"What's it like to grow up within a group of people who exult in demonizing ... everyone else?” Megan Phelps-Roper knows. In her TED talk, , I grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church—Here's why I left” ”, Megan shares details of life inside America's most controversial church Westboro Baptist. She describes how conversations on Twitter were key to her decision to leave Westboro and develop a passion for civil dialogue. In this extraordinary talk, she shares her personal experience with extreme polarization. Just because you think you are “right,” is no reason to justify your rudeness to those who disagree.

Megan points out four things that make for better communication:
1) Don't assume bad intent.
2) Stay calm.
3) Ask good questions, and then really listen and hear the response.
4) Make your argument. Don't assume that you are right, and the other person should know why.

It is totally worth the 18 minutes it takes to listen to the lessons Megan learned.

--Post by Dan Stevens