Teaching-Learning Academy
Dialogue Ground Rules
Be respectful.
Listen patiently with the primary goal of understanding.
Give everyone adequate air time.
Be open.
Work to understand differences, not to erase them. Try
out new ideas and be willing both to disagree and to
change your view.
Be direct.
Say what you expect from others. Ask questions when
you don’t understand. Avoid making assumptions;
instead, ask others what they think and why.
Be present.
Engage actively, but know that silence sometimes is ok.
Try to be prompt. Resist technological distractions.
Be ethical.
Honor privacy; avoid deceptive and misleading
comments.
 The students from Communication 322, Civil Discourse as
Interactive Learning, serve as facilitators for small dialogue
groups using these conversational guidelines.