Meaningful Conversations invites readers who earnestly desire high achievement for all students in all American schools to the table for a nine-course meal of food for thought that, altogether, satisfies educators’ hunger for comprehensive and transformative school improvement. Addressing critical issues in contemporary schools—including leadership, school culture, curriculum, and assessment—this book offers conversation pieces that describe success standards for schools and conversation points that specifically address the unique responsibilities of district leaders, administrators, and teachers.
This book addresses the needs of children of all abilities, from those who use nonlinguistic forms of communication such as objects or body movements to those who use linguistic forms such as sign language or writing.
A former Senior Partner and Global Managing Director at the legendary design firm IDEO shows how to design conversations and meetings that are creative and impactful. Conversations are one of the most fundamental means of communicating we have as humans. At their best, conversations are unconstrained, authentic and open—two or more people sharing thoughts and ideas in a way that bridges our individual experiences, achieves a common goal. At their worst, they foster misunderstanding, frustration and obscure our real intentions. How often do you walk away from a conversation feeling really heard? That it moved the people in it forward in some important way? You’re not alone. In his practice as a designer, Fred Dust began to approach conversations differently. After years of trying to broker communication between colleagues and clients, he came to believe there had to a way to design the art of conversation itself with intention and purpose, but still artful and playful. Making Conversation codifies what he learned and outlines the seven elements essential to successful exchanges: Commitment, Creative Listening, Clarity, Context, Constraints, Change, and Create. Taken together, these seven elements form a set of resources anyone can use to be more deliberate and purposeful in making conversations work.
Conversations can be critical and destructive, or they can be generative and productive. This book shows how to guarantee your conversations will help people, organizations, and communities flourish. --
Do you feel prepared to initiate and facilitate meaningful, productive dialogues about race in your classroom? Are you looking for practical strategies to engage with your students? Inspired by Frederick Douglass's abolitionist call to action, "it is not light that is needed, but fire" Matthew Kay has spent his career learning how to lead students through the most difficult race conversations. Kay not only makes the case that high school classrooms are one of the best places to have those conversations, but he also offers a method for getting them right, providing candid guidance on: How to recognize the difference between meaningful and inconsequential race conversations. How to build conversational "safe spaces," not merely declare them. How to infuse race conversations with urgency and purpose. How to thrive in the face of unexpected challenges. How administrators might equip teachers to thoughtfully engage in these conversations. With the right blend of reflection and humility, Kay asserts, teachers can make school one of the best venues for young people to discuss race.
A holistic overview of the essential leading methods of techniques and a hands-on guide for business professionals and those in higher education. Communications, strategy and business development and growth are essential for success and profitability in the business process and are all topics that businessman Geoff Hudson-Searle covers in his essential new tome, Meaningful Conversations. Readers will gain insights into these themes and many more topical subjects, including a wide range of tips, models and techniques that will help to build strong and effective solutions in today’s business world. The terms ‘communications’, ‘strategy and business development’ and ‘growth’ have become overused during the last decade and have become devalued as a result. In this book Geoff aims to simplify these terms and to re-value management and leadership by addressing topics and subjects in each distinctive chapter, and in an accessible way. Meaningful Conversations is divided into these three key areas to make it easy to find the material you need. Each chapter within the three components relates strongly to each other but is also interrelated to all the other chapters. It is suitable for entrepreneurs who might not be sure of the path to take or who want to benefit from other people’s mistakes and failures. Other audiences include middle management or junior executives who are looking for a fascinating life story of courage, drive and inspiration, as well as graduates and college students, who will find information that will help prepare them for their careers.
Looks at the power of conversation for changing everything from personal relationships to organisational dysfunction, and then suggests conversation starters for meaningful discussions.
“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.
Full of practical tips and how-tos, this book will help you make your relationships better, deepen your intimacy with people you care for, and cultivate more love, understanding, and respect between you and others. Successful people confront well. They know that setting healthy boundaries improves relationships and can solve important problems. They have discovered that uncomfortable situations can be avoided or resolved through direct conversation. But most of us don't know how to have difficult conversations, and we see confrontation as scary or adversarial. Authors Henry Cloud and John Townsend take the principles from their award-winning and bestselling book, Boundaries, and apply them to a variety of the most common difficult situations and relationships in order to: Show how healthy confrontation can improve relationships Present the essentials of a good boundary-setting conversation Provide tips on preparing for the conversation Show how to tell people what you want, stop bad behavior, and deal with counterattack Give actual examples of conversations to have with your spouse, your date, your kids, your coworker, your parents, and more! This book is a practical handbook on positive confrontation that will help you finally have that difficult conversation you've been avoiding. Includes a discussion guide.
