025: Family Meeting: The Art & Magic of Encouragement Questions

With the holidays fast approaching, oftentimes family time shifts into high gear—and that means a perfect chance to connect! This week, we're giving you a simple, powerful tool called the Encouragement Question. It's built on a core idea: when kids (or even adults!) act out, it's often because they feel discouraged. While it's a standard piece of your Family Meeting, it's actually a superpower you can use anywhere. Encouragement Questions are simply practice for listening without commenting. Just focus on hearing their thoughts, not shaping them. 🧘‍♀️ Quick Tips for a Great Question: Keep it Open: Your question needs to be open-ended (there are no right or wrong answers!). No Pressure Zone: Encourage people to pass if they don't want to answer—zero pressure! 🙅‍♂️ Why This Works This low-stakes activity helps everyone—from the toddler to the teens—feel heard, valued, and understood, building mattering in real-time. By genuinely making space for silly thoughts or deep feelings, you send a powerful signal: who they are today is completely enough. ❤️ Pro Tip: Jot down hilarious or insightful answers! It's fun to look back at their wisdom later. ✍️     Join the Conversation: Your ideas and questions matter. We would love to hear your original encouragement questions so we can share with our listeners. Share your thoughts on Instagram or drop us an email at [email protected]. 🙏Subscribe & Rate: If you're enjoying the podcast, please take a moment to rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcasts.  ⁉️Questions/Suggestions/Feedback: Your feedback helps us continue bringing you helpful and insightful episodes. Please email us at [email protected] Hosts  Marjie Longshore, Founder of Family Leadership Center Paige Trevor, Parent Coach   Special thanks to editor Max Cotter, Marike Pienaar, and Wendy Tracy   Resources 📋Grab your PDF of Encouragement Questions  🎧 Louise and Marjie talk about the Essence of Encouragement♥️ We are getting rave reviews, order your kit for the holidays now!  Family Meeting Kit is AVAILABLE!  💻 Want more Positive Parenting Tips? Join Paige for a 1 hour online workshop November 19th. 🎁 Join our annual giving campaign so we can widen our Circle.    Stay Connected 📝Subscribe to the Family Leadership Center newsletter ⚖️Subscribe to Paige's newsletter