NLP helps you keep your holiday conversations civil
It’s certainly frustrating and discouraging when misinformation makes its way into a friendly conversation. But when it shows up on the menu for your holiday gathering, misinformation can spoil your appetite as well as your relationships with loved ones.
This holiday season, amid polarizing world events and the run-up to the election season, conditions lend themselves to combative conversations and fractured friendships. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Just like you’d prep the side dishes before guests arrive, you can get ready for engaging in civil and meaningful discourse — even with the family’s diehard conspiracy theorist — using the tips and tools the News Literacy Project provides.
While every scenario is different, following some general best practices can help keep the conversation civil and make the interaction worthwhile. To begin, use the six tips outlined in our downloadable infographic How to speak up without starting a showdown as a guide. (Click here to download the PDF.)
Further boost your confidence for entering what are likely difficult discussions with four key strategies from this week’s issue of Get Smart About News, our free weekly newsletter for the public, which we also feature on our website. (Subscribe here so you never miss out trending news literacy topics and resources.)
You can go deeper by watching the recording of our recent webinar Productive conversations without confrontation. It was led by DeMario Phipps-Smith, NLP’s senior manager of community learning, Dr. Carolyn Lukensmeyer of the National Institute for Civil Discourse and Chelsey Cartwright of the League of Women Voters.
Happy Thanksgiving and happy holidays!
