RESCHEDULED: Communication in a Polarized World

A thought-provoking program to help us transform difficult conversations into opportunities for understanding, collaboration, and trust. We live in a time when disagreement too often turns into division. Conversations that should build understanding quickly become arguments. Colleagues stop listening. Communities become polarized. Families avoid difficult topics altogether. As professional communicators, we have both an opportunity - and a responsibility - to help change that. Join internationally recognized author and Appreciative Inquiry expert Dr. Jackie Stavros for a thought-provoking and highly practical program that will equip you with tools to transform difficult conversations into opportunities for understanding, collaboration, and trust. This program explores how another generative AI: Appreciative Inquiry, a human-centered communication approach, can help surface assumptions, people ask better questions, create shared understanding, and move conversations from conflict to possibility. You'll discover practical techniques you can use immediately to: • Navigate difficult conversations without escalating conflict • Recognize the four types of conversations and how they shape outcomes • Reframe disagreements into opportunities for collaboration • Ask questions that build trust instead of defensiveness • Recover when conversations go "off the rails" using Dr. Stavros' practical "Do-Over" technique • Turn assumptions into understanding and problems into possibilities • Build stronger teams, healthier organizations, and more productive communities Whether you lead meetings, facilitate discussions, serve on nonprofit boards, manage volunteers, or simply want to become a better communicator, this session will give you practical tools you can use the very next day. Based on more than 25 years of research and practice - and her acclaimed books Conversations Worth Having and Learning to SOAR: Creating Strategy that Inspires Innovation and Engagement - Dr. Stavros will show why the quality of our conversations ultimately determines the quality of our relationships, our organizations, and our communities. If you've ever wondered, "How do we find common ground in a world that seems determined to divide us?" this is a conversation worth having.