3. Ask questions

We like to talk about topics that interest us. But to have better conversations, step out of yourself for a moment and think more about the other person.

Ask open-ended questions, starting with who, what, when, where, why or how. "What was that like?" "How...

While you don’t want to dwell on your mistakes, reflecting on them can be productive. Ask yourself a few tough questions:

• What went wrong?

• What could I do better next time?

• What did I learn from this?

Seeing your answers on paper can help ...

Someone might resort to guilt when they don’t know how to advocate for themselves in more direct ways.

If you notice signs suggestive of guilt-tripping, use open-ended questions to encourage them to express themselves directly:

• “You seem upset. What’s going on?”
• “It s...