Speak Your Peace - Marshfield Area Community Foundation, Inc.

What’s Speak Your Peace?

The purpose of the Speak Your Peace Civility Project is to urge the citizens of the Marshfield area to communicate in a more respectful and effective way. This is not a campaign to end disagreements. It is a campaign to improve public discourse by simply reminding ourselves of the very basic principles of respect.

By elevating our level of communication and avoiding personal attacks we can avoid unhealthy debate. This will lead to a more effective democracy, and help maintain our sense of community by increasing civic participation. We are not just targeting those who are uncivil, but those who allow uncivilized behavior to happen.

“The Speak Your Peace presentation reinforced that even though we have different opinions and ways of thinking about things, we can still respect and appreciate other’s opinions. The group activities were engaging and led to increased respect and clearer communication between team members.”
Megan Nelson, MS, CGC, PreventionGenetics

Our key message is to promote 9 Tools for Civility, taken from P. M. Forni’s book Choosing Civility.
Pay Attention. Be aware and attend to the world and the people around you.
Listen. Focus on others in order to better understand their points of view.
Be Inclusive. Welcome all groups of citizens working for the greater good of the community.
Don’t Gossip. And don’t accept when others choose to do so.
Show Respect. Honor other people and their opinions, especially in the midst of disagreement.
Be Agreeable. Look for opportunities to agree; don’t contradict just to do so.
Apologize. Be sincere and repair damaged relationships.
Give Constructive Criticism. When disagreeing, stick to the issues and don’t make a personal attack.
Take Responsibility. Don’t shift responsibility and blame onto others; share disagreements publicly.

Our staff is available to present at your place of employment or meet with your group to provide interactive activities focusing on 1 or more of the 9 Tools of Civility.