By Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland
November 12, 2007

The most important people in your life sometimes can be the most difficult to talk with when it comes to discussing things that really matter. To give families a means for overcoming the barriers to important conversations, Nationwide has partnered with Harvard communications expert Sheila Heen to develop the Have the TalkSM program. The program even sets aside November 20 as the date to have “the talk.”

Heen is co-author of The New York Times business bestseller Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Penguin 2000), a book used by business executives, marriage counselors, executive coaches, mediators, astronauts, hostage negotiators, diplomats, therapists, teachers, parents and even tango teachers to help people talk through disagreements and frustrations.

Talks about money, retirement, teenage responsibility and more may be hard to have, but very important. The Have the Talk program offers a website (www.HaveTheTalkAmerica.com) that provides tips, tools and humor to help people get past the barriers keeping them from actually having important discussions. Users can even create online videos to invite others to have “the talk.”

The website is noncommercial; it does not promote any products or services. Rather, it is a resource to help families successfully discuss the personal or financial issues that may have gone unresolved for years. For more information about the Have the Talk program, contact your Nationwide representative or call toll-free 877-677-3678.

Nationwide Retirement Solutions is the administrator of the United States Conference of Mayors Deferred Compensation Program. For more information about the program, contact Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland at 301-460-5251 or send e-mail to kweyland@usmayors.org. Or you may contact Louie Watson, Vice President for Strategic Relationships, Nationwide Retirement Solutions at 614-854-8895 or send e-mail to WatsonL2@nationwide.com.