Dialogue Across Differences

Real, effective communication is vital, especially when differences threaten to cause division. This workshop equips participants with tools to foster understanding and connection, both in work settings and in your personal life. It provides intentional communication techniques to build trust, enhance resilience, and communicate with kind confidence, creating opportunities for learning and mutual acceptance.

Overview

Diversity within groups creates rich areas of discovery and greater understanding, but sometimes these differences can devolve into distrust, animosity and separation. In these cases, both sides lose the opportunity to learn from one another and co-create a deeper relationship based on mutual understanding and acceptance.

Dialogue Across Differences explores the basic theory and practice of a relationship-centered approach to dialogue about connection and curiosity. This intentional communication process can help individuals, organizations and communities build trust and enhance resilience for addressing future challenges. These methods encourage full participation, active listening, empathy, self-discovery and curiosity about the “other(s).”

Learning Objectives

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to

• Communicate with self-confidence about difficult or divisive topics
• Break destructive communication habits like avoidance, silence or reactive responses
• Design conversations, dialogues and meetings with clear purpose, full participation and a structure for moving forward
• Employ effective communication tools in a broad range of personal and professional settings

Who Should Take This Course

This course is excellent for anyone seeking to engage in constructive dialogue across differences, be it in their personal lives, with colleagues or clients. Professionals will develop self-confidence in addressing difficult topics, break destructive communication habits, and design effective conversations for personal and professional growth.

• Administrative/Support Staff
• Aspiring Managers
• Committee Chair or Cross-functional Team Leads
• Current Managers
• Human Resources Personnel
• Leaders at Every Level
• Marketing/Sales Staff Program Managers
• Project Managers
• Staff members who engage in formal and informal peer coaching
• Staff Members who interact with internal and/or external stakeholders