Monday, March 26, 2012

Conversing: Part 1

I've been thinking often these days about the way I communicate with my words. For example, how do I ask to miss a training at work, when I already made vacation plans? How do I explain to a friend that I'd prefer to go to a different café, rather than the one she recommended? How do I offer appropriate words of support to a significant other? I know these are simple things, but I really do believe that the way I express a thought, request, or belief can really affect my interactions with others.

It was a coincidence that in the first two minutes of browsing the used books at a bookstore in Downtown Boston, I found a book called Fierce Conversations. It sounds cheesy (and intense), but I've been enjoying it very much so far. The book explores how to have conversations in which we "come out from behind ourselves into the conversation and make it real." The exchanges are about "moral courage, clear requests, and taking action."

I wonder if any readers, especially those in new jobs or environments, have also found themselves more interested in how they communicate. I think that being in new situations with new people can cause us to question our typical patterns of expression. Any time, though, is a good time to think a little more about what and how we speak the words of our hearts and minds.

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