"All TAlk, No Action?"
Using Smart Conversations® to Create Action Engagement

A PublicForum Webinar

Monday, 14 March 2011, 19:00 Eastern (New York) / 23:00 GMT (*see time note below)
$15 USD for Circle Club members
$20 USD for nonmembers

Registrants receive access to the session recording (a $20 value) and the program slide deck.

Can we have too many conversations or too much public engagement? Are we even asking the right questions and holding the right conversations?

Public engagement professionals and citizens alike often complain that they participate in endless meetings that lack results. While there is arguably value in acknowledging people's perspectives and engaging all voices, what happens to trust when the only result of conversation is another conversation?

Dialogue is a foundational skill that can transform your conversations and give you the tools to communicate with authenticity, respect, and trust. In this one-hour webinar, you'll gain exposure to dialogue and learn what it is, what it isn't, and how it can help you in your personal and professional life. Whether you wish to learn a new skill to communicate with your teenager more productively, engage a group of stakeholders around an initiative, or hold more effective public engagement meetings, SMART Conversations® is a particular brand of dialogue that will bring your effectiveness to a new level.

In this webinar, you'll be introduced to action dialogue and the Shared Interest Model™, a valuable tool that provides a repeatable framework for facilitating effective dialogue to explore a question or a problem. Using this tool, you'll learn how to structure a divergent conversation, focusing on the scope, significance, and possibilities of given topic, and create a pool of interests leading to common ground and a specific action plan.

If you could benefit from this practical approach to dialogue, please join us for our March webinar.

About the Program

In this one-hour webinar, you'll learn the basic components of dialogue using the SMART Conversations® model, and how it can change the conversation in your personal and professional life.

You'll also learn about a SMART Conversations® technique for engaging in dialogue on challenging or "undiscussable" topics. Not only is this approach useful in such difficult situations, but it can contribute to more productive relationships with others on an ongoing basis.

SMART Conversations® stands for:

• Shared Meaning – Are we talking about the same thing?
• Authenticity – Are we being "real" with each other?
• Respect – Can we respect all perspectives?
• Trust – Are we able to trust everyone and believe in their good intentions?

 

About Our Presenters

Paul Weisman, SMART Conversations® Paul is a trainer, coach, and management consultant with strong education and business credentials. His signature training focus is SMART Conversations®, a workshop designed to significantly improve relationships in organizations. Paul's deep commitment to this work comes from his experience helping organizations, teams, and individuals transform their performance. Paul is also a Coaches Training Institute (CTI) certified coach, where he learned the formality of a relationship building and professional coaching model. The combination of his SMART Conversations® certification and coach training have elevated his mentorship skills to a new level. Paul helps his coaching clients achieve success by helping them see what is getting in their way, creating new strategies, learning new skills, and then moving forward. A professional engineer and business leader with two degrees in Civil Engineering and more than 30 years of consulting engineering experience, Paul shifted his focus from things to people in 1990 and hasn't looked back.

Michele Simos, SMART Conversations® and SimosConsulting Dedicated to helping clients reach their greatest potential as communicators, Michele loves being in the classroom facilitating SMART Conversations® and conducting business writing and presentation skills training. As a certified SMART Conversations® facilitator, Michele focuses on creating effective interpersonal communication skills rooted in authenticity, respect and trust. Michele holds an M.A. degree in Professional Writing and Publishing from Emerson College and an undergraduate degree in Journalism/Public Relations. She is in the process of writing a book on communications and is a frequent speaker at corporate and professional conferences on the subject of communications.

Registration

Registration for this webinar is closed.

*Time Note: Most of the U.S. (but not Arizona and Hawaii) revert to Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, 13 March. This means the East Coast will be at GMT-4 on Monday the 14th. If you plan to attend the webinar from outside the U.S., please double check your local time.