Revisiting March 20 (Courtesy of Ben Franklin)

Of the posts I've published to date, my March 20 one entitled "Toward More Meaningful Conversations" has received the most views so far. In light of that, as I was recently listening to a Learning Company CD on Ben Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanac", I felt compelled to re-visit that earlier post.

Franklin suggests in "...Almanac"  that we can enhance conversations by replacing statements beginning with "I believe...." or "I think..." with "It is possible that....".  It is possible this one simple language change will be the most important conversational tool I've learned this past year. On March 20 I alluded to the pitfalls involved when expressing opinions in a conversation. Franklin's 18th century wisdom will help me avoid those pitfalls and bring my own conversations to a new level. It is possible it could do the same for you. I am reminded of the Buddhist expression "When a student is ready, a teacher appears".  What have any of you learned recently about more meaningful conversations?

Thanks to all of you who have viewed this blog, given me feedback, talked to me about anything I've written, or have joined these conversations by adding a comment after an individual post.