A very common request I’ve had over the years is: 

“Can you tell me how I can change my father’s/mother’s/partner’s/friend’s mind?” 

When I dig a little deeper the person asking invariably has (unconsciously) decided that their view is the right one and the other person’s view is WRONG and needs to change. 

Sound familiar? 

Hence no matter how many times they try to change their family member’s mind, it inevitably fails. People get defensive.  

Dialogue can quickly spiral out of control to a shouting match. 

Relationships that once felt easy and loving, suddenly feel blocked or worse, feel toxic. 

So how do you talk to others when the topic under discussion is highly emotive and you are convinced their view is wrong? 

Charles Duhigg has some sound advice in today’s video. 

If you want to survive difficult conversations, drop the goal of changing their mind, listen deeply and ask better questions. 

How do you do all that when you are emotionally invested too?

Watch: How To Talk Politics Without Wrecking Relationships

…to find a highly effective strategy inspired from family therapy that will give you 5 rules to navigate difficult conversations.

BTW - the excellent strategy shared doesn’t just apply to politics.

You can apply these principles in any conversation, at work or at home, where perspectives widely differ so you can have really productive and respectful conversations…

Listen to the excellent real-play of navigating challenging conversation.

With the holidays coming, having a survival guide to navigate tricky conversations will help ensure calm heads, meaningful conversations and rich relationships can prevail!

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