INDIANAPOLIS -- No matter what side of the aisle you fall on, it's important to contact your representatives in government about issues you feel strongly about.
Those in power may not know how their constituents feel about a certain bill or upcoming vote unless you go through the effort of actually telling them.
In November, a woman named Emily Ellsworth detailed the best ways to get your politicians to listen to you.
Ellsworth worked for two Utah representatives as a liaison between people and the agencies they wanted to talk to, according to CNN.
The first step is to find out who your politicians are. Begin by clicking here, and entering your address. The website will tell you who your state senator, state representative, U.S. representative and U.S. senators are. You can also find their office phone numbers and addresses.
Ellsworth said tweeting or writing on Facebook doesn't help your cause, because those comments are so easy to ignore. Sending a letter or email works, but it's impossible for the staffers to read and respond to all the letters.
First, tweeting or writing on Facebook is largely ineffective. I never looked at those comments except to remove the harassing ones.
— Emily Ellsworth (@editoremilye) November 12, 2016
You need to find a way to get somebody from the office to actually talk to you, meaning a phone call is best.
"That was a thing that shook up our office from time to time," she said on Twitter.
Ellsworth said if a politician's staffers start getting a pattern of calls on the same issue, they would talk to other staffers about it, to see if they were getting the same.
No matter how fired up you are about an issue, be sure to remember a very important tip for reaching your politicians (and in life): Be kind.
Read Ellsworth's full list of tips below.
