State your facts and share your story

Share your facts.
It’s important to start with facts and not opinions. Share the basic information about the situation in a clear and concise way. Start with the most obvious facts that are less likely to elicit an emotional reaction. This helps to build common ground and mutual respect with people.

Tell your story.
Tell your story by explaining the conclusions that you have drawn based on the facts. By doing this, you are sharing your opinion in a way that is easy to understand and demonstrating why you think it is correct, using the facts to justify yourself.

Ask for others’ paths.
Encourage other people to share their facts and opinions about the situation; otherwise, you are stopping the free flow of ideas into the pool of shared meaning.

Talk tentatively.
When sharing your story, differentiate between stories and facts. If you try to present your opinion as a fact, you become too overbearing and create an environment that doesn’t feel safe for other people.

Encourage testing.
Finally, encourage people to test your story. Make it safe for people to challenge your view and meet those challenges measuredly without having an emotional reaction.