The Power of Deep Conversations: What Chris Burnett Learned While Interviewing 70 of His Friends and Family

Friendship IRL

The holidays are here, which means many of us will be spending time with family and friends over the next couple months. It’s the perfect time to talk about deep conversations with people we care about.
Today’s episode features Chris Burnett, who, in 2020, started a personal project to reconnect with people in his life. It started with weekly calls to catch up. Then, he began asking if he could interview them about their lives.
To date, Chris has recorded more than 70 conversations. After seeing the impact this project had on himself and his people, he decided to share the idea with a broader audience. His book, Conversations: Connecting with People in Our Lives, was released in November.
When Chris reached out to join us on Friendship IRL, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Having these deep conversations with people we care about is so important. It strengthens our relationships and allows us a better perspective of our people and ourselves.
In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Chris’s project: how it began (catching up with one person a week) and how that grew into him reaching out for recorded interviews, and then, a book
• Interview format – the wording Chris used during his initial contact, and how he structures the phone conversations
• How these deep conversations can help the person “interviewed” feel special, and how the interviews rekindled lots of relationships for Chris
• My personal story about sitting with friends and talking about why we admire each other, and the impact this had on us
• How the experience helped Chris learn about his friends and family and reflect on his own life and childhood

Resources & Links
A reminder – I have a two-part episode about men’s friendships, Episode 31 and 32.
Be sure to check out Conversations: Connecting with People in Our Lives by Chris Burnett, which is now available on Amazon.
Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram!
Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!