KateNasser.com

Many people like to prevent verbal conflict. To achieve this, some will avoid all disagreement. This is not the best people skills approach to prevent verbal conflict. Avoidance creates other troubles and verbal conflict can still erupt later through frustration. So what people skills steps can minimize and even prevent verbal conflict?

Prevent Verbal Conflict w/ This People Skills Approach. Image by Animal Rhymes via Flickr Creative Commons License.

Image by Animal Rhymes via Flickr Creative Commons License.

Prevent Verbal Conflict w/ This People Skills Approach

To prevent verbal conflict from erupting out of differing views and disagreement:

1. Use a positive tone of voice when communicating. If our voices sound patronizing and demeaning, it breeds an emotional response and conflict.

2. Be curious to listen well without judging. Curiosity keeps us wondering and listening openly. Judging closes our minds. It triggers our reactions instead of positive actions.

3. Assess don’t attack. When we hear views we don’t agree with, assessing the issues will prevent verbal conflict. Attacking what we don’t like creates it.

4. Ask questions don’t label. Great questions clarify issues and highlight common ground. Labeling others riles their anger. They sense attack and attack back.

5. Treat others with respect and clearly state you expect the same in return. “I treat people with respect. I accept the same in return.”

6. Listen and watch for rising emotions. Call it out in a mutual and respectful way. For example, I think emotions are starting to heat up. How can we reset?

7. Don’t trap others and don’t participate in a trap. Check our motives at the start. Setting out to “win”, can lead us to use labels, put downs, and other emotional setups that lead to conflict. Set out to communicate not to conquer. Then see emotional traps along the way and sidestep them. Choose a different road.

Healthy disagreement and differing views can prevent groupthink. expand our perspectives, and lead us to new horizons. To maintain these positives, use the people skills tips above to prevent verbal conflict!

From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™

Related Posts:
Ways the Word Lucky Insults Others
Speak Sooner to Prevent Needless Conflict
5 Ways to Stay Calm & Caring w/ Angry Customers

©2017 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

Tags: business, Career, communication, conflict, differences, disagreement, emotional intelligence, fear, interpersonal skills, people skills, relationships, Soft Skills, Teamwork, verbal