How to Find the Right Words

- Blurb -

Life constantly requires us to give other people some hugely awkward messages: that we don' t love them anymore; that we do love them (though we' re not meant to); that they smell a bit; that they' re fired; that we' re furious with them (though we adore them) or that their music is too loud. . . Often, out of embarrassment, we just stay quiet. Occasionally we explode. And typically, we stumble about, looking for the right words - dreading that we didn' t find them and thereby causing more hurt than we should. This is a book to help us locate the best possible words to get across a range of life' s most difficult messages. With twenty case studies drawn from relationships, friendships, work, our families and service situations, we are gently shown what we might - in an ideal world - find ourselves saying to make our intentions known while causing minimal harm. We are guided, among other topics, to how best to end a relationship, how to make it up with a child and how gently to let down a friend who wants more. We laugh, we recognise our troubles - and we' re introduced to a range of deeply empathetic ways to navigate some of our most acute social dilemmas.