Welcome to the Listening to America Project

The purpose of this project is for Conservatives, Independents, and Liberals/Progressives to come together and really “listen” to one another to develop “mutual understanding,” not necessarily agreement, by employing the skills of Active Listening and Dialogue.

The first two Listening to America Sessions will take place on dates and times yet to be determined on Zoom. Each session will include 6 political conservatives, 6 political independents, and 5 political liberals/progressives.

There is a nominal charge of $50.00 per participant to help defray the costs of the session.

The participants will learn communications skills to help them shift the communications paradigm from "a Battle of Partisan Bubbles" to one of "Active Listening" followed by a Dialogue process of "Listening, Reflecting, and Responding" and then "Collaborate and Resolve".

Each session includes two skills-building parts and one part applying the skills to address a public policy issue.

We invite 6 political Conservatives plus 3 alternates, 6 Independents plus 3 alternates, and 6 Liberals/Progressives plus 3 alternates to register for and participate in this session.

The participant registration information includes a section of instructions that applies to all participants and three separate registration pages: one for Conservatives, one for Independents, and one for Liberals/Progressives.

Here is the registration information for all participants:

To register please read and understand the Participant Conduct Guidelines, the Listening to America script, put your initials and city of residence on one of the 3 registration pages – Conservatives, Independents, and Liberals/Progressives, read, understand and send the email that I ask you to send to me after you place your initials and city of residence on a registration page.

I welcome you as a great American, and I am pleased to be your host at this Listening to America Session. I will treat you with courtesy and respect, as if you were a guest in my home.

I ask that you treat all participants with courtesy and respect, as if they were guests in your home.

Participant Listening to America Script:

How the Listening to America Session Works

Six Conservatives, six Independents, and six Liberals/Progressives will meet on Zoom.

Listening to America Session Part A

This activity includes a skills-building exercise with "Mixed" groups - 2 conservatives, 2 independents, and 2 liberals/progressives on each of the three Zoom groups.

The Active Listening Process: each participant states "What I value most about America is ______." After a participant makes their statement, another participant in the Zoom meeting paraphrases back to the speaker what the speaker has said by saying to the speaker, “I hear you say that what you value most about America is ​_________. Is that right?” The speaker will say “yes” or “no.” If “no,” the listener continues to paraphrase back to the speaker until the speaker states that the listener has

paraphrased correctly.

Dialogue Process: The Dialogue process begins right after each participant has made their statement and had their statement acknowledged by another participant by the paraphrasing process.

Round One. One at a time the participants go around the Zoom meeting and say, for up to one minute "A positive change in America that I would like to see is _." No one responds to the speaker.

Round Two. Repeat the same process, as in Round One. Participants speak from a deeper place in Round Two, after listening to everyone in Round One.

Round Three. Participants can now respond to one another by “raising hands”, taking the “talking stick” and speaking for up to one minute. Round Three ends when each participant has spoken twice.

Round Four. Participants go around their Zoom meetings and state "I will do ____ to help make a positive change in America." End Session Part A.

Listening to America Session Part B

This activity includes a skills-building exercise with "Mixed" groups - 2 conservatives, 2 independents, and 2 liberals/progressives on each of the three Zoom groups.

We now rearrange the Zoom meetings so that each group of six participants includes two Conservatives, two Independents, and two Liberals/Progressives.

Active Listening: Repeat the process in Part A. The Listener / Paraphraser should be someone from a different political party than the Speaker.

Dialogue Process: The Dialogue process begins right after each participant has made their statement and had their statement acknowledged by another participant by the paraphrasing process.

Round One. One at a time the participants go around the Zoom meeting and say, for up to one minute "A positive change in America that I would like to see is _." No one responds to the speaker.

Round Two. Repeat the same process, as in Round One. Participants speak from a deeper place in Round Two, after listening to everyone in Round One.

Round Three. Participants can now respond to one another by “raising hands”, taking the “talking stick” and speaking for up to one minute. Round Three ends when each participant has spoken twice.

Round Four. Participants go around their Zoom meetings and state "I will do ____ to help make a positive change in America." End Session Part A.

Participant Evaluation. After Session Part B Round Four, participants meet in a Zoom group of eighteen participants, and, one at a time, identify what they liked best about the session and what could be improved. End of Session.

Listening to America Part C

Applying the Skills to Address a Public Policy Issue

This activity includes a skills application activity in the "Mixed" Zoom groups.

Round One. Go around the Zoom group and each person states their view of the Public policy issue for 30 seconds. Someone responds to each statement with an Active Listening response. "What I hear you saying is ____. Is that correct?"

Round Two. Repeat the same process, as in Round One. Participants speak from a deeper place in Round Two, after listening to everyone in Round One.

Round Three. Participants can now respond to one another by “raising hands”, taking the “talking stick” and speaking for up to one minute. Round Three ends when each participant has spoken twice.

Round four: Go around the Zoom group and each participant states one action they will take to help resolve the public policy issue.

Participant Evaluation: Each participant will be invited to state orally what they liked best about the session and what could be improved. Participants are also welcome to complete an online evaluation survey. End of session.

Send Registration Email

Send an email to Rich after you place your initials and city of residence on a registration page.

Send an email to Rich Fisher at rich@winwinres.com that states the following: You must fill out all the information requested below to register for this Listening to America Session. If you omit any information requested, your registration will be discarded as invalid.

a. I agree to participate in the Listening to America Session on Zoom check one __ dates and times to be determined.

b. I understand that the session will last approximately 3.0 hours;

c. I have read the Participant Conduct Guidelines. I agree with those guidelines, and I will follow them during the session;

d. I have read the Participant Listening to America Script. I understand it, and I agree to follow it during the session;

e. "My initials are ​___."

f. My city of residence is ______________________.

g. My email address is __________________. We will email you a link to make the $50 cost payment and a link to the Zoom Listening to America Session.

Type your name:

Date:

Thank you for registering for this Listening to America Session.

End of Registration email