Brave and Gracious Conversations

This workshop helps participants learn and practice skills to hold constructive conversations (one-on-one) around potentially divisive issues.

The four key skills are:

1. Boundary setting (Skill 1)

2. Listen - clarify - acknowledge - repeat (Skill 2)

3. Signal a turn (Skill 3)

4. Share your experience/perspective (Skill 4)

5. repeat steps 2-4

These listening and speaking skills, once learned, should be practiced in real life, not expecting that you can persuade the other person to change core attitudes and beliefs; not assuming you and your conversation partner will agree on the same set of facts and logic; and not expecting your conversation partner to match your openness.

However, we do know that respect, curiosity, and openness tend to elicit the same from the other person; no one likes to be portrayed as stupid, blind, narrowly self-serving, or bigoted; and most people in a relationship have some common values and concerns that can be unearthed.