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Prepare / Speak / Listen / Resolve

Difficult Conversation Plan.

Use this before a conversation you know matters. The goal is not to script every word. It is to help you enter the conversation clear on what you need to say, what you want to understand, and what a useful outcome could look like.

You can prepare your intention without trying to control the other person’s response.

Your progress Step 1 of 5
Step 1

Why do you want or need to have this conversation?

Start with your actual reason for having it. Try to separate what you want to communicate from what you want to force, prove, or make the other person do.

Step 2

How will you start the conversation?

The opening matters because it tells the other person whether they are being invited into a conversation or bracing for an attack.

Lead with the reason. Why does this matter enough to talk about?
Keep the opening specific. Try not to begin with “you always”, “you never”, or a list of every past issue.
Name your intention. Let them know whether you want understanding, repair, clarity, a decision, or a change.
Leave room for their perspective. An opening can be clear without deciding the entire conversation in advance.
Step 3

How will you share your experience and feelings?

Describe your experience without presenting your interpretation as an unquestionable fact. Focus on what happened, what you noticed, and how it affected you.

Step 4

What can you ask to understand their perspective?

A difficult conversation becomes more useful when you are genuinely willing to discover information you do not already have.

What was happening for you? Invites context rather than defence.
How did you experience this? Creates room for a different interpretation.
Was there something I missed? Signals curiosity without abandoning your own experience.
What do you need me to understand? Gives them the same opportunity you want for yourself.
Step 5

What simple solutions or next steps could you suggest?

You do not need to arrive with the entire solution. Think about the smallest clear request, agreement, boundary, or next step that could move the situation forward.

Your Difficult Conversation Plan.

Use this as preparation, not a script you have to perform perfectly. Take what helps you stay clear and present, and leave room for the actual conversation to unfold.

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