Civil Conversations – You Can’t Change People’s Minds By Making Them Wrong

Contrary to what you might hope, most people won’t change their mindset just because you know they’re wrong and provide solid evidence to contradict beliefs they hold dear. Daryl Davis can attest to that. He’s had ample experience to prove it is mostly impossible to change someone else’s reality. However, Daryl has honed methods that make it easier to get an adversary to change their own reality. That simple shift allowed a Black man to find common ground and even close friendship with top leaders and members of the Ku Klux Klan. In this talk, Daryl draws on almost 40 years of conversations with White supremacists – some of whom have gone on to rescind their racist ideological beliefs. He reveals his communication tools and explains how anyone can put them to use when confronted with those who have conflicting viewpoints or simply different interpretations of a problem. The lessons Daryl shares can be used to lower the temperature and bring about productive and comfortable conversations in our business and personal lives – in conference rooms and at dinner tables. As Daryl says, “A missed opportunity for dialogue is a missed opportunity for conflict resolution.”