possibility, but that depends on how many emotional citizens show up. Even then, it's usually not a cinematic mob scene. Yet these types of meetings are where programs like The Daily Show are able to dig up some gems because these meetings are where real, everyday citizens can hold their elected officials accountable for actions in DC. This is democracy at its raw-est (not necessarily finest) form.

Why should I advocate at a town hall meeting? Because you'll make yourself visible to your member of Congress and to your community. You'll build upon your public reputation. Plus, your member of Congress will be giving you an answer on the record in front of the public and possibly the media.

What is the format for taking questions? This varies. Sometimes questioners must line up at microphones. Sometimes a member of Congress will call on people who raise their hands. I was just at one where less than 20 people showed up, so the aide literally went down the rows, front to back, asking each person to state their issue in 2 minutes or less and allow time for the aide to respond to each and every participant. 

With those questions out of the way, here are some general tips of how to advocate at a town hall meeting. Remember, the format will vary, but these are suggestions that apply to most all town hall meetings. For more details, see this guide from www.RESULTS.org that will take you from the first steps of finding out where the meeting is to crafting your message and presenting at the meeting.

• Talk to someone who has attended one before - even an aide. Find out what the format will be and get tips from their experience with your particular member of Congress.

  

  U.S. Senators Durbin and Kirk of Illinois posing with
  Cynthia and her family. Photo Credit: Cynthia Changyit Levin

• Invite friends/allies who will also speak on your issues. With a big crowd, you may want to sit separately and try some crafty birddogging techniques. This is not my specialty, but essentially you have people in different areas in the room forcing the official to come back to a topic even if he/she is trying to evade the issue.
• Show up early. This is about logistics and relationship-building. We showed up early to an Illinois constituent breakfast in DC with our children and BOTH senators made a bee-line to talk to us as soon as they entered the room because they wanted to talk to the cute little girls!
  
  
• Sit up front and wear a logo T-shirt of your org. You want to be noticed and remembered.
• Write down brief, clear remarks on your issue and end with a "yes or no" question. There's nothing wrong with reading from a paper, but be sure to end with asking them to take a clear action.

• 

  Image: A young girl wearing a ONE campaign t-shirt, raising her
  hand excitedly. Photo Credit: Cynthia Changyit Levin

  Raise your hand right away if that is the format for choosing questions. Be "first, fast, and high" and keep it up there! Think Hermoine Granger in Potions class (even though it didn't work out that well for her...that was Hogwarts, not Congress)
• Say something personal about yourself. Give some context for why you personally care about your issue, so other people can see themselves in your shoes. For instance, "I am a mother of young children who cares deeply about their health. When I found out that  1.5 million children - 1 every 20 seconds - die in developing countries because of lack of vaccines, I was horrified."
• Be brief and polite. No one wants to be there all day nor be insulted.
• Focus on story more than statistics. People are much more likely to remember a touching story rather than a bunch of numbers. For example, my colleague told a story he saw on a Gates Foundation video about a woman who personally vaccinated thousands of children and concluded powerfully saying, "She just needs our help to get the vaccines!" If press are present, they might ask you to repeat your story for their news outlet.
• Address the audience as much as you address the member of Congress. If possible, turn your body and have eye contact with some of the audience and the member of Congress as well. Town hall advocacy is public awareness as much as lobbying. You may find like-minded people in the audience who might want to join your group. Or, conversely, you might educate someone who thought they were opposed. 
• Use your loud, clear speaking voice. You want everyone to hear about your issue AND the name of your organization. Now is the time to be bold and be heard. Speak the truth...even if your voice shakes.
• Bring all your printed media and leave behinds. You might be permitted to give a packet to an aide.

Now, because this is a mom-blog, here's the million dollar question:

SHOULD I TAKE MY CHILDREN? Maybe. Ask yourself if your children can easily sit through a religious service without causing a disturbance. Then, think about the time of day, what the venue will be like, and if any controversial adult topics are likely to be shouted about. I did not take my kids to a standing-room-only, evening town hall with my U.S. Representative the year the controversial Affordable Health Care Act was passed and adults did NOT behave like adults.  If I'm pretty sure the town hall has a photo op for everyone, will only last 1 hour, and everyone will behave, I'll bring my kids. I also bribe them with lollipops, which are portable and keep their mouths quietly busy!

Good luck and please leave a comment about your experience if you go to one!

Cynthia smiling and waiting for a town hall meeting to
start. One child looks bored and the other is sticking her
tongue out at the camera.
Photo Credit: Cynthia Changyit Levin

Image: Book cover

Buy an autographed copy of "From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started" at my website www.changyit.com or order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any independent bookstore!

