Nothing beats an in-person experience. It’s why we go to concerts and hike the Grand Canyon and eat at restaurants even when we’re perfectly good home cooks (some of us, anyway). That goes for talking to your elected officials, too.

In 2015, the Congressional Management Foundation interviewed congressional staff about what constituents (that’s you) should do to make an impact. A whopping 94% of them said that “in-person visits from constituents” would have some or a lot of influence on a lawmaker who was undecided on an issue.

Letters, emails, and phone calls are still great – keep those up! But if you can make the time, a sit-down meeting reminds your elected officials that you’re a real live human with concerns worth caring about. And good news for Zoom lovers: most officials happily schedule online meetings and they work just great.

Here’s how to get that meeting.