You can’t control every variable in a conversation or meeting.
But you can be a constructive variable.
— Craig Weber

Description

Educators face some of the most challenging conversations of any professional group. Because the issues they must deal with are often high stakes, they can spark intense levels of passion, frustration, and anger. There are frequent misunderstandings. On top of this, educators must also deal with a wide range of people with different personalities, cultural backgrounds, behavioral predilections, and roles. This means that the ability to handle difficult, aggressive, emotionally charged behavior in a conversation or a meeting is a pivotal competence.

This workshop is designed to help you respond in a more constructive, learning-focused way when someone is behaving in a verbally aggressive manner. It will help you have more productive influence in action, even in situations where others are trying to make it difficult.

You can’t control other people, force them to see things your way, or dictate their behavior, but you can take responsibility for responding to their antagonistic, hostile, or otherwise counterproductive behaviors in a positive and productive way.

It is perfect for dealing with difficult students, parents, and colleagues.

Learning outcomes

In this workshop people will learn to:

• Learn to be less defensive and more purposeful when dealing with verbally aggressive people.
• Boost your competence and confidence for dealing with tough issues and stressful circumstances.
• Create a more rigorous, evidence-based conversation about difficult and contentious issues.
• Make any meeting, team, project, or conversation smarter than it would be without you – even when others aren’t making it easy.
• Remain level-headed and learning-focused in frenzied circumstances that cause most people to shut down or go ballistic.
• Facilitate more balanced dialogue . . .
• Improve your ability to stay focused on what matters in the conversation even when others are making it difficult.
• Learn to diffuse tense or potentially hostile encounters.
• Push back on erroneous ideas and perspectives in a constructive and learning-focused way.
• Increase your mental toughness so you’re more purposeful – and therefore less manipulatable – under pressure.

Prerequisite: Conversational Capacity for Educational Professionals.

Length: Customized to fit your training schedule.

Randy Weber

Randy Weber has worked with Conversational Capacity concepts and skills for over two decades. With a BA in History from UC Berkeley and a MA in Education from USC, Randy’s primary research and practice has focused on teaching elementary school children the basics of Conversational Capacity. Based on this work, Randy and Craig are co-authoring a new book, tentatively titled Conversational Capacity in the Classroom, to help educators apply the discipline to their demanding work environment.