Ego is a Monster
Our courses on outrage spend time differentiating among true outrage, self interest and ego. Ego is one monster requiring special care. Here’s one mediator’s solution....
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What is Possible When Consensus is Impossible
Some of our clients’ problems seem hopeless, with consensus among the varying parties feeling inconceivable. But we’ve found, over time, that getting the parties together creates the atmosphere where much is possible....
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It Starts with Connections
Developing and nurturing dialogue has to start with communication and connecting. And that requires curiosity, empathy, finding core values, consistency and practice – lots of practice.
I think Alexander Graham Bell started us down this long, dark road of lousy communication. We have to blame somebody and he seems ...
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Dumb & Dumber
The “Curse of Knowledge” suggests that experts in almost any field find it difficult to communicate and connect with people who aren’t also expert or at least extremely knowledgeable. We help our clients bridge that communication gap, so I thought you’d appreciate this take on the subject....
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Beware the Trolls; They’re Us
We talk a lot in these emails about understanding and dealing with public conflict and anger but we don’t often get into the subject of online bullies and trolls. Fact is, humans are naturally wired to cooperate, but online anonymity is a game changer – trolls have nothing to lose ...
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It’s All About That Dialogue, No Trouble
This newsletter offers varying ideas and approaches for engaging and communicating better with the public, including presentations, words, (re)building trust, opposition, better meetings, conflict resolution and all the related subjects. But the real core of our (TPC’s) consulting and training practice is building and nurturing dialogue among people. Sometimes there’s ...
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People Power
For a while now, it’s seemed clear that public participation is under assault at the highest levels of U.S. government. Functioning democracies share power with the governed. Of course there are arguments that politicians are obligated to wield their power on behalf of the people who elected them, therefore public ...
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Glossophobia is Not the Fear of Lip Gloss
Public speaking (glossophobia) is a source of high anxiety for most people – it’s our biggest social fear. So, when people are thrown into scary situations, they’ll typically hide in their more comfortable ‘expert’ zone and end up sounding like a robot reciting technical data. That, of course, sounds incomprehensible ...
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Wordsmithing
| I was talking to ALEXA the other night and we were discussing the fact that the subtlety and effectiveness between almost the right word and exactly the right word can make or break any encounter between two people or between a facilitator (or presenter) and a large group. Are you |
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#FakeNews
An 11-year-long study in the journal Science corroborated by six independent fact checking organizations found that false news stories spread faster, farther, deeper and more broadly than truthful news. Fake political news is most likely to spread. The problem is that what’s true is often boring or hard to understand, ...
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