The Best Kept Secret in Handling Emotional Conversations Well

Have you ever awakened at 3:00 a.m., rehashing a conversation from earlier in the day? Why didn’t I think to say X? Or if I had just commented that Bryan’s actions were “unusual” instead of calling them “irrational,” maybe he wouldn’t have exploded and walked out. What if . . . . On and on, the conversation replays with different dialogue and different endings.

If you want to bypass the pitfalls of turning people off to your message—or having them tune out altogether—filter out any phrasin...