Resources for Mastering Uncomfortable Conversations

This is the supporting resources page for attendees of my talk on Uncomfortable Conversions. Thank you for participating in the session! I hope you came away with an excitement for learning the skills and personal mastery for being the kind of person who can talk with anyone on any topic - even the most uncomfortable. It is one of those superpowers that we’re not told about, yet can be a huge competitive advantage not only in our careers, but also in our personal lives.

You can see all the rabbit holes that one can go down in order to build a well-rounded skill set. Please note that this (as well as the other mind map models on this website) is not meant to be exhaustive. There are many more branches of exploration that can be added. For the sake of simplicity, I design these visual models to express a simple yet detailed enough view to get started.

I haven’t decided to create a full course on this subject yet, so what I can do here is recommend some resources you can take a look at and see which are a fit for you.

Recommended Books on Personal Mastery and Emotional Intelligence:

• Positive Intelligence, by Shirzad Chamine

• Waking Up, by Sam Harris

• The Untethered Soul, by Michael Singer

• Letting Go, by David Hawkins

Recommended Books on Interpersonal Skills:

• Crucial Converations, by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, et al. If you’re going to read just one book, read this one.

• You're Not Listening, by Kate Murphy

• The Book of Beautiful Questions, by Warren Berger

• Influence, by Robert Cialdini

• Captivate, by Vanessa Van Edwards

• The Charisma Myth, by Olivia Fox Cabane

Recommended Online Courses:

• Crucial Learning’s Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue: Learn the nine powerful skills for working through disagreement to achieve better results. This is the key course that focuses on uncomfortable conversations.

• Science of People’s People School: A twelve-part science-based advanced interpersonal skills training program and competency exam. Subjects include charisma, body language, capturing attention, decoding people, building trust, being engaging, mastering conversion, increasing influence, and strengthening connections.

• Vinh Giang’s STAGE Academy: International Keynote Speaker Vinh Giang’s course on the foundations of powerful communication and presentation. STAGE Academy is a comprehensive toolkit that includes vocal mastery, storytelling and body language for all forms of communication: online, in-person, one-to-one, and one-to-many. Some applications of the skills trained: pitching ideas, public speaking, building rapport, inspirational leadership.

Culitvate Mindfulness:

• Sam Harris’ Waking Up app: This app has an introductory course comprised of a series of guided meditations and lectures. It is an excellent program suitable for new and experienced alike. My mindfulness coach, someone who teaches the subject, has this app on his iPhone’s home screen. This app has a 4.9-star rating average over 39K ratings, and anyone can use it free for 30 days.

• You can go down some Naval Ravikant and Tim Ferriss YouTube rabbit holes on this subject, like: this one

There are many other ways to learn and build mindfulness. For me, I focus on setting aside the spiritual aspects and working only with the scientific, practical applications. Ask me if you have questions on how to do the same.

Disclaimer:

These suggestions are for informational and educational purposes only. It is your responsibility to ensure that any actions you do as a result of ideas on this website is safe for you, based on the situation and your own mental and physical condition. Full disclaimer policy can be found here.