Communications 101: How to Argue Effectively & Respectfully

July 9th, 2006
by

Communication styles, like everything else, is a feminist issue. Moreover, having clear, respectful communications makes discussions effective & useful for readers and participants alike.

Almost everyone could improve in critical reading skills and in communication techniques. Critical reading is understanding what someone is saying, what they are trying to say, why they might be saying it, and assessing its truth, value, utility, accordingly. Communication techniques include understanding the flow of an argument, what’s going on with it, and making sure the discussion continues effectively.

We’re drafting guidelines on the wiki at http://wiki.feministsf.net/index.php?title=Communication_Guidelines

In general:

* respect
* sense of humor
* no pissing contests
* respond to the content not the speaker

Bloggers moderate their own comment threads, and their mileage may vary, and their take on what you mean or are trying to do might vary, and so on. A number of the bloggers here follow Teresa Nielsen Hayden’s guidelines (available at BoingBoing), which include some useful behavioral and communication suggestions.

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2 Responses to “Communications 101: How to Argue Effectively & Respectfully”

  1. dispatches from TJICistan » Blog Archive » intellectual cowards on November 27, 2007 9:14 am

    [...] add a cherry on top, the blog has a page on how to argue respectfully. Apparently that page fails to mention “and, as a last first resort, feel free to censor the [...]

  2. Cassandra Amesley on January 6, 2011 5:37 pm

    I have a suggestion if this is still revisable. (former rhetoric prof, intensely interested) No namecalling. This seems to be the worst of fallacies which now pass as argument. Giving people a label they wouldn’t choose for themselves kills the conversation. (The other main modern logic, Shout The Other Person Down, isn’t quite as common on internet as it is on radio and television, for obvious reasons.)

    The 2nd is much more obscure, so perhaps not appropriate: make sure you’re talking about the same thing. Rephrase and make sure you’ve got her argument right, before continuing with your own.

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