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.”