Adam Barbanel-fried believes in the strength of personal connections. As a director of a non -profit that changes the conversation for progress, he focuses on the training of “deep canvas”.
“We really try to connect with voters openly, without judgment and by telling and calling personal stories,” he said. “We combine emotionally in this very open space, and then we are able to conduct a much more influential conversation. And this was shown in randomized control tests as the most effective form of persuasion of voters that has ever been measured.”
Barbanel-fried volunteers accept a unique approach. While classic canvases often reach out in the last few weeks of political campaign to quick, transactional conversations, said CTC volunteers focus on year -round, sensitive and open conversations.
“Deep acquisition is a completely different approach,” he said. “He is face to face. It is a form of involvement of voters in which we try to make contact with people genuinely and sensitive and, unlike attempts to approach people who may not see the value of voting or engaging in politics or your perspective. We really do not try to approach them with the goal of reason or rationalization or argumentation or passing through issues.”
Strategy
CTC introduced to the market in 2017 in order to connect with voters at Staten Island, New York CANVASSERS GROUP He focused his efforts on Max RoseDemocrat applying for a place in the American Chamber of Representatives. Barbanel-fried said that the goal at that time was to conduct a “inseparable” dialogue on controversial topics.
Rose won the district, which voted for President Trump in 2016.
“For the first time, Staten Island rejected in the middle of the period, and this story became viral and we were invited to Pennsylvania,” he said. “We were pleased to be invited because we knew that we wanted to take advantage of CTC efforts in an important part of the country. There are several key areas in the country that constantly see these very close choices.”
The group began deep acquisitions in Pennsylvania before the elections in 2020. They continued the canvas in Philadelphia before the elections in 2022 and 2024, focusing on areas such as West Philly-where Barbanel fried said that the effects of political decisions are often felt.
“After previous elections, this year, we really started talking to people about Medicaid cuts and other social services,” he said. “In the last series of years we have had a acquisition in West Philly, and the influence that people in districts such as Western Philadelphia or Philadelphia will feel, i.e. all neighborly communities with lower income throughout the country, is huge, and yet there is such a huge universe of people who do not know, or if they know, they do not know how serious it is.”
In the 2024 election, the group meant that voters to support the presidential candidate Kamal Harris. The group did not focus on changing the sentences of people, if they were set to vote, said Barbanel, but lend a hand in educating residents about politics and encouraging hidden to register to vote.
Fried Barbanel remembered the example of the group’s efforts in an interview with a woman named Faith sitting on the porch with a partner in West Philadelphia.
The conversation often begins with testing the resident’s readiness to vote.
“I told her:” How likely is you voting on a zero scale of 10? ” – he said. “And she said:” Probably four. ” Four, of course, are a very petite chance. And Faith says: “Well, I’m not really involved in politics.” Then I, like this, like each of our canvas, start telling a personal story. ”
He said that the group is trained in avoiding lectures or lists of facts because it is not very effective.
“One of the options is just to jump on the lecture and say,” That’s why you have to vote, “he said. “But we believe that it doesn’t work. Nobody likes to be lectured. The reason why people do or do not do things, this is not a rational thing.”
Stories are often unconventional, said Barbanel fried, but they have one common topic-love. In this situation, he chose a story about the thrilling present he received from his wife.
“One summer I came home and it was my birthday and there was no one,” he said. “She sent me this wonderful gift that was handmade. The packaging itself was so complicated, with streamers, drawings, poetry and songs and just very solemn things. I was very surprised. It meant a lot to me.”
The point is that sharing this kind of personal story and demonstrating sensitivity can lend a hand others feel more related to you.
“This is a kind of universally related history, and Faith said,” It’s really sweet, “he said. “And I asked her:” What about you? Who are the people you love? “And she told me about her sister and began to open the story of her sister, who really appeared for her right after her mother’s death. ”
Fried Barbanel shared that he saw faith valued “caring for others” in challenging times. Then he moved the conversation back to politics.
“I told her:” And that’s what I think about politics is basically. There is a world of people who tell it. We don’t care about happiness, but I think that people like you, me and most people in the world, care about ourselves. ” ”
He said that the exchange ended in faith, saying that he was now 10 when it comes to the likelihood of voting.
Elizabeth Eagles, a volunteer from CTC, conversations that Canvassers invite “authenticity”, not the script.
“In the types of conversations we conduct, deep acquisition leads with your humanity, not a specific program, in a way that really encourages an authentic conversation with someone,” she said.
Eagles came to CTC with more classic experience in the acquisition. She said that the elastic nature of the organization’s approach distinguishes her from other acquisition methods.
“Unlike most of the acquisitions that I did in the past, where you were really attached to the” knocking “list, as if you wanted to talk to a precise person who was on your list, CTC actually encourages you to start a conversation, if you meet someone on the street, so this is a kind of more organic approach,” she said.
Hit
The organization also has measured influence his efforts. In 2020 and 2022, voters with whom CTC spoke voted at rates 10-15% higher than their neighbors.
In 2024, the voting indicators of people who were deeply rooted by CTC were 22% higher than the voting indicators of their comparable neighbors.
Barbanel-fried said that the group’s goal is not to change the minds of voters. If the voter is already set in voting or does not want to get involved, he learns canvas.
“There are people who have been quite burned in life or have really become very cynical towards the world,” he said. “And who I am to assess that there is a world of people who do not see it like us and my goal is not to convince someone I can’t convince. But there is a world of people. And I would say that I would say and I would say [those who are hateful or hostile] They are not a majority. I would say they are a small minority of the people we meet. ”
He said that deep canvases learn to play roles and set solutions in real time.
The group is currently taking monthly sessions with the acquisition in West Philly, Eagles released. Five -bed groups or six canvas will go out in pairs to knock on the door and talk to people on the street in various districts. The work also has the benefits of canvas.
“It does not seem to me completely natural, as an introvert, knock on someone’s door or stop someone on the street, but I think it is important to overcome my discomfort and just press, because there is really such magic that can happen, because you are involved in this kind of radical act of sensitivity, opening to a stranger, and then keep the space to share what is important for them and their life,” she said.
Eagles said that she was often surprised how strangers could be welcome, remembering the thrilling conversation she had recently conducted.
“I saw a young woman walking on the street and started walking next to her,” she said. “Her body language was quite closed, and she did not really give me, but I finally talked about my daughters who are 13 and 11 years elderly and how I really feel responsible for the world in which they grow up.
“I felt her body language softened to me and she said,” I have a daughter too. ” And then she really listened and told me about her daughter. “
Eagles said that the group would continue monthly acquisitions, even out of election season. As the election season approaches, increased efforts will appear.
Eagles is a believer in this approach and felt that this is a positive force in the election in 2024.
“Speaking of love and sharing stories about people we care about, and in a sense distinguishing between the choices we had in the presidential election, I think that it helped people recognize and say” I intend to vote, “she said. “This is an act of hope. It is an act of resistance.”
