Teens Meet Outreach

Communication is the basis of understanding. Understanding communication is of paramount importance. You can check my previous post on effective communication.

While interacting with people, sometimes you come to a point where both party are not in mutual agreement consigning a thing. Here is where disagreements come up.

Disagreement could be as a result of various factors such as environment, beliefs, exposure, interest, and a lot of other things. At this point, a lot of things can go wrong if things are not being handled properly.

As much as you trying to express what your opinion is, you should also be cautious not to offend the other person.

Tips to help you disagree with someone without offending them.

1. Control your emotions

Emotions are powerful tools for communicating effectively. Yes, you want to be heard but allowing your emotion play a bigger part of the situation will not go well.

Try not to get personal especially with the other party’s point of view. You shouldn’t condemn or insult the other person because of their beliefs and opinion.

You should rather focus on presenting your own ideas and not hurting the other person.

2. Listen

Before disagreeing, listen well to what your counterpart is saying.

This will help you pick what you agree with and what you are disagreeing with clearly. This helps you flow into the other party’s argument.

Listening helps you finds a better response to back your point. It also helps you differentiate facts from opinions which helps you make a more convincing argument.

3. Respect their point of view

Make sure you make it clear that you understand the other person and point out some of the points you agree with.

On this ground, present your own point of view.

Let the other person have a sense of belonging in your argument. Let them know that you are with them on some grounds.

Avoid saying the other person is wrong. It hurts to be told you are wrong, instead find a way of agreeing to disagree.

4. Introduce your disagreement logically

Presentation matters a lot in communication.

You can start your argument from the common ground you share then, move to your own disagreement.

Avoid putting what should come first last and what should be said last first, that won’t help your argument.

5. Know when to end an argument

Not all arguments will end with everyone agreeing with your opinion. Know when to put a balance.

Know when to move on to discussing some other issues instead of dragging back and forth.

I know it’s not easy to walk away especially when you know strongly that you are right. But, sometimes walking away or moving on to other issues is the best thing to do.

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Disagreement is inevitable. Recognizing how to walk through them without hurting another person is important.

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I hope those tips helps you disagree without offending.