How Can We Get Better at Navigating Dialogue Across Difference?

by Susannah Gooch

When Conversations Shift

We’ve all been there. We’re mid-conversation about something seemingly trivial – the weather, perhaps, or the fate of a local venue, or the latest episode of the Traitors – when suddenly it feels like the sun has gone behind a cloud. The hairs on your arm stand up. Your senses are on high alert. You look at the person opposite you and realise they have opinions that are not the sort of opinions you would have, or indeed your friends would have.

You feel like a door has been left ajar into a room you’ve walked past a hundred times but never seen inside. If they think like this, they might also think like that. 

It’s a natural and human trap to fall into, but it’s also how polarisation and disconnect creep in.

We begin to lose a sense of one another as individuals with hopes and dreams and fears, instead lumping people into broad, unhelpful categories. It is a volatile trap, ready for exploitation from whoever chooses to fan the flames of disconnect and division. 

Choosing to Lean In

If we want stronger, more connected communities, we need better ways to navigate these moments. We could all benefit from understanding each other better. 

That’s the purpose of our Navigating Difficult Conversations training. Through a combination of conflict theory, hands-on skills training, and reflective discussion, the session helps participants recognise what is happening in challenging conversations.

We practise ways to stay present and connected, rather than shutting down or walking away.

Participants explore how to listen with curiosity, respond without escalating tension, and remain open even when faced with perspectives that feel uncomfortable or unfamiliar. Participants learn how to be intentional around which conversations are worth the discomfort of pursuing, conserving energy and capacity for the moments that matter.

The goal isn’t to solve, persuade, or “win” the conversation.

Instead, it’s to build the confidence and skills to stay in dialogue long enough for genuine understanding to become possible.

Navigating Difficult Conversations in Communities

We’re fortunate this year to be able to deliver this training in various communities around the city thanks to the council’s recognition that social cohesion is a rising concern but also something addressable. We can make a difference here.

In January to March, we reached 80 community members with workshops in Knowle, Hartcliffe, and Withywood. That’s 80 community workers  – cafe staff, local hub leaders, support workers, social prescribers, volunteer coordinators, session facilitators – who feel more confident and able to address division when they encounter it in their communities and networks.

That’s 60 people who can share these skills with residents, colleagues, friends and family, and we’ve only just begun.  

Does this feel like something you, or someone you might know, would find helpful?

We have three ways for you to feel more confident to counter division where you live and work.