Parenting and Communication Skills

Parenting and Communication Skills - Parenting Like HannahIf you listen to most parents talk for very long, it becomes obvious many problems in families are actually communication problems. If you have ever said things like “They don’t seem to hear me” or “No matter what I say she gets mad” or almost any sentence involving listening or speaking, you may have communication issues too.

I was intrigued by the title of a new book I was offered to review. You Can’t Text a Tough Conversation by Mike Bechtle attempts to teach basic communication skills to a generation who has spent a lifetime condensing speech into a text. Although in some ways a primer, it had enough great reminders and new information to be helpful to even a somewhat practiced communicator.

The author breaks down the book into four main sections. The first basically makes his case for the need for teaching and learning how to communicate well. In the second section, he gives six tools for healthy conversations and six skills needed in the third section. The final section he uses to more or less put all of the pieces together into some general thoughts on communication circles, technology and more.

Sometimes books like this can be long on lecture and short on practical help. Honestly, from the title, that was what I was expecting from this one. Bechtle does a wonderful job though on making his point, but still giving tons of practical advice and tips. He shares personal stories to illustrate his points, but not so much that you begin to feel the book is more about him than the topic.

Throughout the book there were scattered about a dozen extremely powerful quotes and sections. To me those alone made the book worth reading and discussing. If you want to be a family that is faithful to God and productive in His Kingdom, communication is a skill your entire family needs to continually work on and improve. This book would be a great place to start the training and work.

Although the book is published by a faith based publishing company, there really was very little Bible in it – mainly a couple of Proverbs quoted. The concepts though are godly, even though the book reads more like a secular book. I wish since the author went with a faith based publisher, he would have explored that aspect of his topic a little more and included it in the book.

Regardless, this book has a lot of value for you and your kids. In fact, I would suggest having teens and more mature older children read it too. Then have some family discussions about the content. Does your family do these things well? What do you need to work on individually or as a family in regards to communications? Having strong communication skills will help your family in more ways than you can imagine.

 

 

 

 

This book was given to me in exchange for my honest review. An affiliate link is included for your convenience.

 

 

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Thereasa Winnett

Thereasa Winnett is the founder of Teach One Reach One and blogger at Parenting Like Hannah. She holds a BA in education from the College of William and Mary. She has served in all areas of ministry to children and teens for more than thirty years and regularly leads workshops for ministries and churches. She has conducted numerous workshops, including sessions at Points of Light’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the National Urban Ministry Conference, Pepperdine Bible Lectures, and Lipscomb’s Summer Celebration. Thereasa lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Greg, where she enjoys reading, knitting, traveling and cooking.

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