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Interactive Voter Guide

Holiday Resources for Productive Dialogue

The holidays often bring a range of emotions—gratitude and anticipation, but also, for some, anxiety about navigating challenging family dynamics. With the added tension of a national election still fresh, the potential for disagreements can feel especially heightened this year.

Since 2017, the Committee of Seventy’s Can We Talk? program has equipped people of all ages to engage in civil, productive conversations on society’s most pressing issues. Using these resources, this holiday season, Seventy is sharing practical insights drawn from real-world experience to help individuals approach tough discussions with clarity and respect.

Ground rules for productive dialogue

Every Can We Talk? dialogue uses a set of nine ground rules for productive dialogue that have been refined over the years. You can review the rules - and the thinking behind them here. (You may even want to share these links with your family beforehand.)

Multiple Identities

Loretta Ross, a respected leader in civil dialogue, once shared an insightful reminder: "Remember, those other people are just as complicated as you are. They're not just the one thing you're mad at them about." Can We Talk?’s ice-breaking exercise, Multiple Identities, helps participants explore and connect with the complexity of others in a fun and engaging way..

Asking Different Questions

Another helpful piece of the Can We Talk? curriculum for high school educators that Seventy has developed in the last two years is a guide on how to ask good, clarifying questions that keep a conversation going, rather than ending in confrontation.

For a Listen

Finally, consider listening to this podcast recorded after the last time Donald Trump won the presidency, titled: How to Navigate Holiday Dinner (and Uncle George) in the Age of Trump. In it, Dr. Harris Sokoloff, co-founder of Can We Talk?, discusses strategies for civil conversations with dialogue specialist Sharon Browning.

Learn more

The resources aim to foster meaningful and civil conversations this holiday season, offering support for navigating even the most challenging discussions around the table. More information on the Can We Talk? program, can be found here.

Thank you to Chris Satullo and Harris Sokoloff, co-founders of Can We Talk?, for their work creating these tools and sharing them widely with Pennsylvanians.