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A civic membership coalition for Americans across party lines.Read the Compact
Common Ground

Resources

Guides for better conversations

Short, practical, and written for people who plan to use them this week.

The Two Truths rule

Before arguing for your own view, state the strongest fair version of a view you do not hold. The test: would its best advocate recognize it and sign it? If you cannot pass the test, you are not ready to argue.

  • Write it down first. Speaking it aloud without notes tends to produce a caricature.
  • Match length and specificity. A one-clause summary of the other side against three sentences of your own fails the rule.
  • Say what they are protecting, not just what they are against.

Hosting a Two Truths dinner

  • Eight to ten seats, at least three political perspectives, one contested question chosen in advance.
  • Go around once with steelmans only. Nobody argues their own view until everyone has stated someone else's.
  • Keep a written record of what each side could concede. Share it with the table within 48 hours.
  • Potluck. People argue better when they have brought food.

Checking a claim before you share it

  1. Find the original source, not the screenshot of it.
  2. Ask who benefits if you believe it, and whether that includes you.
  3. Look for the correction. Serious outlets publish them; look at how the outlet handled its last mistake.
  4. If you cannot verify it in five minutes, wait. Almost nothing is urgent.
  5. If you shared something wrong, correct it in the same place, at the same volume.

Attending a public meeting

  • Read the agenda in advance. Most are posted 48 hours ahead.
  • Sign up for public comment early; time is usually limited.
  • State who you are, what you want, and why in under two minutes. Then stop.
  • Stay for the votes. Comment matters more when the board knows you watched what they did with it.
  • Write a plain summary afterward and share it. Most residents will never read the minutes.

Reading the Agenda topics

Each issue page has three parts: civic principles (how we approach the topic before any policy), where agreement stands (broad, emerging, or contested, with both worries stated fairly), and open questions (the tension, stated honestly, not resolved).

Chapter standards

Chapters keep at least three political perspectives at every table, use the Two Truths rule, never endorse candidates, and publish a plain summary of public work. The full standards are part of the chapter application.