“You’re Empowered!” Audiobook Helps Parents Communicate with Teens; Named Finalist for Ben Franklin Award

You’re Empowered! Parenting Teens with Conviction, Communication and Love has been named as a top-three finalist for a 2009 Benjamin Franklin Award for best audiobook-nonfiction. The Benjamin Franklin Awards are among the most respected Book Awards in the country and recognize excellence in both editorial and design. The award is administered by the Independent Book Publishers Association, IBPA, (formerly PMA) with the help of industry professionals coming from the library, bookstore, reviewer, designer, publicity and editorial markets.

I am a big fan of audio content. Commuters, runners and parents who spend hours in the car each week transporting kids have great opportunities to listen to valuable and beneficial audio programming. I developed this program so parents can listen when it’s convenient for you, and the 28 page workbook accompanies the audio so that you can revisit the concepts and make some notes. The Parents’ Action Tool makes the program even more concrete and actionable. This program is created for typical parents with typical teens.

This 3-hour audiobook (available as an MP3 download or as a 3-CD set) looks at parenting teens through a communications framework because I believe the key to raising teenagers is good communication.

• The first CD is titled De-Mystifying Teens. In it we examine three Growth and Development Factors and three Invisible Motivators. When parents understand more about why kids behave the way they do, it is easier to understand your teen and find ways to motivate, communicate and support them.

• The second hour is titled simply Improving Communication. Here we look at obstacles to communication and common mistakes that parents make. Then we look at how parents can improve your listening skills, and various approaches and tactics to improve your communication effectiveness. For the most part, parents don’t need to rework your approach…improving communication is a matter of making little tweaks and adjustments. This feels very doable using these relatively simple tactics.

• In the third hour of the program we look at Keeping Your Teens Safe from Risky Behavior. Examining risky behavior through a communications lens is a unique approach, and a very valid one. It is through effective communication that parents have the best possibility to influence kids and diminish tendencies for experimentation. We examine alcohol use, drug use and sexual activity, providing a combination of facts and communication approaches that parents can use.

Creating this audiobook was a ton of fun…and it was a bigger challenge than I had imagined. Honestly, it felt a bit surreal when I found myself in a sound studio last summer… I love public speaking but I had never imagined myself in a recording studio before! Erik Kilburn at Wellspring Sound in Acton, MA proved to be a great co-producer for the program and helped me craft it so I’m very proud of the end result. Lynne Griffin, a dear friend and colleague provided some excellent consultation and pushed me to make the content clear and concrete. My graphic designer, Susan Williams designed the cover and the workbook. The 28-page workbook is a valuable product by itself!

I look forward to attending the Benjamin Franklin Awards on May 28 in New York City. The product is competing in a broad category – audiobooks/nonfiction – so it is competing with two other programs that have nothing to do with parenting at all. It will be interesting to see what happens…and if I win I’ll be sure to announce it here!

Listen to an audio excerpt from the program introduction as well as download the Parents’ Action Tool, which is included the program.

We’re releasing the press release today. If you are in the media and would like a copy of this audiobook for a possible review please call me or drop me an email. More info, including a company fact sheet, bio etc is posted in the Press Kit area of this site. Or you can click to see the Press Release, Q & A and a Parenting Tips page from the workbook.