What Not to Say

• "My family talks like this all the time."
• "I found myself saying things like this during the course of my day."
• "Oh, I say all of these things."

• A new way to look at relationships
• A helpful catalogue of words Not to use in your relationships
• A bit of rye humor to make the reading more interesting
• A new way to build more positive and productive relationships

Listen carefully to yourself, and to the people around you!

Relationship Dysfunctional Behaviors (RDBs) are brief reactions to what the listener hears in the dialogue of the people around them. They become triggers for bad things to happen in the relationships between all parties. They also become the basis for nasty putdowns, and unfortunately a well paved road to misunderstandings and failing relationships.

RDBs are easy enough to catch on to, since once you know what you are listening for, they jump right out at you. They are awkward, unwieldy, and unhelpful to productive, effective, and happy relationships. In short, they usually cause trouble!

Some are so ubiquitous in our daily language they are taken as reasonable, and proper speech. But that does not mean they are useful, or helpful, in our dialogues with others. Building an awareness of RDBs, you can steer a new course, and move away from the putdowns, anger, and misunderstandings that lead to troubled relationships.

Start improving your communication skills and relationships now! Where should you start? What it takes is a bit of "Fun with RDBs." It may be best to start on page "one," in order to smoothly develop your understanding and identification of what RDBs are and how they typically occur in communications, so you can find alternative ways to communicate with others.