I highly encourage everyone to carry a petition with them everywhere! It’s easier than you think. After all, I’m a shy person and I can do it.

Most people who know me find my shyness surprising, because I tend to be overly talkative in social situations with those I know well. When I first got involved in political activism, I struggled with canvassing and gathering petition signatures. It was not at all natural for me to just approach someone I didn’t know and strike up a conversation with them.

It’s easy to give in to apathy or fear and sink into the background. Don’t let that happen! To help motivate you, I’m busting three of the most common myths specific to political canvassing and petitioning.

(1) It’s such a big commitment; I don’t have time!

You don’t have to spend the whole day scoping out the neighborhood for registered voters. Every little chunk of signatures adds up! It only took me 45 minutes to get 14 signatures on a college campus yesterday, even after encountering a lot of people who were ineligible to sign. If someone is ineligible or just doesn’t want to talk to you, simply move on. It only takes a few seconds to ask the initial question. I think with a little practice and a well-selected location, anyone can gather 25 signatures in an hour. My first time petitioning, I got about 20 in an hour.

(2) It’s a waste of time, and people don’t care about politics.

You never know who you will meet when you have a spare moment to chat. I wasn’t even planning to gather signatures yesterday! I carry my petitions with me everywhere so that I never miss an opportunity to get a signature. Even if you just get 1 person to sign today in the parking lot or at the coffee shop, that’s 1 more than you had before. Plus, they might turn out to be a really cool person! Maybe their values align with yours and they want to help support your cause beyond just signing for you. (Or maybe they don’t, which is fine too.) Yesterday, I met a really cool dude who was registering students to vote, and we had a great conversation about progressive politics and systemic change!

(3) I’m bad at talking to people.

Communication is a skill like any other: it takes some practice, and some people are naturally more talented than others. Everyone is capable of developing their own communication skills. Gathering petition signatures is a great way to practice and prepare for future door-knocking, canvassing, etc. Sure, it can be scary to talk to strangers. Talk to strangers anyway! If they say no and walk away, it’s fine… you’ll probably never see them again, so whatever. If the first few people you talk to aren’t exactly warm and fuzzy about it, that’s fine. That’s normal. People get uncomfortable when it comes to politics. But trust me, once you have a great conversation with another activist who is actually invested in what you have to say and what your cause means to you, it is SO, SO rewarding. That might not happen on your first canvassing outing. Keep trying anyway.

With a little practice, I’ve become an expert petition gatherer (if I do say so myself!) If you want to get involved in politics or a specific social movement, one of the best ways is to hit the pavement and help spread the word. Help your local candidates gather petition signatures. Go door-knocking to inform your community about important issues and ways they can make a difference.