Advocacy Made Easy: Teaching Kids to Write to Congress

How far did you walk for your last drink of water? Was it clean water? Safe to drink? How much water would you drink if you had to walk for hours to fill up a canister for your whole family's daily water supply?

These are questions 4th graders at Park View School in Morton Grove, IL have been pondering for the last few weeks. Guided by their teacher, Debby Schmid, they read A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. It's a great book to introduce elementary school students to some of the challenges their peers in Sudan are facing right now. The story, brilliantly told in alternating sections, tells the tale of two Sudanese eleven-year-olds in different times (2008 and 1985). The fictional girl based on current life in Sudanese children, Nya, spends hours each day carrying water making two trips to a pond every day for her family, deprived of education. The boy, Salva, is a real person...one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" - survivors of Sudanese civil war - who had to flee his country on foot looking for his family and safety. Water is a theme and focus of the book.

Giving some context of how hard it is for a bill to become a law
before showing the SchoolHouse Rock video, "I'm Just a Bill"

My portion of the program came when the students were ready to ask that critical question: "What can WE do to help people have water?" Ms. Schmid and I wanted these gifted youngsters to dive in to make a big difference and also learn some great lessons for both writing and life. We created a field trip to the Morton Grove Public Library to fill up empty water jugs and carry them back. At the library, they would learn about how the U.S. helps people in developing nations gain access to clean water and what our role is as citizens to help make that happen. 

Right now, there's a bill in Congress called the Water for the World Act of 2013. It's an update of an law that directs how U.S. foreign aid helps people in extreme poverty get access to clean water and sanitation. The Water for the World Act of 2005 said we should focus water and sanitation assistance toward the countries, locations, and people with greatest need. Yet countries with the least need receive more funds than those with greatest need. This new bill will help make sure that the people who need the most help will get the most help...without an increase in funding!

With the help of the all-time BEST training video for explaining how a bill becomes a law, the 1975 SchoolHouse Rock "I'm Just A Bill" segment, I showed them that the World Water Act is at the point where we, as citizens, can help it to be passed in the House of Representatives by writing to our U.S. representative and asking her to co-sign the bill.

I taught them the very same method for letter writing that I teach to grown-up RESULTS volunteers. When writing a letter to Congress, it helps to follow this tried and true "EPIC" format to create a clear, effective, one-page handwritten letter. This is what EPIC stands for:

No joke...these kid-letters are gonna be EPIC!

Engage: Grab the reader's attention with a question or a startling statement. You could use a surprising statistic or a question.

Problem: State the problem that you want the reader to address.

Inform (or Illustrate): Inform the reader of the solution or illustrate how the solution can help.

Call to Action: CLEARLY state what you want the reader to do. It's best if you can do it in the form of a question that should be answered with a "yes" or a "no."

This same format can be used to create a "laser talk" or "elevator pitch" for your issue, but in this case, we encouraged the kids to write just one or two sentences for each section to create their letter. I had them tell me about what they learned from reading A Long Walk to Water and watching videos from the Water for South Sudan organization, so that the letters would be truly their own creations.

The kids gave me their own bullet pints to use for the "Problem" portion of the EPIC format.

z

Carrying water through neighborhood streets

I was impressed by these kids asking great questions like "If Jan Schakowksy cares about poverty so much why do we need to write her letters?" (Answer: Because hundreds of bills are introduced every year and even her awesome staff can't keep track of everything!) and "What kind of people wouldn't want to help people get water...evil people?" (Answer: Ummm...more like people that don't fully understand the issue or ones that are worried about running out of money. And evil people, I guess.)

After turning in their letters, we loaded up the kids with their filled water jugs and began the 0.7 mile trek back to school, which took about 20 min. All the kids were very aware this was only a fraction of the distance the children walk in Sudan. The trip in the book took a quarter of the day for a round trip on roads in disrepair that must be travelled barefoot.

I feel compelled to point out that the girls are not sad 

and miserable. They're just looking down at the letters.

Last, but certainly not least, came the step of delivering our letters to the local congressional office of U.S. Representative Jan Schakowksy. It was a simple drop-off appointment, but it does make a big impression to hand over 22 letters from school children. I would be very surprised if we don't hear from her office very soon! 

