Earlier this week I promised to cover labels as a tactic you can use in Why Conversations.

Labels are a communication strategy that defuses negatives and reinforces positives. They make the client feel heard and understood.

A label is a single-sentence observation, question, or statement phrased similar to “it sounds like…”, “it seems like…”, “it feels like…”, or “it looks like…”.*

Some examples:

It seems like there’s something about this you’re not comfortable with.

It sounds like you have some hesitation about doing this.

It feels like you’re excited about having another kid.

It’s important to leave a few seconds of silence to give them the opportunity to respond to your label because a label prompts them to elaborate.

I’ll talk about common pitfalls with labels next week.

Josh

*This is an oversimplification of what labels are, but a good place to start.