Talking Taboo is a two-day workshop about unlocking the power of group conversation to explore sensitive issues and allow this interrogation to make way for breakthroughs.

On Day 1, we seek to first understand the nature of taboo, why it exists, its function, and why it’s something that can impede progress in community settings but also reveal opportunities.

Approaching Day 2, we examine the role of facilitators in group conversations and use archetypes and mental models to embody the learnings of good facilitation.

The word “advocacy” has come to mean many things to many people, but at it’s heart it all advocacy – from signing a petition to protesting at the gates of power – are some of many ways to get people to care about your work and/or take a position on an issue; it’s about moving people from a state of awareness to a position to take action. But as all experienced advocates will tell you, the success hinges on whether you can ignite people’s will to act. 

This workshop will covers all aspects of of designing an advocacy strategy – change theory, understanding your audience, and impact measurement – with particular focus on unlocking the puzzle “will”, that ever elusive condition that makes any efforts successful.

One of the core pillars of Counterbrace is to ensure that any program we work on is guided by lived experience wherever we can. However, while these personal perspectives enrich our work and ensure the intended beneficiaries of our projects are always front and centre, we also take on a responsibility to those whose voices and views we shepherd and translate into our work.

This workshop is about providing participants with our experience-based, empirically supported framework on how best to work with people with lived experience in a way that is not extractive, but enriching and restoring for all involved.

We interact with difference every single day, with conversation being one of the most common arenas to encounter these differences. But when it comes to differences of opinion on issues of social importance, this can be very challenging: ideas on how the world looks or should look. The good news is that with the right approach, there is more to be gained when we create the space for difference to emerge.

This workshop is built on very real examples of uncomfortable conversations that we know people can easily find themselves. Using practices from conversation therapy and conflict resolution theory, participants will learn about the dynamics underlying productive conflict and how maximise their ability to have impactful, transformational conversations with those important to them.

Whether you’re an aspiring content creator, an organisation with an online presence or even just your regular digital citizen, you may find yourself asking the question: “How can I make sure our online platforms are a safe place for my community to visit?”

While social media companies have policies regarding hate speech and misinformation, we still have a choice in what we do and don’t accept in our digital spaces. And with the internet being the way it is, some communities are at much higher risk of being subjected to hate speech and/or misinformation (“fake news”) on their platforms. Unfortunately, it is not always clear whether something is hate speech or misinformation.

This workshop is for anyone who wants to work out how they can make their spaces safer for their communities; whether its about making pro-social content or decisions about what to do if you think something on your platform is harmful or not trustworthy.

In our experience, most people working to make impact in their respective areas of influence usually understand the value of having youth-perspectives in their programming. Having a high-level of youth participation in any given community initiative is generally attractive to not-for-profit organisations, government funders and philanthropic benefactors. It makes for great public relations and marketing photos. Yet, genuine youth engagement is also difficult for a number of reasons.

This workshop is for those wanting to understand the conditions for genuine, committed youth engagement in their programming.

Is there an issue or topic of conversation that needs to be had – e.g. within your interest group, with your community members or in your mission-driven workplace – in order to unblock the road to progress? Or to realign on a collective understanding? To create a shared language?

At Counterbrace, we are game and able to design and facilitate these tough conversations for you. We’ll help you figure out what will work best for your context.