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. It provides easy-to-use techniques to handle difficult conversations in a positive and confident way. By focusing on feedback, communication skills, and conflict resolution, the workshop prepares participants to manage challenging interactions effectively.

Learning outcomes:

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 differing perspectives, 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.

Let's Talk!

We’re advocates of crafting tailormade solutions that ensure you meet objectives and maximise budgets. Contact us to book a meeting to scope the right solution for your organisation, together.

What About Actors?

Through clever script writing, goosebump-inducing delivery and professional facilitation, we love to bring learning to life with actors…

We can select scripts from our library or write them specially for you, based on typical scenarios you see within in your organisation. For larger projects where budgets don’t allow for live acting, we can professionally film bespoke scenarios to create video content which can be used in the training as well as induction, toolkits, and beyond.

Using actors in workshop give delegates the opportunity to:

Test out alternative ways of approaching what can sometimes be difficult situations, without the pressure of role playing themselves!
Explore what is acceptable and what isn’t; intent versus impact; and both the subtle, and not so subtle, behaviours we see play out in the workplace
Be immersed in an interactive learning experience that engages hearts and minds, and sticks in the long-term memory

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Don't Just Take Our Word For It

Nina Darling

UoP SHCP Teaching Fellow, University of Portsmouth

“The course which Paula provided was really engaging and nicely presented. The use of the actors was particularly good and actually bought the whole thing to life and made it really valuable learning. Thank you very much – it was fantastic!”

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Courageous Conversations Training

In-House Training, Available As: