The Science of Conversation: How To Say What You Mean, Be Heard, and Stop People-Pleasing | Alison Wood Brooks

The Science of Conversation: How To Say What You Mean, Be Heard, and Stop People-Pleasing | Alison Wood Brooks

You talk all day. Here's how to do it better, according to a professor from Harvard Business School.

Alison Wood Brooks comes from the Harvard Business School, where she teaches a course called "TALK: How to Talk Gooder in Business and Life," which she has now turned into a book, called TALK: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves.

In this episode we talk about:

  • The evolution of conversation
  • Why conversation is a skill — not just a natural talent
  • How to develop conversational skills, including common conversational pitfalls to avoid
  • Granular, tactical pieces of advice on how to have a conversation
  • The science behind conversation that may surprise you
  • Listening tips
  • Conversational repair strategies
  • How kindness can go pear shaped
  • How to handle difficult moments in conversation
  • The difference between focusing on other people and people pleasing
  • How to integrate these incredible learnings into your life
  • How soft skills are becoming increasingly more valuable with the rise of AI

Join Dan's online community here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Additional Resources:

On Sunday, September 21st from 1-5pm ET, join Dan and Leslie Booker at the New York Insight Meditation Center in NYC as they lead a workshop titled, "Heavily Meditated – The Dharma of Depression + Anxiety." This event is both in-person and online. Sign up here!

Get ready for another Meditation Party at Omega Institute! This in-person workshop brings together Dan with his friends and meditation teachers, Sebene Selassie, Jeff Warren, and for the first time, Ofosu Jones-Quartey. The event runs October 24th-26th. Sign up and learn more at eomega.org/workshops/meditation-party-2025.



To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris

Sponsors:

Function Health: Learn more and join using our link. Visit www.functionhealth.com/HAPPIER to own your health.

Factor Meals: Eat smart at FactorMeals.com/TENPERCENT50OFF and use code TENPERCENT50OFF to get 50% off your first box, plus free breakfast for 1 year.

AT&T: Staying connected matters. That's why AT&T has connectivity you can depend on, or they will proactively make it right. Visit att.com/guarantee for details.

Episoder(956)

Thupten Jinpa

Thupten Jinpa

Thupten Jinpa may be best known for being the Dalai Lama's longtime English-language translator. But now Jinpa is working to get his own message across. In his new book, "A Fearless Heart," Jinpa touches on the course in compassion training he helped create at Stanford University -- one that has been shown to make people happier, healthier and better able to regulate their emotions.

4 Mai 201659min

Lama Tsomo

Lama Tsomo

Lama Tsomo is one of the first American women to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist lama, or spiritual teacher. Born Linda Pritzker, she is part of the family that built the Hyatt hotel chain. But Lama Tsomo embarked on a very different path, diving deeply into Buddhism, spending months on retreat, learning Tibetan and teaching around the world. She sat down with Dan Harris to talk about her story and to detail some of these Tibetan practices.

27 Apr 20161h 1min

Leigh Brasington

Leigh Brasington

Leigh Brasington has been practicing meditation for decades and is one of the most prominent American teachers of Jhana meditation. The Jhanas are a set of altered states of consciousness associated with profound amounts of bliss, happiness and ecstasy. Entering Jhana is done through meditating with intense concentration and it's considered a controversial topic by many in the Buddhist world. But can regular people access the Jhanas? And are they even real?

22 Apr 201655min

Margot Bingham

Margot Bingham

Actress and singer-songwriter Margot Bingham has moved from playing the role of jazz singer Daughter Maitland in HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" to a highly-respected detective in ABC's "The Family," but in working through these complex roles, Bingham said she finds comfort through practicing meditation. Bingham sat down with Dan Harris and talked about her career, how she dealt with the heaviness of her "Boardwalk Empire" role and how she found meditation.

20 Apr 201648min

Sharon Salzberg

Sharon Salzberg

A towering figure in the meditation world, Sharon Salzberg is part of a small group of people who helped bring meditation over from Asia to the United States. Growing up in New York City, Salzberg had a traumatic childhood and was a sophomore in college when an Asian philosophy class she chose sort of on a whim led her to find a personal and positive connection with Buddhist teachings and practices. Today, she is a meditation teacher, the cofounder of Insight Meditation Society and the author of nine books, including best-sellers "Lovingkindness," "Real Happiness" and "Real Happiness at Work." Salzberg sat down with Dan Harris to talk about her personal history, her meditation practice and her advice to beginners looking to start practicing.

13 Apr 201655min

George Mumford

George Mumford

George Mumford has taught mindfulness and meditation to some of the greatest athletes of all time: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, among others. In partnership with the legendary coach Phil Jackson, Mumford taught meditation to the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, and now works with the New York Knicks. He's also the author of "The Mindful Athlete: The Secret to Pure Performance."

6 Apr 20161h 17min

David Gelles

David Gelles

The author of "Mindful Work," New York Times reporter David Gelles is a self-described "sporadic meditator." During the day, Gelles says he uses so-called "meditation hacks," such as waiting a beat or two before picking up a ringing phone or practicing walking meditation around the office at work. Earlier this month, he wrote an op-ed for the New York Times Sunday Review called "The Hidden Price of Mindfulness, Inc.," in which he talked about the "mindfulness economy" and the hundreds of products out there, from books to apps to a dairy-free mayonnaise substitute called Mindful Mayo, all carrying a "mindfulness" label.

30 Mar 201654min

Amy Cuddy

Amy Cuddy

Amy Cuddy has created a bonafide sensation in the world of happiness and well-being. A social psychologist at Harvard Business School and a New York Times best-selling author, Cuddy gave a TED Talk that has been viewed millions of times about how to make yourself look, feel and act more powerful, through something she calls "power poses."

27 Mar 201655min

Populært innen Helse

hvordan-har-du-det-mann
fastlegen
psykodrama
rss-gukild-johaug
fremtid-pa-frys
kommentarer-fra-aftenposten
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
leger-om-livet
rss-garne-damer
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
bak-fasaden-en-reise-i-livet-med-sykepleier-ine
morten-ramm-lar-kakla-ga-til-du-sovner
foreldreradet
klimaks
fryktlos
hormonelle-frida
rss-femihelse
hjernesterk
helsetipspodden
rss-sunn-okonomi