Our student group brought in a divisive figure, and this one move kept things from getting ugly
I mean, idk if this works everywhere, but at my college, we had a speaker that half the room hated. Maybe it's just me, but I suggested we set up a 'question box' so people could write their issues instead of shouting. It turned a heated moment into a calm discussion. Honestly, it felt like a win for free speech because everyone got heard without the drama. Now I always recommend this to other groups facing similar invites.
Tried it at a rally last year and it kept things pretty calm. I mean, just listening first and not jumping in with my own sign right away helped a lot. It sort of made space for actual talk instead of just yelling.