The Maine State Legislature is back in session, and with that comes an incredible opportunity for citizens to get their voices heard. I ended up testifying earlier this week on a bill, and it reminded me that it’s kind of a daunting process. It had been over a year since I had testified during a committee hearing, though I have submitted written testimony within the last year. It was my first time testifying over Zoom rather than going to Augusta, and that was a little intimidating, too.

However, with Zoom video conferencing being possible for committee hearings, it’s now more accessible than ever for people to submit testimony. Citizens can save hours of driving time to Augusta if they know when the committee hearings are happening and how to register to testify.

Any legislator will tell you how valuable it is to hear directly from the citizens and those people a proposed bill is actually affecting. This week I want to share a few tips I’ve learned on testifying, help to demystify the process a bit and help you get your message through. Making your voice heard isn’t easy, and it takes a bit of courage. However, if you have strong opinions on a bill and how it will affect Mainers, it’s also your duty to share that opinion.

The first thing to know is what bills are having public hearings and when those meetings are. There are three ways to do that. The most common way is check out the Maine Sunday Telegram, Bangor Daily News Weekend Edition or Lewiston Sunday Sun Journal. Each weekend, they will post committee public hearing schedules with the bill titles for the upcoming week or two. Another way to find them is to go to the State of Maine website. If you go to maine.gov, you can find a link to the different branches of government on the middle of the page — click on “Legislature.” This takes you to legislature.maine.gov, where you can search committee schedules, search by bill number (usually called an LD for “Legislative Document”) or you can submit testimony. The final way to find out is to call the Maine Legislative Information Office at 287-1692 or 1-800-301-3178.

Once you have the bill name and number, you need to find out what committee is holding the public hearing. Sometimes the bill may seem obvious — a labor law goes to the Labor Committee, an environmental bill goes to the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee. However, I testified on a bill about raffles for charitable organizations, and that fell under the Veterans and Legal Affairs committee, which wasn’t as obvious.

However, let’s assume you have located the bill number, the public hearing time and what committee it’s on (if you’re still having trouble, Google “Maine Legislature how to testify”). There are three ways you can testify: in person in the committee room, online over Zoom or you can submit written testimony. As I’ve said, Zoom is a revelation as it allows for much more access and is a great way to get your voice heard. However, to testify in person or online over Zoom, you need to register more than 30 minutes prior to the meeting. Some committees may allow you to testify without that pre-registration, but to guarantee your spot, you should register.

To register to testify, go to the legislature.maine.gov page (again start at maine.gov, and click on the “Legislature” link). If you scroll down, you’ll see a “Submit Testimony” link (this is also where you register to testify). It will ask you for the committee, then the LD bill you’re testifying on, and then your name and hometown or organization you represent. There is also a link to submit written testimony.

So, what way to testify is best? Honestly, they are all good, but human nature gives us this answer, too. Take this out of politics for a second — what if there was a new restaurant in town? If someone wrote you an email about the restaurant saying how good it was, that might persuade you to go. If someone called you and told you about a great trip they had to the restaurant, you may be more inclined to go. However, if you had friends over to the house and they were raving in person about the restaurant, you would certainly be persuaded to try it. It’s hard to beat in-person, but that isn’t realistic for everyone.

A big reason why in-person is hard is because these hearings can take a long time. I was in a committee hearing where I testified that began at 11 a.m. We were the fifth of five public hearings. I testified at 3:08 p.m. Many citizens can’t wait around for four hours to testify — fortunately, I could have it on the background while I worked at my desk.

When it came my turn to testify, I went from an attendee on Zoom to being a panelist so I could be heard and seen. I said my piece, but it is nerve-wracking. I have been in over 50 community theater shows over the last 20 years, and I’ve given hundreds of presentations in my career. I’ve probably spoken in public well over 1,000 times, and I was still nervous. It’s intimidating, but it’s so very worth it.

Here are a few things that we will get into more next week about testifying: Many of the legislators are not experts in all subject matter. Remember, we have a citizen Legislature; many of these people are business leaders, retired professionals, former schoolteachers and more. Like all of us, they have areas they are experts in, but they can’t be experts in everything, so your insights really help. Another key piece to this is fitting what you want to say into three minutes. How do you use that time wisely? We will go over that and much more next week.

Cory King is executive director of the Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber of Commerce.