Here was our outline for the program for anyone who would like to duplicate this program in their school:

• Walk to the library with empty jugs
• Explain the role of an advocate or activist 
• Talk about what it's like to meet with members of Congress
• Explain what a bill is and the difficult process for it to become a law
• Show SchoolHouse Rock "I'm Just a Bill" video
• Tell them about the World Water Act and explain where their letters fit in the process
• Explain where we are in the process and that they will be writing letters
• Teach the EPIC format of letter writing
• Have them tell me their own talking points they've learned and write them on the board that they can use in their letters.
• Pass out an example handwritten by a child
• Have kids write their own short letters
• Fill bottles of water
• Take pictures to send to parents and Congresswoman
• Walk back to school

Please take a moment to write your own letter to your representative about the World Water Act using this website for talking points and a sample letter! If you take on this program at your school, I'd love to hear about it. Please leave a comment with your experience. Good luck!

Image: Book cover

Buy an autographed copy of "From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started" at my website www.changyit.com or order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any independent bookstore!

Advocacy Made Easy: The Call-In Action

Tongue-tied with pounding heart. Approaching my phone like it was some sort of uber-important Bat-phone under glass...

That's was me the first time I called my member of Congress. I think I was afraid that someone on the other end was going to challenge or berate me for speaking up. But guess what? That never happened. Calling Congress is funny because it is is actually No Big Deal in the actual doing of it, but it can have profound effects on public policy. Read on and I will spare you from the stress I once felt! Let's demystify the "call-in" action and make it more fun by looking at five things I've learned from years of calling in...

1. It's SUPER easy
Even though I was a tad freaked out the first time I did it, these days I usually call Congress while I'm Mommy Multitasking...doing laundry, making lunch, whatever. To show how easy it really is, I made a video in 2011 when there was a call-in day about an issue that seemed very complicated. I wanted to show that the heart of the issue was simple and it was easy to call in about it. Here are my slightly-staged scenarios with my daughter years ago with very real phone calls.

Click here to see how I called in to fight poverty while making a birthday cake with my 4 year old.

Then, click here to see how we called Congress while playing Candyland! Whee!

2. You won't be talking to a member of Congress
Relax! The person picking up the phone is likely a staffer who doesn't know very much about your issue. The job of that person is to politely take your message, write it down, and get your name (maybe your address to confirm you are a constituent). They're taking a tally of opinions. That might seem minor, but given that not many people usually bother to call in, even 10 phone calls on the same issue on the same day can be very significant!

3. Get some help to simplify the issue
If you're working with a classy group like RESULTS or Bread for the World, they'll have talking points with all the info you need. Any advocacy organization worth it's salt will provide you with bullet points and a sample script that you can customize yourself.  Action sheets and websites simplify the issue and walk you through the steps of the call with a script.

4. You can totally use notes!
(Pssst) You're on a phone. This is not Skype. They can't see you! Here's a secret I've never told anyone before, but I'm sharing with the world for the first time here...I write my name at the top of my paper. Yes. I am literally reading when I say my name. C'mon...if I can't say my own name credibly, how do you think the rest of the call would go? Using a cheat sheet is not cheating.

5. Calling can be more fun with friends
Remember how I said that even 10 phone calls on the same issue together can make a difference? Have a little call-in party. Each call only lasts 2 minutes, so you could fit 5 people in on a short coffee break. Heck, if there is a line at Starbucks you might have your call done by the time your barista hands you your latte!

6. You can leave a message

If you are feeling totally freaked out by talking to a stranger you can’t see, it’s okay. I have a trick for you. All you have to do is call after normal working hours. When I hold training sessions for new advocates, it’s usually in the evening or on the weekends and I can see how relieved my new recruits feel when they are assured that a real person will not pick up and talk to them on their first call. Talking to an aide in real time does have more impact, but is still effective to leave a message. A real human will listen to those messages and log your opinion.

There you go! To make it even easier, here's a sample of a bare bones call for a current global education action. You can add flowery language around it and drag it out for 20-30 more seconds, but this is generally how it goes:

Aide: Hello. Congressman Clay's office. 
Me: Hi, I'm a constituent with a message for the Congressman.
Aide: Go ahead, please.
Me: I'd like him to support HR 2780, the Education for All Act to help all children around the world have access to education.
Aide: Thank you, may I have your zip code?
Me: 63104
Aide: Thank you. Have a good day.
Me: Thank you. You, too.

Tah-dah! Not so bad, is it? Now, give it a try! Use this website to find your U.S. Representative if you don't know who it is, then use the script above to take action for the 57 million primary-school age kids in the world with no access to education. Here's an action sheet from RESULTS to learn more about it before you call, but for the mechanics of the call itself, you have everything you need.

Before you know it you'll be simultaneously folding laundry and changing the world like all the cool mom-advocates. Pick up the phone and save the world!

Image: Book cover

Buy an autographed copy of "From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started" at my website www.changyit.com or order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any independent bookstore!