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A groundbreaking book about how being just a little bit better at conversation canhave a profound impact on our relationships in work and life--from a celebratedHarvard Business School;professor;and leading expert;on the psychology ofconversation We know we struggle with difficult conversations, but we’re often not very good at the easy ones, either. Though we do it all the time, Harvard professor Alison Wood Brooks argues that conversation is one of the most complex, demanding, and delicate of all human tasks, rife with the possibility of misinterpreting and misunderstanding. And yet conversations can also be a source of great joy, each one offering an opportunity to express who we are and learn who others are--to feel connected, loved, and alive. In TALK Maxims: T opics: Choose topics and manage them well A sking: Ask more questions L evity: Use humor to keep conversations fizzy K indness: Prioritize their partners conversational needs Through experiments ranging across the conversational spectrum--from speed daters who ask too few questions (or too many), to future business leaders averse to topic forethought, to traffic stops that reveal the essence of kind language--Brooks reveals the hidden architecture of our conversations, giving us the confidence and the advice to approach them with more confidence, ;creativity, and compassion. Addressing our face-to-face conversations as well as those we have by phone, email, text, and social media,
