Tips for an Effective Meeting with Your Public Official
Equality Illinois – LGBTQ+ Advocacy Day 2025

Effective meetings with your public official: 

  • When the House and Senate convene, go to the Rail (third floor of the State Capitol) and request legislators by submitting your card to the doorkeepers.
  • Involve personal stories and data 
  • Consist of 3-4 people. Don’t get too big or the meeting could become unwieldy and unmanageable. Before your meeting: 
    • Write down what you want to say and practice. 
    • You don’t have to be the issue expert 
    • Sketch a compelling personal story about why you support or oppose a particular policy or position. 

Your personal story should: 

  • Connect with values 
  • Share something personal about your life or someone close to you 
  • Have a connection to the elected official or their district or community 
  • Make a case for the elected official to share your position on the policy item
During the Visit  After the Visit
  • Introduce yourself. 
  • Try to start on a positive note by finding common ground. For example, if your legislator recently voted in support of a pro-equality issue, thank them. 
  • Tell a compelling personal story. Explain how the legislation affects you, your family.
  • During session, watch the action from the gallery on the 4th floor
  • Send a thank you letter to the legislator for meeting with you and to remind them of the conversation and your ask. 
  • Maintain ongoing communication with legislators and their staff through letters, calls, and visits.

DO 

DON’T
• Do feel like the expert of your own story and experiences. 

• Do learn the legislators’ position and ask why they take that position. 

• Do show openness to the knowledge of counterarguments and respond to them. 

• Do admit when you don't know. Offer to try to find the answer and send information to their office. 

• Do spend time with legislators whose position is opposite ours. You can decrease the intensity of the opposition and perhaps change it. 

• Do spend time in developing relationships with the legislative staff.

 • Don’t feel like you have to be the policy expert on an issue. 

• Don’t overload a legislative visit with too many issues. 

• Don’t confront, threaten, pressure, or beg. 

• Don’t be argumentative. Speak with calmness and commitment so as not to put the legislator on the defensive. 

• Don’t expect legislators to be specialists. 

• Don’t make promises you can’t deliver.

• Don’t be afraid to take a stand on the issues. 

• Don’t shy away from meetings with legislators with known views. opposite your own. 

• Don’t be offended if a legislator is unable to meet and requests that you meet with their staff.
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