How to Have Civil Conversations In Tense Times

Listen to the episode!

Show Notes:

I believe that most people are generous and decent and want to connect with others. Even in our politically-charged world, I don't think most people set out to spur arguments and hostile word wars.

And yet, at the same time, most of us hold very deep beliefs about the world and our own views of right and wrong.

This makes it easy to feel offense and jump to quick conclusions about people when they say something we don't agree with.

It’s easy to consider others as lesser, because they are not up to par with our own vision and understandings of the world. This leads to a predicament called violent agreement, in which both sides of a conversation become oblivious to their common ground because they're so focused on their differences. 

Learning how to keep your calm even in tense, charged and important conversations will serve you well in all areas of life. 

So, let’s all be civil, shall we? This is episode number four in our mini-series "Understanding Misunderstandings". I can't wait to teach you how to recognize dangerous conversation patterns so that you can turn them around for healthy disucssion!

In this episode:

• Learning about “violent agreement” (1:24)

• My experience with violent agreement (5:06)

• How to practice civility (10:50)

• Reading from “Braving the Wilderness” by Brené Brown (16:15)

Watch the video if you want it to feel like story time! And, check out the blog for more details about the book, and using civility to your best benefit. 

To hear more about speaking with integrity in the world of creative, female leaders, subscribe to the Feminine Foresight podcast!