Has this ever happened to you: You’re at your local coffee shop, enjoying your favorite beverage and happen to get into what seems to be a friendly exchange about a current event with another patron, but it quickly dissolves into an angry verbal attack wrought with personal insults about your mother?
We believe that too often, instead of participating in an intelligent and rewarding exchange of facts, we Americans personally insult and demean one another if opinions differ. “Agreeing to disagree” is not a concept we’re taught to abide by whether in personal relationships or professional endeavors.
Erica Beggan, CC and Tristen Tucker, ACB, are both current Toastmasters and officers of OCCN Speakers Forum #9377. Their public speaking career began over 10 years ago when they became collegiate Parliamentary debate partners, winning at the national level two years in a row. Having experienced their own communication breakdown a few years ago, which resulted in falling out of contact, these former debate partners and long-time friends had to get back to basics in understanding they needed to “agree to disagree” and come to compromises. The skills they had learned for formal debates were the very ones that helped to improve their personal relationship. Recognizing this need both inside and outside “the Board Room,” Tristen and Erica continuously advocate increasing critical thinking awareness and improving argumentation skills.
We invite you to take part in a Q&A with several industry experts to discuss bringing critical thinking and critical speaking back into daily practice during the “Bar Brawls have no place in the Board Room” panel on Saturday, April 13th at 2:30 p.m. at the National University in Costa Mesa. Register to attend today. Admission is free!
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