• enhance and deepen your mediation practice. 
• enable you to help parties connect in a new way.

When mediations reach impasse, dialogue principles can be leveraged to create new momentum. The stance and practice of the mediator are key factors that enable this process. Many mediators have found that thinking and practices drawn from the field of dialogue can equip them to operate at a new level with parties: one that invites them to connect with their opponents, break logjams and move forward. This workshop offers an opportunity for mediators to explore how the tools of dialogue can enhance their practices. It will be led by three highly-regarded practioner/trainers, each skilled in the disciplines of dialogue and mediation. The learning will involve role-play, fishbowl simulation, didactic, discussion and coaching. Participants will:

Distinguish a person-focused from a problem-focused stance

Understand how dialogue structures and design ideas can enhance mutual understanding

Distinguish questions that are intended to serve the parties from those serving the mediator

Practice asking "questions in service of the asked"

Understand the value of ambiguity and uncertainty

Practice engaging parties in empathic, as opposed to solution-focused, ways

Weave stories from their practice into the fabric of group learning

Receive coaching in active engagement from their peers and the facilitators