Transcript of What to say to someone who is struggling | Mel Robbins #Shorts

Maybe it's a friend that has a cancer diagnosis, or maybe you find out that somebody's parent got dementia and their hospice is called in. What are some of the things not to say and what can you say?

Let me start with what you can lead with, which is perhaps that you don't know what to say if you don't know what to say. That's a great place to begin.

What does that mean?

I don't know what to say. This sounds really tough. This is a really big deal. This sounds really difficult for you, but I really don't know what to say now. That's a great place to begin. Rather than try to fill the space with platitudes and the things that we think that we're supposed to say, we can just begin with saying, I don't know what to say, and acknowledge and validate their experience. It sounds really hard. Or, How are you feeling? How are you doing with this news? I think if we can keep our focus on the person who is in the experience of it, then we can avoid getting into some really yucky, muddy waters where we're trying to tell them how to feel about their experience.