Deep Canvassing

What it is

A structured one-on-one conversation, usually 10 to 20 minutes at a doorstep, in which the canvasser does very little persuading and a lot of listening, sharing their own story, and inviting the person to reach their own conclusion.

Deep canvassing was developed by LGBTQ+ rights organizers (including the LGSM tradition and groups like the Los Angeles LGBT Center). It has been refined and scaled by People's Action and rigorously researched by political scientists David Broockman and Josh Kalla, who found that deep canvass conversations produce significant, durable opinion shifts that other tactics don't.

Why it works

A standard canvass is a pitch. The canvasser shows up with a script designed to get a particular result. Most people receiving that pitch tune out within a sentence.

A deep canvass interrupts that pattern. The canvasser asks a question, then listens. They share their own story (often vulnerable, often connected to the issue). They invite the person to think aloud, without judgment. They don't argue. The person at the doorstep does the work of reconsidering their own position, in their own time, in their own words.

The mechanism is something like emotional contagion plus genuine inquiry. The conversation makes the abstract issue personal and the personal issue political.

What you need

• Time: 10 to 20 minutes per conversation. 2 to 4 hours of training before a first canvass. 20 to 40 conversations a week is a sustainable pace.
• People: Trained canvassers. Ideally from or close to the affected community.
• Space: Doorsteps, phone calls, or video calls.
• Materials: A flexible conversation framework (not a rigid script). Canvasser's personal story prepared. Tracking sheet for follow-up.
• Skills: Active listening, storytelling, emotional intelligence, comfort with discomfort, patience.
• Energy level: High. Emotionally and intellectually demanding.

How to host it

1. Get trained. Don't try to run a deep canvass program without training. People's Action, Deep Canvass Institute, and other organizations offer it. The training is the difference between a deep canvass and an awkward one.
2. Prepare your personal story. Each canvasser develops a story related to the issue (e.g., on housing: a story about their own experience with home, displacement, or family). Practice telling it in two minutes.
3. Open with a soft introduction and a rating. "Hi, I'm [name], I'm here with [org] to have a conversation about [issue]. On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you feel about [position]?" Most canvassers do not lead with the position they support.
4. Ask open questions. "What makes you say that?" "What's your experience been with this?" "Has anyone in your life dealt with this?" Listen genuinely. Take notes if appropriate.
5. Share your story. When the moment is right, offer your own. Connect to what the person has just said. Vulnerable, specific, brief.
6. Invite reflection. "Given all that, where are you now on that 1 to 10 scale?" If they have shifted, ask what shifted. If they haven't, ask what would change their mind, and listen.
7. Don't argue. If they reach a different conclusion than you'd want, thank them for the conversation. The research consistently shows that not pushing produces more durable shifts than pushing does.
8. Follow up. A note, a text, a return visit days or weeks later. The follow-up reinforces any shift and deepens the relationship.

Variations

Phone canvass. Works, though requires more verbal skill since you can't read body language.

Video canvass. Some organizations have moved to video for accessibility, weather, and safety. Less embodied than door-to-door but more sustainable in some contexts.

Listening canvass. A version that does no asking on a position at all, just deep listening on what matters to people. Often used as the first wave of a campaign.

Internal deep canvass. Some unions and organizations use the method internally, among members, to surface real concerns and shift internal dynamics.

Stories from neighborhoods

The method was developed by LGBTQ+ rights organizers working on ballot campaigns. After Proposition 8 passed in California in 2008, organizers wondered if they had been canvassing wrong. They started experimenting with longer, more vulnerable conversations. Early studies suggested significant durable shifts.

Broockman and Kalla's research published in *Science* (2016) provided rigorous evidence: deep canvass conversations produced lasting opinion changes on transgender rights that conventional canvassing did not. Subsequent research has replicated these findings on immigration, housing, and other issues.

People's Action has scaled deep canvassing across multiple campaigns and trained thousands of canvassers. The method is now in use across the country on housing, immigration, racial justice, climate, and electoral campaigns.

