Workshop: Listening Politics

One of the first things people ask us when they hear about Crossing Party Lines is how we get politically divided people to listen and speak respectfully to each other. Our response is that we’re about listening politics, not arguing politics.

“Listening politics” refers to listening in a way that supports dialogue instead of debate. Rather than the typical listening we see in political discussion that is all about listening for a chance to argue or to defend, CPL’s listening promotes curiosity, respect and connection; it enables an open-minded search for discovery, the kind that detectives use. But it doesn’t come naturally because we’re conditioned to pre-judge and to defend our point of view.

In this workshop you will:
• Learn how our intentions in joining a conversation dictate how we listen.
• Cultivate curiosity about views that are different from yours.
• Learn about Active listening as well as how and when to use it.
• Practice skills that make it possible for us to listen and speak across our differences in a way that moves us all forward.

Join the Crossing Party Lines discussion and have a voice in our Nation’s Conversation! People of all views are welcomed, appreciated, and heard.

Please do your best to arrive at the beginning of the meeting – once we are in breakout rooms and the conversations have started, the meeting doors close to new arrivals. The breakout rooms open (and the doors close) approximately 15 minutes after the hour.

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