Are you worried about political disagreements ruining family time this
Thanksgiving?
Lois was recently interviewed by Vogue and gave some tips on how to keep
things civil with family members over the holidays. Here's a snippet
of her advice from the article:
“First of all, gather information. In other words, let people state
their opinion,” Brenner said. “Second: Listen, listen, listen.
Make sure that people know that they are being heard. You don’t
have to jump in and answer; you don’t have to disagree with them.
People love to be listened to.”
Brenner also recommends verbally acknowledging the other person’s
opinions and feelings by using carefully chosen words like, “I understand
that you believe so and so.” She stresses that the point of these
tips isn’t to change anyone’s opinion, but rather to keep
the conversation as respectful as possible. “It’s sort of
like religion, you’re not going to change someone from being Protestant
to Jewish or vice versa,” she said. “You also don’t
want to talk about the past, because you can’t change it. But you
can talk about what you want for the future, whatever it is you hope for.”
Read the rest of the story here.