Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most

Featured in the Summer 2025 Newsletter

If a challenging conversation is handled well, it can strengthen relationships and help people work together better. Communicating about conflict oftentimes does not come naturally, and people sometimes avoid important conversations to avoid the seemingly inevitable tension, charged disagreement, or confrontation. Difficult Conversations helps readers understand why conversations can feel difficult and provides a nuanced framework to prepare for and manage conversations. 

The book covers:

• How to frame an issue in a way that lowers the temperature of a conversation
• How to manage emotions in a conversation, both yours and the other person’s
• How to navigate a challenging conversation step-by-step

Difficult Conversations has provided ideas for people navigating challenging conversations since the first edition was published in the 1990s. The tips in this book have been used in a wide variety of settings, from the International Space Station to parenting, to help people across divides be able to talk with each other, hear each other, and find mutual resolution.

Difficult Conversations offers numerous tools for people to bolster their conflict management skills, feel heard, understand more of the situation, and seek action on what matters to them. Whether it is read in part, or from cover to cover, this book has much to offer in terms of tangible skills, approaches, and techniques to manage conflict through constructive conversation.