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Practices and attitudes for delicious conversations

Sometimes a few simple rules can make life (and conversations) so much better.  In that spirit, I want to share a few guidelines I learned from the Conversation Cafe model. What is a Conversation Cafe you ask?  They are “open, hosted conversations in cafés as...

Don’t get stranded on this mountain

Have you ever known ─ or tried to have a conversation with ─ someone who thought they were an expert on….everything?  I’ll go out on a limb here and guess that the relationship ─ and the exchanges ─ with this person probably weren’t all that pleasant. I can even sense...

Turn Potential Negatives into Positives

Today I’m offering the third post in a three-part series on conversation-enhancing tips involving the number three. If you haven’t read the first and second posts already, you can find them on my website here. Both have the power to shift your conversation quality...

The Art of Going Three Deep in Conversation

Last week you may have read my blog about saying The Third Thing.  If not, you might want to circle back. It offers some excellent advice to those of us who tend to blurt out the very first thing that comes to mind in our conversations or written exchanges. As you’ll...

The Third Thing: Your Ticket to More Gracious Conversations

I’m a believer in the power of three. For example, three is the minimum number of legs a stool, table, or four-legged creature must have in order to stand on its own and be reasonably balanced. I also think of the Three Musketeers, Amigos, and Stooges. And did you...

Which is best in conversation? Wit, irony, or sarcasm?

“I feel like my flair for sarcasm is one of my gifts,” the woman declared, waving her glass of wine around like a magic wand. The setting was a cocktail reception at a conference. Clearly, this person had found her way to the bar early. “Yes, I can...