Volume 18: Voting in the 2004 Elections

Discussing "Hot" Issues

Talking about some of the issues in the upcoming elections might be challenging. It might bring up strong feelings among those participating in a discussion. One organization, the Public Conversations Project, has been facilitating "difficult" conversations for years. They provide some important suggestions for setting guidelines for a discussion:

Regarding the spirit of our speaking and listening:

• We will speak for ourselves and from our own experience.
• We will not criticize the view of other participants or attempt to persuade them.
• We will listen with resilience, "hanging in" when what is said is hard to hear.

Regarding the form of our speaking and listening:

• We will participate within the time frames suggested by the facilitator.
• We will not interrupt, except to indicate that we cannot hear a speaker.
• We will "pass" if we do not wish to speak.

The above suggestions are taken from Constructive Conversations about Challenging Times: A Guide to Community Dialogue. This 46-page guide, published by the Public Conversations Project, provides wonderful suggestions on how to help people talk openly about what they think and feel. You can download it for free at: http://www.publicconversations.org/pcp/uploadDocs/CommunityGuide3.0.pdf.

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