Many science topics are increasingly difficult to discuss due to rising polarization. Opinions on climate change, vaccine use, and more may be aligned with identities and values that are hard to work through, particularly when your own values may be different from, or even conflict with, those of your audience.

During this 3-hour virtual workshop, you’ll learn about the connection between partisanship and views on science, the types of audiences to focus your efforts on, and steps to making progress in a difficult conversation. You’ll have the opportunity to practice listening to your audience to identify values and develop messages with those values in mind.

This workshop is designed for people who have taken a Message Box workshop or have used the Message Box Workbook within the past 5 years.

The workshop will be a combination of facilitated group discussion, content presentation, and activities in breakout rooms. By registering for this workshop, you are agreeing to actively participate in all workshop activities, and to using a webcam during discussion and breakout room portions of the workshop if at all possible. Please note, we cannot admit participants who are more than 15 minutes late. If you find you are unable to join in time, please contact us immediately. More information can be found in our FAQ below.

Technology:

The workshop will be held on the video conferencing platform Zoom. If you are unfamiliar with the platform, this one-minute video explains how to join a meeting. You will need a webcam, microphone, and stable internet connection. Recommended upload/download speed is 5Mbps/5Mbps. Test your internet speed here by clicking “run speed test.” This workshop will also incorporate the browser-based whiteboard program called MURAL.

To register, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/navigating-difficult-conversations-tickets-395495948027?aff=twitter.