Brendan Kelly

speaker

164 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jun 2026 last heard 28 Jun

Brendan Kelly’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 1.

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Brendan O'Connor · Conversations To Have With Your Parents Before They Die · 28 Jun 2026 podcast

So you do need ways into these topics.

And, you know, very often approaching things directly is not the way to go.

So, for example, family events are a good time for reminiscing.

Photo albums are a really good way to do it.

Or asking some gentle, general questions is a way to bring a conversation around.

For some people, doing an activity is far better than a face-to-face conversation.

People tend to confide when they're, as they say, shoulder-to-shoulder focused on a task.

Very often, things can bubble to the surface rather than necessarily sitting down.

You know, the aim is communication rather than interrogation.

And that's where the really important emotional information bubbles up to the surface.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

And a really good way into the topic is not to talk about the other person that can make them feel self-conscious, but to start by talking about yourself.

I could put forward the view that now having reached the age of 52, I can honestly say I've learned absolutely nothing about life at all.

And if I was asked for wisdom, I would have zero to impart.

And this is maybe a good way to say to an older adult, look, is this the case always?

Or, you know, are there any grown-ups, in fact, at all?

So often by talking about yourself, you can invite people in to a conversation in a way that doesn't feel confrontational and doesn't feel like a deathbed interrogation.

OK.

Is that necessarily a good idea?

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