How to Avoid Arguments and have a Constructive Conversation

A conversation should always be constructive. There’s a difference between a discussion and an argument. One needs to be vigilant enough to notice when a conversation is shaping into an argument. Here are some tips to avoid arguments.

Listening Skills

Listening well is an essential skill to avoid arguments. Listening to someone quietly is an art. Listen Patiently. It is important to be a good listener in all walks of life. Putting forward your point of view or opinion regarding a matter is fine but at the same time it is very important to respect other people’s views.

The right to speech and freedom of expression ought to go hand in hand with their respective duties. The other person should always get a chance to speak. Do not interrupt or overpower.

Being dominant or nagging in a conversation is looked down upon. It is important to realize that there is no point in deliberately making the other person agree with your point while putting more important things like your personal and professional relationship with that person at stake.

Do not enter into a person’s ego territory, come what may. Even if the other person is dishing out the most irrelevant advice and logic; remember, one of the ten lines they utter is supposed to have some meaning. Accept it.

Lasting Impact

To leave a lasting impact on the other person, whatever you have to say, say it in a compact way but in a powerful fashion. Your posture, body language, tone, attentiveness and strong personality are supposed to leave a lasting impression and add weight to your speech.

It is your responsibility to avoid arguments. They affect your health adversely.

Concluding a Debate

Always look for the outcome of the time and energy involved in a debate. It is not to be forgotten that, if you are fighting over something, the aim should be to come up with the solution to the issue. There is no point in continuing the debate just to win. In the long run it never matters who wins. Your focus should be to avoid arguments and have a constructive debate.

Avoid arguments at all cost. It is always in your hands to put an end to the debate by silently bowing out and walking away. Even if you say “Alright, you win,” the last word was still yours!