Lou Prioli has 20 pleasant sentences that can defuse a conflict. I have taken my top 10. Read the whole thing. Applicable for marriage, teens to parents. Pleasant words do promote understanding.
- “I really appreciate your concern about this.”
- “Am I hearing you right? Is this what you are saying?”
- “Would you repeat that please?”
- “I see this is important to you; therefore, it is to me.”
- “Thank you for taking time to share this with me.”
- “Do you have any suggestions as to what I could do to improve in this area?”
- “How could I do (have done) that differently?”
- “What, exactly, is it you see that I’m doing or saying wrong?”
- “Thank you for bringing that to my attention.”
- “I see that’s important to you, so I’ll make it a point to be more aware of it in the future.”
Read the whole thing. Words do matter. Let’s use pleasant words to promote good understanding.