In preparation for your workshop, please give a recount of a difficult conversation that you experienced recently. The conversation should represent something meaningful to you. This might be because the actual stakes are high, or because the dynamic is one you experience often. It might be because the relationship is important, or because, regardless of the apparent importance of the stakes or the relationship, the conversation makes you feel anxious or unsure how to interact. Or perhaps in the past interactions like these have ended in poor outcomes for you or the others.
Instructions – An example follows and a blank form is included below for your submission. In the right column (RC), record what you and others involved actually said and did. It is essential that you write down actual dialogue or “quotes”, as if writing a script. Don’t worry about being precise; your best recollection is fine. In the left column (LC), write down any thoughts or feelings you had and did not express. Please note that CMPartners has a confidentiality agreement with your organization and we extend that to each of you as individuals as well. While it is best that you choose an example that you might feel comfortable sharing other workshop participants, we will not make reference to your case without your explicit permission. For example:
