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  • The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility

The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility

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Format: Paperback
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Product Description

It's time for a conversation revival!

Conversation is getting harder. We're feeling more isolated. Loneliness is becoming an epidemic. The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting Again in an Age of Isolation and Incivility reflects one of the deepest passions of Dr. Heather Holleman's heart: to connect people in loving community. Professor Holleman often fields questions like:

How can I foster meaningful connection with others?

Why doesn't anyone ever ask meaningful questions?

If my personal happiness depends upon having warm relationships—like all the research shows—how can I become a better conversationalist and create connection?  

Can you relate? Are you longing for loving, meaningful, and joyful conversations? For practical skills to connect with others? Heather invites us to reimagine better conversations. Her work demonstrates how we can develop authentic community by changing our relational mindsets to become more curious, to believe the best about others, to express concern about their lives, and to share our own. Heather shows us how to embrace the Four Mindsets of a Loving Conversation and the Three Fresh Goals for Conversation. Using the latest research, she shares the foundational training necessary for engaging in truly loving conversations. Readers will be equipped with effective questions, self-assessments, and action steps to immediately implement in any situation—both personally and professionally.

If you desire deeper relationships with your spouse, dating partner, children, friends, in-laws, grandchildren, coworkers, clients, students, people in your neighborhood—or all the above—then read this book and grow in the art of The Six Conversations!


About the Authors

Heather Holleman
DR. HEATHER HOLLEMAN is an associate teaching professor at Penn State, speaker, and author. She designs advanced writing curriculum for the English department and loves helping students thrive professionally. She has written eight books, including the bestseller Seated With Christ: Living Freely in a Culture of Comparison; and an award-winning book on evangelism (co-written with her husband Ashley Holleman) called Sent: Living a Life that Invites Others to Jesus. Her forthcoming book The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility (Fall 2022) helps fight the loneliness epidemic by inviting readers to enjoy better conversations. Heather also serves with Faculty Commons in the professor and graduate student ministry of Cru. She has two daughters and three cats, and she blogs daily at www.heatherholleman.com. Her podcast is "The Verb with Heather Holleman." When she's not writing or teaching, Heather is growing a plum orchard, looking for turtles in the woods, or gathering with friends for dinner and a movie.

Endorsements

"The extent of our isolation and loneliness is tragically evident everywhere—and this beautifully written and carefully crafted book is a powerful antidote. Its simple practices offer the experience promised to us in the Bible that 'where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them' (Matt. 18:20). Here is a path forward to the connectedness that can bring us out of terrifying isolation and into the experience of the sacred. I am very grateful that this book exists!"
—Margaret Wheatley
Author of ten books, including Leadership and the New Science and Who Do We Choose to Be?

 "In a world desperately in need of connection, this book is the tool we have been waiting for. As a counselor, I see people longing for heart connection but lacking the tools for conversation. This book is a life-changing treasure chest full of practical tips to help us find a community that has depth and connection. Heather's writing feels like having coffee with a friend who is training us how to have meaningful relationships through the beautiful art of conversations."
—Jennifer Hand
Author of My Yes Is on the Table and podcast host of Coming Alive Conversations

"I smiled many times reading this book; I could feel Heather's loving, curious, and enthusiastic energy shine through—she walks the talk! The best of life is indeed conversation, and Heather shares powerful mindsets and frameworks to add vitality, meaning, and connection to any and all of our conversations."
—Georgie Nightingall
Founder of Trigger Conversations (a London-based human connection organization)

"As a communication professor, I am constantly looking for resources and guides to help my students better engage in the process of relationship building. I am so excited about The Six Conversations by Heather Holleman. At a time when people are increasingly divisive, we need more trained communicators who are willing to build bridges."
—Heather Thompson Day
Author of It's Not Your Turn

"When you read Heather Holleman's new book, The Six Conversations, you will see how she not only knows how to connect with students, she also helps them grow in their ability to connect with others. And now Heather is doing the same for you and me! Before you finish reading The Six Conversations, you will be buying additional books to give to your friends and family to help them grow in their ability to connect with others too!"
—Bob Tiede
Blogger at LeadingWithQuestions.com; author of five popular books, including Great Leaders ASK Questions and Now That's a Great Question

"If there was ever a time this book was needed, it is now! We live in a social media world filled with distractions, isolation, and incivility. In this book, Dr. Heather Holleman intervenes to revive the art of conversation that leads to deeper connections, something all of us desire. Our world desperately needs faith-filled communicators who can connect and engage with others, no matter their background, lifestyle, or beliefs. This book is life-changing!"
—Jen Bennett
Assistant Professor of Communication; host of the She Impacts Culture podcast; author of #BeWorthFollowing: How to Be Different and Influence People in a Crowded Social World

"As codirector of the Winsome Conviction Project, I've seen many conversations blow up with voices raised and relationships strained, or even severed. I've also seen some amazingly civil and compassionate conversations between people who deeply disagree. What's made the difference? How much we think about not just what we want to say, but how to say it. Dr. Holleman's book is a perfect tool for helping us understand how to develop a loving mindset heading into a conversation and how to maintain it when things get heated."
—Tim Muehlhoff
Professor of Communication, Biola University; author of Winsome Conviction: Disagreeing without Dividing the Church

"We are living in times of strife and deep division. Our inability to hear and connect with others keeps us isolated and lonely. This is true on a national scale as well as within communities and in homes. Dr. Heather Holleman offers an accessible way for all of us to learn the skill of deeper connection through meaningful conversation. This is a worthwhile and practical book that I will return to over and over."
—Vivian Mabuni
Author of Open Hands, Willing Heart; podcast host of Someday Is Here

Free Resources

Product Details

ISBN: 978-0-8024-2939-1
Publish Date: October 2022
Dimensions: 5.25 x 8
Format: Paperback