I have been giving talks around the world at conferences and privately for organizations for over 25 years.
My talks are about how we might better connect, communicate, make better sense of the world, learn from each other and work together more effectively.
My interest is in people, our behaviors and the way we interact – not technology. I mainly focus on the role of face-to-face conversation – not just in a business or organizational setting but in our personal lives and more broadly in society.
I aim to wake people up to the power of conversation in our lives.
Each of my talks is tailored to my audience and I like to pose questions in my talks.
Here are some brief descriptions of the types of talks that I give:
- The Knowledge Café: What are the benefits of sitting around talking?
In this presentation, I talk about the power of conversation and the rationale behind the Knowledge Café. I describe the process and some of the many applications.
People leave with a better appreciation of the power of conversation and a sufficient understanding of the Knowledge Café that they can start to adopt the principles in their everyday work.
- Business is a Conversation: What really is your job as a knowledge worker?
Business is a conversation quite literally and conversations are the most important form of work. In this talk, I explore the role of conversation in business.
People leave this talk with a heightened awareness of the role of conversation in their work and some simple but powerful ideas as to how they can be more effective by making their work more conversational.
- Conversational Leadership: Is conversation the most powerful leadership tool ever invented?
In this talk, I explore the concept of Conversational Leadership – a style of working where people understand the transformative power of conversation and take a conversational approach to the way that they connect, relate, learn and work with each other.
People come away from this presentation with a new view as to what constitutes leadership and how they can take on a leadership role, whatever their position in the organization, through the way that they interact with other people and how they hold and convene conversations.
Conversational Talks
I try to practice what I preach and all my talks are conversational talks where I allow time for reflection and conversation between my presentation and the Q&A at the end of my presentation.
This short video is an example of the conversation at the end of one of my talks given in a traditional lecture theatre. It was taken at an evening talk I gave on Conversational Leadership to members of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) at the Middlesex University Dubai Campus in March 2015.