Can difficult or tough conversations be pre-managed?

Managing difficult or tough conversation.

by Diane Shawe M.Ed IEBE

Unless you are on an island, it is not possible to avoid communicating with other people. Just stop for a moment, and think about how much time of your day you spend in conversation with other people? Whether in your car, in meetings, on the phone, by text message, e-mail or social media. Our days are frequently filled with short snippets of conversation and sometimes long exchanges.

Some people are better in conversation, while others prefer to write messages where they can take advantage of the delete key and work out the best wording. Have you taken some time to examine your approach? What are your results like; do you tend to have consistently peaceful conversations where people get heard and are listened to, or do they frequently de-compensate to a level of discussion that is argumentative or unpleasant or they just simply mis-interpret what you though you said or what they thought they heard?

Conversations can be a challenge, and we also have to be aware of the conversation going on inside our head at the same time. What if we say the wrong thing, or we are speaking carefully but our body language or voice is sending a very different message? How are we supposed to manage all that?

Fortunately, we can learn techniques to help prevent conversations from getting difficult and recognise what to do if they go off track. We can also learn how to get to the heart of a problem, move through a conversation, and keep it focused on the future instead of spinning in circles.

We can all benefit from a little education on dealing with difficult or tough conversations. Speaking and presentation coaches can help, but in the heat of the moment they aren’t perched on our shoulders whispering what we should be saying.

Our previous clients tell us that our courses are ideal for workplace training and development. They appreciate that our courses are up to date, relevant, and globally accredited. More than that, they are also excited to see that our courses are available in a format that they can use for e-Learning, either as the approach for the whole course or for a 1 day blended learning approach.

We have just released our Managing Difficult Conversations Training course. We believe that training courses need to be designed with busy people in mind. Our new training course include everything you need to help you, your staff or leaders hold challenging conversations!

From understanding the impact of body language and how your voice is projected, facial expressions, to formulating questions that get to the underlying problem. Our course provide information on many hands-on techniques and will also help you learn how to apply positive intent, how to use our process to plan a conversation, and how to implement and follow up on an action plan.

You can enrol on our course on line in our 4 week e-learning program, or you can opt for a 1 day intense learning experience workshops.

2 responses to “Can difficult or tough conversations be pre-managed?

  1. These are the respiratory and the cardiovascular systems.

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  2. I have been asked what the difference between a book and a course, so here is my reply:

    The first main difference is that we are working in real time, delivering a course that can help empower participants immediately with a variety to tips, case study and role plays. Immediate results, and not all people have the time to read quickly.

    Most people avoid difficult conversations, most the time they know it is coming, but they think if they put it off, it might get easier later. So what happens is that, the conversation comes up at the most inconvenient time (when one is not ready) and all types of problems often defensive arguments twist and change the course of the conversation.

    However if you Choose to Have the Conversation then we will show you how to
    Considering the Consequences by Establishing Your Frame of Reference, Establishing Positive Intent, Identifying the Desired Outcome,
    Apply Toolkit for Successful Conversations such as Managing Your Body Language, Speaking Persuasively, Active Listening, Asking Questions, Probing Techniques, Choosing the Time and Place and understanding how to prepare Framework for Difficult Conversations and stay focused on What’s Your Purpose, Steps for a Difficult Conversation, Creating a Conversation Template, Staying Safe and how to Test the Water.

    Because we are all using multi types of conversation, text, voice, personal, media etc., a lot of people have not learnt the skill to effectively deal with difficult and tough conversations. Thats where we come in.

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