Control The Conversation

Where were you tonight? How did that meeting go? Are you seeing someone else? What qualifies you for this job? These are just a few of the usual questions we might answer in a day. A typical answer to the last question would include a series of "whats": what experience you have, what you studied in school, and what you do well. In Control the Conversation, the authors guide you in crafting a response to a question, not just an answer. A response should be multi-dimensional and include relevant and compelling information that goes beyond a mere answer. The authors help you build and apply this skill set. You will learn how to manage the four areas of disclosure--people, places, things, and events in time. You will also develop competence in techniques that will help you take control and get your message across in any kind of interview. You will discover how to: Master answer enhancers, such as keywords and body language Analyze a question and understand the motivation behind it Use questions artfully as part of your response With these skills as part of your repertoire, you'll also learn apply them in specific applications such as: Job interviews Sales Common exchanges Meetings and media Dating and family situations No matter the question, Control the Conversation will show you how to steer every exchange in your favor.

An eye-opening look at the sin of gossip and what to do about it.

What's the secret to sales success? If you're like most business leaders, you'd say it's fundamentally about relationships-and you'd be wrong. The best salespeople don't just build relationships with customers. They challenge them. The need to understand what top-performing reps are doing that their average performing colleagues are not drove Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson, and their colleagues at Corporate Executive Board to investigate the skills, behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes that matter most for high performance. And what they discovered may be the biggest shock to conventional sales wisdom in decades. Based on an exhaustive study of thousands of sales reps across multiple industries and geographies, The Challenger Sale argues that classic relationship building is a losing approach, especially when it comes to selling complex, large-scale business-to-business solutions. The authors' study found that every sales rep in the world falls into one of five distinct profiles, and while all of these types of reps can deliver average sales performance, only one-the Challenger- delivers consistently high performance. Instead of bludgeoning customers with endless facts and features about their company and products, Challengers approach customers with unique insights about how they can save or make money. They tailor their sales message to the customer's specific needs and objectives. Rather than acquiescing to the customer's every demand or objection, they are assertive, pushing back when necessary and taking control of the sale. The things that make Challengers unique are replicable and teachable to the average sales rep. Once you understand how to identify the Challengers in your organization, you can model their approach and embed it throughout your sales force. The authors explain how almost any average-performing rep, once equipped with the right tools, can successfully reframe customers' expectations and deliver a distinctive purchase experience that drives higher levels of customer loyalty and, ultimately, greater growth.

“WE NEED TO TALK.” In this urgent and insightful book, public radio journalist Celeste Headlee shows us how to bridge what divides us--by having real conversations BASED ON THE TED TALK WITH OVER 10 MILLION VIEWS NPR's Best Books of 2017 Winner of the 2017 Silver Nautilus Award in Relationships & Communication “We Need to Talk is an important read for a conversationally-challenged, disconnected age. Headlee is a talented, honest storyteller, and her advice has helped me become a better spouse, friend, and mother.” (Jessica Lahey, author of New York Times bestseller The Gift of Failure) Today most of us communicate from behind electronic screens, and studies show that Americans feel less connected and more divided than ever before. The blame for some of this disconnect can be attributed to our political landscape, but the erosion of our conversational skills as a society lies with us as individuals. And the only way forward, says Headlee, is to start talking to each other. In We Need to Talk, she outlines the strategies that have made her a better conversationalist—and offers simple tools that can improve anyone’s communication. For example: BE THERE OR GO ELSEWHERE. Human beings are incapable of multitasking, and this is especially true of tasks that involve language. Think you can type up a few emails while on a business call, or hold a conversation with your child while texting your spouse? Think again. CHECK YOUR BIAS. The belief that your intelligence protects you from erroneous assumptions can end up making you more vulnerable to them. We all have blind spots that affect the way we view others. Check your bias before you judge someone else. HIDE YOUR PHONE. Don’t just put down your phone, put it away. New research suggests that the mere presence of a cell phone can negatively impact the quality of a conversation. Whether you’re struggling to communicate with your kid’s teacher at school, an employee at work, or the people you love the most—Headlee offers smart strategies that can help us all have conversations that matter.

Never Get Angry Again is New York Times and internationally bestselling author David J. Lieberman's comprehensive, holistic look at the underlying emotional, physical, and spiritual causes of anger, and a practical guide to what the reader can do to gain perspective. David J. Lieberman understands that a change in perspective is all that is needed to help keep from flying off the handle. In Never Get Angry Again, he reveals how to see anger through a comprehensive, holistic lens, illuminates the underlying emotional, spiritual, and physical components of anger, and gives the readers simple, practical tools to snuff out anger before it even occurs. Take a deep breath and count to ten. Meditate. Visualize your happy place. You’ve probably heard all of these anger management techniques and more from friends, family, and experts, but somehow they miss the mark when it comes to coping with the complex emotion of anger. Let’s face it: if anger-management techniques were effective, you wouldn’t be reading this book. These clumsy attempts to maintain calmness are usually futile and sometimes emotionally draining. The fact is, either something bothers us (causing anxiety, frustration, or anger), or it doesn’t. A state of calm is better accomplished by not becoming agitated in the first place. When we fight the urge to blow up or melt down, we fight against our own nature.

Keep your cool and get the results you want when faced with crucial conversations. This New York Times bestseller and business classic has been fully updated for a world where skilled communication is more important than ever. The book that revolutionized business communications has been updated for today’s workplace. Crucial Conversations provides powerful skills to ensure every conversation—especially difficult ones—leads to the results you want. Written in an engaging and witty style, the book teaches readers how to be persuasive rather than abrasive, how to get back to productive dialogue when others blow up or clam up, and it offers powerful skills for mastering high-stakes conversations, regardless of the topic or person. This new edition addresses issues that have arisen in recent years. You’ll learn how to: Respond when someone initiates a crucial conversation with you Identify and address the lag time between identifying a problem and discussing it Communicate more effectively across digital mediums When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation poorly and suffer the consequences; or apply the lessons and strategies of Crucial Conversations and improve relationships and results. Whether they take place at work or at home, with your coworkers or your spouse, crucial conversations have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future. With the skills you learn in this book, you'll never have to worry about the outcome of a crucial conversation again.

If you have to influence others through conversations, you will benefit from the ten important lessons in this book. You'll get a clear formula for success, practical advice and valuable ideas that you can apply right away. This book will reshape how you interact with your clients and colleagues and give you newfound power and ease in your career and important communications. There is no skill more important than the ability to be effective in your conversations.

Small talk, big victory--your guide to managing social anxiety and making conversation Leave your anxious feelings at the door in any social situation--and see a world of possibilities open up for you. Stress-Free Small Talk is filled with strategies, advice, conversation-starters, practical activities, and mindfulness-based exercises for people who want to manage their social anxiety and engage in small talk with anyone. Take control of any casual interaction with tips for introducing yourself, universal topics of discussion, active listening, asking questions, talking with someone who disagrees with you, how to politely exit a conversation, and much more. Stress-Free Small Talk includes: Embrace your fears--Learn to understand your nervous feelings, set appropriate expectations, and prepare for social encounters--so you can make small talk comfortably. Real-life scenarios--Get advice for day-to-day social situations, like attending a party full of strangers, going on a blind date, or getting seated next to a chatty passenger on an airplane. Great first impressions--Discover tips and tools for making strong first impressions, including maintaining good posture, making regular and natural eye contact, and beyond. Look who's talking now! If you've been searching for a helpful how-to guide to reducing anxiety and making small talk so that you can navigate social situations with ease, this book has you covered.