38 How can I get my teen to talk?

Today I speak to a question that I get quite a few variations of, but the core of it, "how can I get my teen to open up and talk?"

It's usually a desparate situation where the relationship has almost imperceptibly deteriorated over time until one day you wake up and realize there IS no relationship.

The key is to rebuild the relationship, which takes time. Get curious about the other person. Ask open ended questions with no agenda. Don't assume you know what they think or how they feel about something. And always remember whats important to them.

5 conversations framework:

• Climate/environment review
  • home
  • school
  • sports
  • work etc
• Strengths and talents
  • what are they good at?
• Opportunities for growth
  • what can they do to improve performance in any school, sports, etc
• Learning and development
  • what skill, talent, or knowledge would they like to learn
• Innovation and continuous improvement
  • where can they improve?
  • how could the climate or evironment improve