I’m a little disenchanted with TED Talks these days, because I think most of them could be reduced to a sentence, if not a phrase, that I could understand in 10 seconds rather than wasting 15 minutes of my life waiting for some Tediot to get to the point. But here is an interesting one about how to write a letter to an elected official. First, it says to use an actual pen. Second, it says that politicians are not rational, moral creatures, and you have to understand their interests and then cater to them. It recommends these steps:

1. Show appreciation for the politician, if not the person then at least the complexity and difficulty of their job.
2. Don’t pull punches in stating your position, but avoid personal attacks.
3. Explain that other people are giving them bad information about the issue. Then give them the good information you think they need.
4. Offer to provide them with lots of additional good information in the future.
5. Sign with lots of titles and credentials.
6. Send the original to the district office and cc the main office (something about the main office might ask the district office for the original and it might get more attention, don’t know if I buy this).