Where to learn more

• The Institute: Deep Canvass Institute
• People's Action: peoplesaction.org/deep-canvass
• The research: David Broockman and Joshua Kalla, "Durably reducing transphobia: A field experiment on door-to-door canvassing," *Science* (2016)
• Adjacent recipes: [Relational Organizing](./relational-organizing.md), [Living Room Conversations](./circles-usa.md)

Details

• steps: **Get trained.** Don't try to run a deep canvass program without training. [People's Action](https://peoplesaction.org/deep-canvass/), [Deep Canvass Institute](https://www.deepcanvass.org/), and other organizations offer it. The training is the difference between a deep canvass and an awkward one., **Prepare your personal story.** Each canvasser develops a story related to the issue (e.g., on housing: a story about their own experience with home, displacement, or family). Practice telling it in two minutes., **Open with a soft introduction and a rating.** "Hi, I'm [name], I'm here with [org] to have a conversation about [issue]. On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you feel about [position]?" Most canvassers do not lead with the position they support., **Ask open questions.** "What makes you say that?" "What's your experience been with this?" "Has anyone in your life dealt with this?" Listen genuinely. Take notes if appropriate., **Share your story.** When the moment is right, offer your own. Connect to what the person has just said. Vulnerable, specific, brief., **Invite reflection.** "Given all that, where are you now on that 1 to 10 scale?" If they have shifted, ask what shifted. If they haven't, ask what would change their mind, and listen., **Don't argue.** If they reach a different conclusion than you'd want, thank them for the conversation. The research consistently shows that not pushing produces more durable shifts than pushing does., **Follow up.** A note, a text, a return visit days or weeks later. The follow-up reinforces any shift and deepens the relationship.
• file path: recipes/05-bridging-difference/deep-canvassing.md
• variations: **Phone canvass.** Works, though requires more verbal skill since you can't read body language. **Video canvass.** Some organizations have moved to video for accessibility, weather, and safety. Less embodied than door-to-door but more sustainable in some contexts. **Listening canvass.** A version that does no asking on a position at all, just deep listening on what matters to people. Often used as the first wave of a campaign. **Internal deep canvass.** Some unions and organizations use the method internally, among members, to surface real concerns and shift internal dynamics.
• ingredients: {"time":"10 to 20 minutes per conversation. 2 to 4 hours of training before a first canvass. 20 to 40 conversations a week is a sustainable pace.","space":"Doorsteps, phone calls, or video calls.","people":"Trained canvassers. Ideally from or close to the affected community.","skills":"Active listening, storytelling, emotional intelligence, comfort with discomfort, patience.","materials":"A flexible conversation framework (not a rigid script). Canvasser's personal story prepared. Tracking sheet for follow-up.","energy_level":"High. Emotionally and intellectually demanding."}
• where to learn more: - The Institute: [Deep Canvass Institute](https://www.deepcanvass.org/) - People's Action: [peoplesaction.org/deep-canvass](https://peoplesaction.org/deep-canvass/) - The research: David Broockman and Joshua Kalla, "Durably reducing transphobia: A field experiment on door-to-door canvassing," *Science* (2016) - Adjacent recipes: [Relational Organizing](./relational-organizing.md), [Living Room Conversations](./circles-usa.md)
• stories from neighborhoods: The method was developed by **LGBTQ+ rights organizers** working on ballot campaigns. After Proposition 8 passed in California in 2008, organizers wondered if they had been canvassing wrong. They started experimenting with longer, more vulnerable conversations. Early studies suggested significant durable shifts. **Broockman and Kalla's research** published in *Science* (2016) provided rigorous evidence: deep canvass conversations produced lasting opinion changes on transgender rights that conventional canvassing did not. Subsequent research has replicated these findings on immigration, housing, and other issues. **People's Action** has scaled deep canvassing across multiple campaigns and trained thousands of canvassers. The method is now in use across the country on housing, immigration, racial justice, climate, and electoral campaigns.