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We’re advocates of crafting tailormade solutions that ensure you meet objectives and maximise budgets.
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Courageous Conversations Training
In-House Training, Available As:
- Full or half-day workshop or 1 hour interactive webinar
- In-person or live virtual
- Fully customisable
- Option to enhance with actors
- Embed learning with Toolkit Takeaways
Courageous Conversations Training Solution
This workshop tackles the challenges of navigating difficult conversations, particularly those hidden behind ‘banter’ or involving topics like bullying and harassment. It encourages real conversations that embrace different perspectives. But hey, we get it – letting someone know they made a mistake or caused offence can be tough and feel awkward. We’ll explore when we should speak out, how to get over the ‘fear factor’, and the best way to respond (rather than react).
This workshop is designed to level up people’s skills and confidence when it comes to speaking out. Participants will understand the role of an active bystander in addressing inappropriate behaviour and supporting a respectful environment.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of this workshop, participants will:
- Be confident to initiate and actively participate in potentially challenging discussions with assertiveness and respect.
- Have improved communication skills, including active listening and non-verbal cues, to encourage understanding and connection.
- Learn strategies to create a supportive and inclusive environment for open expression and assumption challenging.
- Be resilient in managing emotions during difficult conversations for constructive engagement and relationship maintenance.
- Acquire practical skills in conflict navigation and being an active bystander, learning to find common ground and resolve conflicts respectfully.
Workshop Outline...
(1) Courage in Communication: The workshop opens with a reflective group activity on past experiences, exploring situations where individuals have spoken out, or avoided tough discussions. We’ll explore the fear factor and discuss when to speak out. Participants will examine effective communication styles, focusing on active listening and the significance of non-verbal cues. A “Reflective Listening” exercise aims to enhance their ability to communicate effectively.
How this looks with actors:
Led by two professional actors, we observe a scenario that brings a courageous conversation to life. Delegates explore the challenges of having difficult conversations by interacting directly with actors in a scene involving a manager and member of staff who’s made a complain about inappropriate ‘banter’. We start to build a picture of barriers to effective conversations.
(2) Building Trust and Emotional Intelligence: Participants will learn about concepts of limited, safe, and brave spaces, with strategies for encouraging open and constructive dialogues. We’ll unpack the importance of creating psychological safety and equip participants with techniques for managing personal emotions in sensitive situations. Participants will discuss the importance of empathy during challenging conversations and reflect on their first actionable objective to be included in their personalised action plan.
(3) The Art of Feedback: Covering the essentials of giving and receiving constructive feedback, this part of the workshop teaches participants how to provide feedback that is specific, timely, and actionable. It also focuses on receiving feedback gracefully. We share a simple and effective “Wait a SEC” technique to deal constructively with inappropriate comments and behaviours.
How this looks with actors:
We can’t always plan for a difficult conversation; sometimes we need to address something in the moment. Drawing upon the learning from the three-step technique, delegates are invited to consider if and how they would deal with the scenario presented. Participants will acquire practical techniques, including conflict de-escalation methods and perspective diversification strategies.
(4) Navigating Conflict and Diverse Perspectives: Participants will learn perspective-taking and inquiry techniques as tools to bridge gaps and improve communication across teams. In the “Building Bridges” activity participants will learn how to constructively address conflicts, find common ground, and encourage collaboration. We’ll invite them to identify another objective for their action plan.
(5) Creating a Personal Action Plan: The workshop concludes with participants finalising their personalised action plan. We will guide the development of specific steps to apply the concepts and skills learned, aiming for participants to integrate these strategies into their daily professional life for sustained development and impact.
We’re advocates of crafting tailormade solutions that ensure you meet objectives and maximise budgets.
Award-Winning D&I Training Solutions
We believe real progress in diversity, equity and inclusion doesn’t come from tick‑box training – it comes from courageous conversations, immersive experiences, and tools that support long‑term culture change.
Our award‑winning Equality, Diversity & a Culture of Inclusion programmes go beyond awareness to build practical skills and confidence, using bespoke workshops, actor‑led scenarios, interactive activities and reflective discussions that bring learning to life for your teams. From unconscious bias and micro‑behaviours to neurodiversity and allyship, our solutions are designed to help organisations cultivate inclusive environments where all people can thrive.
We offer a flexible range of learning elements to enhance and extend your diversity and inclusion strategy, including professionally produced bitesize learning videos, interactive toolkits, personalised journals, culture diagnostics, and blended learning journeys tailored to your organisational goals. Whether delivered virtually or in‑person, our creative, data‑informed approach ensures that every participant leaves equipped with actionable insights and meaningful takeaways.
Take a look at our actor-led workshops
Trish Gill
Leadership Development Consultant, DFS“Having the actors there, re-enacting some of the issues that we have had at DFS has really bought the situations to life. The feedback has been really positive, with people saying it’s the best training course they have been on and how thought-provoking the sessions have been.”
WORKSHOPS WITH ACTORS