What is Deep Canvassing?

Deep canvassing is a tactic that can be used to break through to voters in a challenging landscape, such as when confronting a controversial topic, a polarized issue, or a saturated communications environment. Rigorous experiments have found that deep canvassing may generate larger and longer-lasting impacts on voters’ core attitudes than other methods.

Deep canvasses are candid two-way conversations where canvassers ask voters to share voters’ own relevant, emotionally significant experiences and reflect on them aloud. The theory behind deep canvassing is that by getting voters to share and reflect on these experiences, they will realize for themselves that these experiences conflict with the underlying assumptions that animate their opinions and behaviors, leading them to change these assumptions.

To elicit such experiences and encourage such reflection, deep canvassing requires canvassers to:

• Non-judgmentally solicit voters’ views. Make voters feel comfortable stating their views.
• Listen actively. Ask follow-up questions about voters’ experiences to solicit details.
• Model vulnerability. Canvassers may tell their stories to facilitate voters sharing theirs.
• Connect on values. Canvassers and voters develop a connection based on experiences that reinforce an important value relevant to the issue.

Not all canvasses are "deep canvasses." Deep canvassing involves more than having a long, high-quality interaction with a voter. What sets deep canvassing apart is the focus on having voters share and reflect on their significant life experiences, causing them to self-persuade.