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CONVERSATION COMEBACK

A Teacher’s Guide to Class Discussion in a Distracted, Divided World

Cover of "Conversation Comeback" by Liza Garonzik. Top image: Teens using phones. Bottom image: Engaged students in discussion. Tone: Educational, dynamic.

About the Book

Today’s teachers are navigating a Conversation Crisis in their classrooms. When it is time to talk, students shut down, becoming withdrawn, anxious, argumentative, or performative. It is understandable. Kids are growing up in a world where it is easier to text than talk, screens shrink attention spans, algorithms skew perspectives, politics are polarized, and AI undercuts authenticity. The consequence is a generation lacking the real-world skills that sustain classrooms and communities.

Conversation Comeback steps into this gap with R.E.A.L.® Discussion. It offers a research-informed, practice-proven, utterly-optimistic framework for teaching the communication skills our distracted, divided world urgently needs.

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Praise for Conversation Comeback

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  • “If we want young people to thrive in a fast-changing, polarized world, they need to constructively engage in authentic dialogue. Conversation Comeback gives educators a coherent, actionable system for building essential human skills like curiosity, listening, and empathy. A must-read for this moment.”
    Jeff Wetzler
    Co-founder of Transcend and Author of Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You
  • “As we all scramble to meet the current moment, Liza Garonzik urges us to lean into the power of discussion skills—and in Conversation Comeback, she shows us exactly how to do so through shared language, classroom practices, and deliberate routines that can help teachers unlock richer engagement.”
    Dr. Emily Weinstein
    Co-founder, Center for Digital Thriving at Harvard Graduate School of Education and Principal Investigator, Project Zero
  • “Whether we call them durable skills, human skills, or character skills, they are essential to young people’s success. Garonzik makes the case that the best way to build them is through high-quality classroom discussion. I wish I had Conversation Comeback 30 years ago when I was struggling to lead discussions in my classes.”
    Mike Flanagan
    CEO of E3n and Former CEO of Mastery Transcript Consortium
  • “Conversation Comeback offers teachers a practical framework—R.E.A.L.® Discussion—to rebuild students’ skills and revive the art of deep discussion in today’s classrooms. With clear strategies and frameworks, this book aims to equip educators to foster authentic conversation, deeper learning, and stronger classroom communities in a tech-driven and AI-forward world.“
    Debra Wilson
    President, National Association of Independent Schools
  • “In an age of algorithms and overwhelm, Conversation Comeback turns classrooms into constellations, where meaningful attention isn’t fixed at the front or diluted across the desks, but shaped together. I’d normally recommend buying a copy. But better yet, buy two —keep one close and give one away.”
    Matthew Barzun
    Author of The Power of Giving Away Power and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Sweden
  • “Engaging with each other— face-to-face, human-to-human is an existential challenge of our increasingly tech-driven era. There is simply no skill we can teach our children that is more critical than the ability to listen to and converse with others. Conversation Comeback is a guidebook that belongs in every teacher’s toolkit.“
    Grant Lichtman
    Author of Thrive: How Schools Will Win the Education Revolution

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Liza Garonzik

About the Author

Liza Garonzik is the founder of R.E.A.L.® Discussion, which partners with schools to teach, measure, and celebrate conversation skills. A former teacher and school leader, she has worked across classrooms, departments, and boards to help educators lead the Conversation Comeback our world needs. Liza is a frequent contributor to the public discourse on human skills in our rapidly changing, complex world through podcasts, conferences, and print media.

Get in touch with Liza Garonzik about the book by emailing:

Find Liza in the Press

Conversation Comeback Companion Tools

Ready to make R.E.A.L.® Discussion a reality at your school? Here are some freebie resources to get you started.

Access REsources

Learning R.E.A.L.® Skills:

Printable Resource for Middle School Students

Learning R.E.A.L.® Skills:

Printable Resource for High School Students

Learning R.E.A.L.® Routines:

A Teacher’s Guide

Reflecting on R.E.A.L.® Assessment:

A Teacher’s Guide

R.E.A.L.® Discussion Classroom Poster

“Let’s Discuss Discussion:”

Facilitator’s Guide for Conversation Comeback

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About R.E.A.L.® Discussion

R.E.A.L.® Discussion is a framework for teaching the four foundational skills that make conversations meaningful: Relate, Excerpt, Ask, and Listen. It gives teachers shared language, classroom routines, and evidence-based assessment models while giving students the tools they need to grow as communicators (and listeners!).

Learn More About R.E.A.L. Discussion