Home

Communicate in a way that generates 
more light than heat

Hero

Message Analyst

Footer

Tips for Political Messages


<table>
<tr>
<td>Tips for Constructive Political Messages
 
Goals
 
For healthy political communication, embrace these broad goals:
 • Preserve democratic dialogue. Enable a discussion or debate to continue without being toxic.
 • Generate more light than heat. Advance mutual understanding by sharing opinions respectfully.
 • Maintain credibility. Demonstrate that you can defend your viewpoints without demonizing an opponent. • Avoid escalation for its own sake. Avoid rhetoric that generates hostility and increases tension. Escalate only if necessary to adequately address issues under discussion, so long as you act constructively.
 
Core Principle
 
Focus on actions, not individuals. Express opinions and positions as strongly as you wish, but direct your criticism at behaviors, policies, and consequences without denying your opponent’s humanity.
 
Specific Guidelines
 
1. Don’t label people as evil or inhuman.
Examples:
“They are evil.”
“The other side is demonic.”
“These people are cockroaches.”
 
2. Target the action or policy.
Examples:
“This policy causes serious harm to vulnerable people.”
“These actions undermine human dignity.”
“This approach threatens democratic values.”
 
3. Don’t generalize about or write off entire groups of people.
Examples:
“They will never change; they’re rotten to the core.”
“They are beyond reason.”
 
4. Don’t categorize a person or a group on the basis of behavior.
Examples:
“He's a fascist.”
“She's one of these people who cares only about herself.”
“He's a socialist.”
Reframe categorizations so as to focus on describing specific objectionable behaviors or actions, or consequences or outcomes of objectionable behavior. If necessary for you to do reframing, ask the user to specifically describe objectionable behaviors.
 
7. Differentiate the person from their behavior.
Examples:
“This decision is unjust, even if they believe otherwise.”
“Their course of action is destructive, though I recognize their intentions.”
 
8. Don’t use absolutes or make allegations about motivation that shut down dialogue.
Examples:
“Everything they do is corrupt.”
“They only act out of malice.”
 
9. Avoid terms and metaphors that imply a goal of annihilating, killing, dominating, or humiliating people, or that place others in categories (of creatures or people) commonly assumed to be worthy of such treatment.
Examples:
“We should erase all those who support a goal of X.”
“All the supporters of Party Y are demonic.”
“They are a bunch of baby killers.”
Find ways to frame the conversation in terms of differing ideas, policies, values, goals, needs, etc. that are in conflict rather than as a battle between people who seek to annihilate, dominate, kill or humiliate others.
 
10. Focus any criticism on values, not individuals.
Examples:
“This proposal betrays principles of fairness and justice.”
“What worries me is how this disregards compassion and truth.”
 
11. Be clear what you mean when using language associated with fighting or warfare. Be sure that your audience understands you're speaking metaphorically. Consider re-affirming your commitment to non-violent action.
Examples:
“You either fight back or you die.” 
“We're declaring war on the homeless encampments in this city.” 
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;"><img src="https://storiedcourses-com.us.stackstaging.com/images/pickaxe/MessageAnalyst/MessagingIconCropped.png" 
 alt="Google Drive image" 
 style="max-width:60%; height:auto;"></td>
</table>

Raw text (HTML)

Tips for Constructive Political Messages

Our Sponsor: Style Matters

<table>
<tr>
<td>Style Matters — a Message from the Sponsors</td>
</tr></table>
 
What is Style Matters?
 
The Message Analyst app on this site demonstrates that the style of your messaging and communication matters. But the term, "Style Matters", was in use long before the development of this app. 
Style Matters is a widely-acclaimed personal development tool designed to help people understand how they tend to respond to conflict, under different conditions. It is sold and supported by <a href="https://riverhouseepress.com">Riverhouse ePress</a>, founded and managed by Ron Kraybill, a conflict resolution consultant with extensive experience in both international and domestic conflict issues. 
Ron and his brother, Gene, an instructional design specialist and AI app developer, created the Message Analyst app as a public service in the hopes that it might help raise awareness of the role of language and rhetoric in raising political tensions in the United States.
 
