Event Details - Don’t Hate….Communicate! - How to discuss the election and stay friendly

With the election approaching and polarization increasing, many people do not know how to have a civil conversation with others who might disagree with them. This unfortunate state undermines democracy and creates unproductive tension in relationships.

This 2 session workshop - one skills training and one follow up to monitor progress - will be based on best practice principles of dialogue. Participants will learn a method of approaching a conversation that emphasizes listening, empathy, vulnerability, and courage. 

Participants will be taught a modification of conversational management strategy called the REACH Method, created by The Dialogue Company’s Dr. David Campt and promoted in the handbook: Compassion Transforms Contempt. In that book this method - based on universal dialogue principles - is presented as a strategy that progressive people can use to influence conservative people. For the Wesleyan setting, the universal dialogue principles will be emphasized, allowing participants of any ideological persuasion to benefit from the method and the conversations with people who might disagree with them.