Conversation Catalyst

The Conversation Catalyst program teaches participants to spark connections with others who have differing opinions.

Through the program, participants can:

• Analyze, explore, and strengthen their ability to engage with perspectives unfamiliar or contradictory to their own
• Practice and develop new skills to navigate difficult conversations
• Create communities that recognize and engage with others' differences in an effective and productive manner

Tenets

Effective conversationalists seek to understand and bridge differences. Conversation Catalyst aims to accomplish this by empowering learners to effectively manage disagreement while putting community wellness first. To accomplish these goals, Conversation Catalyst uses the following guiding tenets:

Empowered Ownership

Accountability for one's words, actions, and impact are essential during a conversation. Participants will feel confident and capable of expressing their views while fostering a respectful and productive dialogue.

Mutual Understanding

Recognize that understanding is a two-way street—everyone must feel heard and valued to engage in meaningful dialogue. The desire to learn from others must be at the center of the conversation.

Open Inquiry

Difficult conversations should be approached with a mindset of curiosity and an eagerness to learn, resulting in the discovery of new ideas and deeper learning. Through engaged participation, participants ask thoughtful questions and are open to reconsidering assumptions they may hold about a certain topic.

Productive Conflict Management

Conflict is inevitable, but it can be a tool for growth. It is critical to prioritize resolution over escalation. Participants aim to understand the underlying issues, listen empathetically, and work together to find common ground and mutual solutions. Conversations are about listening to understand and learn, not to "win" the conflict when it arises.

The Action Model

The Action Model is a blueprint that illustrates how participants with differing opinions can navigate conversations. Keeping the tenets in mind, you as a participant will:

Reflect

Analyze the situation in front of you, and take stock of your current beliefs and opinions. understand the environment you are in, your current feelings, and your willingness for productive conversation.

Choose to Engage

Decide if you'd like to open the topic for discussion. Create a plan for engagement and your parameters for pursuing that conversation further.

Set Ground Rules

Understand and express your own personal boundaries. Give your conversation partner the opportunity to do the same, and come to a mutual understanding of the guidelines of the conversation. Hold yourself and your conversation partner accountable to those guidelines.

Listen Empathetically

Listen with the intent to understand, not to respond. This does not mean you and your conversation partner aim to agree, but it does mean you aim to actively engage with the conversation and the difference of opinion in a productive and thoughtful manner that seeks to bridge differences.

Check-In

Check-in with yourself and your conversation partner throughout your dialogue. Take the opportunity to verify and clarify your understanding of what you are sharing with each other ifa misunderstanding arises. After the conversation ends, check in with yourself and how you feel following the experience.

Collective Action

Catalog your experience, what went right, what went wrong, and prepare for future conversations. Take what you learned and share it with others. This will prepare you to manage similar conversations that bridge differences.

Skills

As part of Conversation Catalyst, participants can practice difficult conversations in structured environments with a facilitator. As a participant, you should consistently use the skills below to help employ the tenets in the real world:

Active Listening

Communicate with your conversation partner in a way that allows you to understand both their meaning and intent, while sharing your own meaning and intent.

Mindful Inquiry

Listen with curiosity and reflection, aiming to generate questions for yourself and your conversation partner that add detail and productivity to your dialogue.

Respectful Dialogue

Engage with your conversation partner in a way that protects the safety and dignity of all involved parties and adheres to the mutually-established boundaries drawn for the discussion.

Empathy

Process the opinions, thoughts, and feelings of your conversation partner across differences, with the intention to explore and establish commonalities or shared interests.

Critical Thinking

Seek new information and engage with unresolved questions to better understand the content of conversations. You should aim to be considerate, analytical and nuanced when forming and defending your opinions.