Dealing with challenging participants This is a skill-based practical approach to dealing with people who challenge you. There are three main topics: 1. Recognizing your own response to a person who challenges you. 2. Understanding the other person’s perspective. 3. Strategies for dealing with the difficult situation. Background information 1. People respond emotionally to situations when they are • afraid and feel threatened • frustrated because their needs are not being met. 2. Although the primary emotions are fear and frustration, people most often will react with anger as the secondary emotion. Part of your skill in dealing with these people is to discover the underlying cause of their anger. 3. Anger may be demonstrated overtly and aggressively or covertly and passively. Either behaviour can be equally difficult to deal with. 4. Communication is the key to discovering the cause of the person’s difficulties. 5. Curiosity is key in trying to understand another person. Judging the person will hamper your ability to understand.
Defusing anger We can respond to anger in three ways: • Passively—may defuse anger temporarily but will probably continue later • Aggressively—will increase the conflict • Assertively—this is the only response which allows both people a chance at resolving the conflict. Defusing anger assertively: • self-awareness • constructive rapport • building rapport • communication—empathic response, open-ended questions, validating, summarizing, reframing, and silence • “I” messages • Disengagement.
Facilitators’ Institute Training 2022
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