Institute for Developing Across Differences

Maja Nenadović: Depolarizing Communication – A (Rhetorical) Self-Defense Toolbox

$75.00$150.00

Date TBC @3-5pm GMT
(check your local time here)

Views differ. Emotions run high. Words get heated. Positions are dug into. Disagreements turn ugly. Progress gets stalled. 

But this path is not inevitable. You can learn how to defuse and redirect polarized discussions and tense encounters so that more effective, forward-focused approaches prevail. 

In this 2-hour workshop, IDD Expert Maja Nenadović, PhD, uses a real-life challenge (submit yours to her in advance*) to share actionable theory-based strategies for you to use to help yourself and your clients better respond in real-time to discriminatory or problematic rhetoric, depolarize communication, and promote more constructive dialogue in workplaces, classrooms, and communities.

In this In(ter)Session you will…

  • learn 3 proven strategies for defusing polarized communication,
  • practice using these strategies on a real-world case study*, and
  • receive an activity sheet that you can adapt and use with your audiences.

Meet our Expert

Political education and human rights trainer Maja Nenadović, PhD, is a Monitoring-Evaluation-Learning and program design consultant, formal debate coach, and facilitator who has worked in 40+ countries. 

Over the past 20 years, she has worked with both those who use discriminatory and hate speech rhetoric and those who are targeted by it, to create “Across Divides: Training Workshops for Depolarizing Communication,” a field-tested methodology for defusing and redirecting inflammatory encounters.  

Holding a PhD from the University of Amsterdam, Maja’s research explores democracy promotion, post-conflict democratization processes, and dysfunctions in democracy. She is the co-founder of Reflectory, a boutique consultancy in the field of conflict transformation, civic engagement, and social cohesion. She lectures and trains internationally. 

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How it works

Our “Hands-on Help with the Expert” In(ter)Sessions provide opportunities to explore and discuss solutions for your real-life challenges with recognized authorities in the field.

*We invite you to share your own case study, session outline/curriculum draft or practitioner questions when you register—and our Expert will select 1-2 participant issues to work on “live” in the session. Even if yours isn’t selected, in this highly participatory program you’ll learn with and from our Experts and global peers and take away insights that benefit your own work.

Your Rate

Corporate, Higher or Private Education, Non-profit/NGO, In Transition 1, In Transition 2