# Dealing with Difficult Interactions Sometimes when you are running assemblies, or doing community work in general, you might have difficult interactions with people. Whilst there is no easy way to overcome these, here are some suggestions: #### Handling Tricky Situations - You may experience a situation where a person is triggered or emotionally overwhelmed, if the topic relates to a sensitive issue for them. - Suggested response: Give them a minute to compose themselves, but if they are struggling, ask if they would like to take time out to catch their breath. If you have trained counsellors as volunteers, suggest they may talk with them in a safe space. - You may have someone who feels so strongly that they talk for longer than their allotted time and do not acknowledge your ‘round up signal’, or they may go off topic. - Suggested response: “Thank you for sharing that (check participant’s name on their name tag). Just to say though, that as a volunteer facilitator, I have to keep the discussions on track to keep us on time. I don’t mean to diminish the value of what you are sharing, but can I bring you back to the question we’re discussing together here? If you feel you want to elaborate on your concerns, then let’s talk one to one later. OK?” - You may have a couple of people talking among themselves while someone is taking their turn to speak. - Suggested Response: “So everyone can hear everyone’s comments, can I ask you to hold your thoughts and share with the group when X has finished speaking? Thanks” - You may identify other tricky situations that can disrupt the process. Talk these through at your debrief to help everyone learn from your experience. Trust the People's 'Engaging Communities' module has a document on how to deal with conflict when engaging with strangers, which uses methods from Non-Violent Communication (NVC) - it is worth reading to prepare for community assemblies.