Core Features
 
1. Five Conflict Styles
 
Style Matters identifies five styles of responding to conflict:
 • Directing
 • Avoiding
 • Harmonizing
 • Cooperating
 • Compromising
 
2. Calm vs Storm Settings
 
The inventory asks respondents about how they behave in Calm situations (early, less emotionally intense conflict) and in Storm situations (when conflict has escalated, emotions are high). This allows seeing how conflict style shifts under stress.
 
3. Cultural Flexibility
 
The tool is conscious of cultural differences. Depending on whether one comes from a high-context or low-context culture, the instructions are adapted. For high‐context folks, one can focus the answers on a specific relationship or conflict situation.
 
4. Format & Delivery Options
 
 • Paper / print version (self-tallied), often used in group settings.
 • Online version: automated scoring, richer interpretive feedback, detailed score report.
 • Supporting materials for trainers (guidebooks) to help facilitate workshops.
 
5. Psychometric Validity
 
The Style Matters inventory has been tested and shown to have good reliability and validity in studies. 
 
Benefits of Style Matters
 
 • Helps individuals see their own patterns in conflict, strengths and areas to grow.
 • Provides “hot tips” / strategies for managing conflict more effectively depending on style.
 • Useful both for self-development and for group training workshops (teams, organizations) to build awareness, improve communication, better conflict resolution. 
 • Helps highlight how people’s behavior changes under stress, so can be helpful in preparing for or managing escalated conflict.
 
Who uses Style Matters?
 
 • Thousands of students in leading colleges, university, and professional schools take it every year as part of academic courses.
 • Partners in families and businesses take it separately and then discuss the results together.
 • Teams take it and discuss results together as a positive, practical teambuilding exercise.
 • Managers and project leaders learn how to bring the best out of each team member.
 • Human resources professionals help staff members, departments and teams develop better conflict resolution skills and create a better working atmosphere.
 • Mediators and negotiators improve their effectiveness in conflict resolution, and use it to train people entering talks.
 • Trainers in conflict resolution or leadership skills structure training sessions ranging from one hour to half a day around it.
 • Pastors and other religious leaders strengthen their skills in congregational conflicts and include Style Matters in leadership training.
 • Call center staff use it in training for dealing with difficult clients.
 • Service staff in several large US state and federal agencies use it in training for interacting with populations they serve.
 • A large multi-national corporation administers it to staff in six countries as a routine skill for communication.
 • Military trainers administer it to units across an entire national defense force.
 • Development workers in numerous countries use it to train organizational staff and community workers.
 
Summary
 
Style Matters is a mature, research-backed conflict style assessment that helps people understand how they tend to respond to conflict — when things are relatively calm as well as when conflicts intensify. It offers culturally sensitive options, multiple delivery formats, and is used in both individual and group/training settings. Its goal is not to prescribe a “best” style, but to help people become more aware of their conflict habits, so they can respond more wisely depending on the situation.
 
For More Information
 
Riverhouse ePress and the Style Matters support staff welcome inquiries! 
 • Website: <a href="https://riverhouseepress.com" target="_new">Riverhouse ePress</a>
 • Email: <a href="mailto:center@riverhouseepress.com">center@riverhouseepress.com</a>
 • Phone: 717-456-0441

Style Matters -- A Word from Our Sponsor

Communication Resources

<table>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top">Communication Resources
 
Here are some helpful articles and resources regarding political communication:
 
 • <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/opinion/trump-kirk-rage.html?unlocked_article_code=1.nE8._l7g.oTdpyP-h5w9t&smid=url-share" target="_new">The Era of Dark Passions</a>, by David Brooks, in the Sept. 18, 2025 edition of the New York Times.
 • <a href="https://substack.com/inbox/post/173764395" target="_new">Our Survival Hangs on Our Speech</a>, by Ron Kraybill, Sept. 16, 2025 Substack post.
 • <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Anger-Fear-Domination-Passions-Political-ebook/dp/B0FM8N61S4/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0" target="_new">Anger, Fear, Domination: Dark Passions and the Power of Political Speech</a>, by William A. Galston. 176-page book published September 2025 by Yale University Press.
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;"><img src="https://storiedcourses-com.us.stackstaging.com/images/pickaxe/MessageAnalyst/Icon of speech bubble with megaphone_v2.png" 
 alt="Google Drive image" 
 style="max-width:52%; height:auto;"></td>
</table>

Our company adapts to your evolving needs, offering a versatile collection of GPTs designed to enhance your overall workflow and productivity.