Do you avoid telling people what you really think because you know they’ll get angry or drag their feet? When you “speak the truth,” do people get defensive or start blaming and making excuses?
In this 1-day advanced communication workshop, you’ll learn how to “speak the truth ” about any issue to employees, colleagues, bosses, customers, and even Board members.
You will learn how to…
- Eliminate the wasted time and money that comes from communication breakdowns and misunderstandings
- Create a culture of candor, trust, resilience and accountability
- Tackle “taboo topics” and “sacred cows” without bruising egos or starting turf wars
- Manage the personalities who drag their feet, play politics, and are passive-aggressive
- Resolve disagreements fully to increase buy-in and commitment
- Foster real teamwork, make smarter decisions, spark innovation, and solve problems more quickly
Anybody can talk about the fun stuff. But it’s your ability to speak the truth about the sensitive topics (without alienating people) that will determine your success as a leader.
If you want your employees to be accountable, inspired, productive, and innovative, then you MUST be able to speak the truth (without making people angry).
Here's what you'll learn... |
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| Module 1: Why and When to Speak the Truth |
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- Achieve shared goals and “expand the pie” in your conversations
- Avoid failed approaches like Bargaining, Battles, Submission and Avoidance
- Compartmentalize and manage any emotional baggage that causes self-destructive conversations
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| Module 2: The Structure and Flow of Truthful Conversations |
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- Separate Facts, Judgments, Feelings and Wants in every conversation
- Impose structure on your conversations to make the other party a better partner
- How to communicate when logic doesn’t work
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| Module 3: Lowering the Walls of Defensiveness, Anger and Embarrassment |
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- Avoid loaded “trigger words” that instantly make people defensive
- Test reactions with Tentative Truths before fully committing
- Use Experience Sharing rather than advice to convey your message
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| Module 4: Questioning to Discover the Truth and Generate Understanding |
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- Learn to ask questions that generate insight and understanding
- Develop a “collective truth” that improves the flow of information
- Discover the subtexts and hidden meanings in every conversation
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| Module 5: Speaking the Truth When You Don’t Have Power (e.g. you’re the Subordinate) |
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- Speak the truth without threatening their ego
- Transform yourself from being a Criticizer into an Advisor
- Use Assertive, instead of Aggressive, language
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| Module 6: the Truth With Shared Power (e.g. Teams, Colleagues, Customers, Other Departments) |
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- Expand the Pie and create shared goals to overcome territoriality and turf wars
- Generate commitment and accountability with shared decision-making models
- Use Experience Sharing rather than criticism to convey your message
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| Module 7: Correcting Misunderstandings and Conversations Gone Wrong |
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- Restart and “redial” conversations that aren’t working
- Deescalate intense emotions and redirect the flow of conversation
- How to admit you’re wrong without losing face
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| Module 8: Responding When You’re on the Receiving End of Truth |
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- Hardwire your De-escalation Script to respond constructively when you’re under attack
- Identify what “pushes your buttons” and employ preset responses
- Validate and Ventilate to drain the other party’s anger and deescalate intense emotions
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| Module 9: Creating Shared Accountability |
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- Overcome Denial, Blaming, Excuse-Making and Anxiety
- Use the Candor Conversation, Ownership Conversation, No-Excuses Conversation, and Planning Conversation to build accountability
- Choose the best decision-making model to balance commitment and effort
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| Module 10: Encouraging Others to Speak the Truth to Improve Problem-Solving and Innovation |
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- Eliminate the fear that suppresses the free flow of information
- Become more approachable and increase your tolerance for differences
- Draw people out of their shell with formal questioning techniques
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| Module 11: Practicum and Special Applications |
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- Speaking the truth via phone and email
- Speaking the truth with a virtual team
- Speaking the truth with Boards and executive teams
- Speaking the truth in sales situations
- Speaking the truth with important customers
- Speaking the truth with internal service departments like IT, Finance, etc.
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