Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue

Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue is a four half-day workshop that equips BYU employees with practical, research-based skills to handle high-stakes conversations with confidence and care. These are the moments when opinions differ, emotions run strong, and outcomes matter. Whether addressing performance concerns, navigating conflict, or collaborating across teams, participants learn how to speak honestly while maintaining respect and strengthening relationships.

Grounded in decades of social science research, this course focuses on creating dialogue where all voices can be heard and the best ideas can surface. Participants practice recognizing when a conversation becomes crucial, staying present under pressure, and fostering psychological safety so others feel comfortable sharing openly. Through guided discussion, reflection, and skill-building activities, attendees apply concepts to real workplace situations relevant to the BYU environment.

Suggested Audience
All BYU employees. This workshop is ideal for those who lead teams or supervise others, want to collaborate across departments or functions, are looking to navigate conflict, feedback, or accountability conversations, or any employee who want to strengthen communication, trust, and teamwork in their unit.

Key Takeaways:

· Recognize when conversations become high-stakes and respond effectively

· Create psychological safety so others feel heard and respected

· Manage strong emotions and reduce defensiveness in themselves and others

· Speak honestly and persuasively without damaging relationships

· Turn difficult conversations into clear decisions and actionable results

This workshop supports BYU’s commitment to respectful communication, unity, and effective collaboration, helping employees build stronger working relationships and achieve meaningful outcomes together.

Delivery

This workshop can be delivered by request of a department or group, which will be responsible for the cost associated with purchasing training materials from Crucial Learning. For more details, contact Talent Development.

There is a one-hour overview of this workshop that can be delivered at no cost. Contact Talent Development for more details.