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Ask, “And What Else?” to Help Navigate Difficult Conversations

Thorin Klosowski

When you're having a difficult conversation it's easy to let emotions run high and start reacting right away. However, 99U recommends you take a more leveled approach, and ask the simple question, "And what else?" to flesh out the conversation and get to the heart of the issue.

The idea here is to keep your reaction as simple as possible, without you having to offer any advice to the other person. This gives you time to react with a level head and also gives the other person time to work through their thought. 99U explains:

"And what else?" is one of the most powerful questions according to Michael Bungay Stanier in his book, Do More Great Work. He offers variations on this theme: "Do you have any further thoughts on this?" and "Can you think of anything else?"

The end result is a better understanding of a high stakes conversation for both parties involved, and hopefully gives everyone enough time to ease the tension of a difficult talk. Head over to 99U for a few more ways to get through tough conversations.