Mike Carruthers

Thank you so much.

It's hard to get through life without disagreements with family, friends, co-workers, even strangers.

And lately, it feels like those disagreements are getting more intense and more personal.

You see it everywhere.

Conversations escalate quickly.

People dig in.

Small conflicts turn into big ones.

And instead of resolving anything, it often just makes things worse.

And that's not just frustrating, it can damage relationships, affect your work, and create stress that follows you everywhere.

So the real question is, when emotions start to rise, how do you calm things down?

How do you de-escalate a situation before it spins out of control, and maybe even turn it into something productive?

My guest says there's actually a method to doing that, and it can work faster than you might think.

Doug Knoll is an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University's Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution.

He's a professional mediator and author of the book, De-escalate, How to Calm an Angry Person in 90 Seconds or Less.

Hey, Doug, welcome to Something You Should Know.

Hey, Mike, it's just so honored to be here.

Well, it's great to have you.

So we live in a world where people argue, they disagree, they have different viewpoints, and they express them.

And sometimes that's good, and sometimes arguments get out of hand.

And lately, maybe it does seem that arguments are getting more out of hand.