De-Escalate Your Arguments With These 5 Key Questions!
If you are following and watching the news trends on your selected media channels, you know that the political season is upon Americans and the world at large (if I may add). As we count down to the presidential election day, heated political arguments and escalated conflicts are in the air. Try scrolling through the pages of some political candidates and you’d be so astonished—as I often am—at the use of polarized and demeaning labels, insults, and attacks in the comment section thrown at one another.
As a conflict expert, my purpose is to transform conflict at various levels—individual, group dynamics, organizational, institutional, and in communities. One way I live out this purpose is by equipping those connected to me with proven skills and strategies to help them live in harmony with themselves and others. So, my purpose for writing this article is simple: to equip you with some proven prompt questions I have used when arguments are escalating. You can ask your friends, relatives, and co-workers these questions to help during your political, religious, national, cultural, or any kind of arguments—especially if you experience them.
The Five Transformative Questions To Ask:
What life experiences have you had that have led you to feel so passionately about this issue?
What do you think your beliefs might be if you had been born into a different family, religion, race, gender, class, or time?
Without discussing either of our preferred candidates, what principles do you believe the candidate you support stands for? Why are those principles important to you?
What are your goals for this election, other than to elect the candidate you support? Why are those goals important to you?
What do you think our conversation would be like if we decided not to use the words that divide us or trigger us emotionally? Are you willing to try, right now?
Asking these kinds of open-ended questions encourages dialogue, helps you gather comprehensive information about one another without being judgmental, promotes reflection, and facilitates getting to the root of the situation.
Stay peaceful out there!
