We all know that phone banking can be one of the least pleasant ways to contact voters. If someone is going to be nasty to you, it will probably be while you’re speaking to them over the phone.

It is always easier for voters to be more rude to “a faceless entity that called them for the express and sole purpose of ruining their evening,” then it is for them scream at a respectful volunteer at their door. Arm yourself with the basic facts of a good phone bank and you’ll bypass a world of hurt. Here are a few tips for both the volunteer and the one who is trying not to lose his volunteers after one night of phone calls.

For the Campaign Volunteer

1. Be natural. People are much less likely to hang up if it is obvious you are not a recording.

2. Don’t ramble. Keep it short and be mindful that the voter has other things to do today.

3. Smile. Believe it or not, you can hear a smile, and smiling is scientifically proven to make you feel happier.

4. Don’t get offended.  Even when the people you talk to are rude, you don’t know what is going on in their lives. I have talked to a man whose wife had died that morning. He didn’t want to talk about Obamacare.

5. Make it a real conversation. The less it feels like you are trying to get something from them the better.

For the Campaign Staffer

1. Always provide snacks. Everyone needs comfort food after phone banking.

2. Don’t minimize the volunteers’ experiences. To the uninitiated, phone banking can be daunting. Encourage them with your own experiences, and if you don’t have any, pick up the phone and get some.

3. Don’t waste your volunteers’ time. It is always a good policy to have good lists (read more about Voter Gravity’s integrated phone banking) and lists ready ahead of time sitting in reserve.

4. Don’t “over motivate” your volunteers. A regular volunteer who doesn’t make quite as many calls as possible in an hour is better than a one time volunteer you pushed along and frustrated them.

5. Make it fun. The best way I saw a staffer motivate young volunteers was a game called “Phone Bingo” where they filled out bingo cards as they made calls. (Bonus tip: Give other incentives such as gift cards to the individual who makes the most calls or dividing the phone bankers into teams and buying lunch for the team who makes the most calls in an hour.)