Hello: Getting Started

Hello is a non-threatening way to start conversations about end of life issues and serious illness, but it can still be a challenge to get a game started with your friends and family.

The conversations you’ll have while playing Hello will be meaningful and even fun, but inviting people to play the game can sometimes be challenging.

Here are some tips for inviting people to play:

• Start with a preview. Leave the game out on a table, hand out the Questions booklets in advance, or pick your favorite question from the booklet and ask it at a dinner or on a car trip.
• Start short. Ask friends or family to play the game with you for a limited amount of time. Asking people to play for 20 minutes can be easier than asking for an open-ended amount of time, and you can always extend the game if everyone wants to.
• Ask the people you’d like to play with you what their fears and hopes are about talking about end-of-life issues
• Be open and honest about your own fears and hopes about the game
  Sometimes we assume that we’re the only person who wants to have these kinds of conversations, and it turns out that many of the people we care about think they’re the only one, too.