Conversational Skills Training
Improve your skills and boost your confidence
Enhance Your Skills
Enhance your conversational skills to improve your relationships, grow your career, and boost self-esteem.
Practice Real Issues
Practice conversation skills in real-life to enhance work, personal relationships, and career advancement.
Personalised Training
Practice conversations with one-on-one coaching, group workshops, and online training, all customised for your needs.Refine your communication skills by learning to harness your emotional intelligence with one of the UK's most acclaimed management training courses.
Why Choose This Training?
More Than Just A Course Of Lectures
What gets in the way of developing and holding on to new communication skills are old habits of thinking and speaking. Even if the advice is very good the reason why it rarely sticks are the mental habits people inevitably revert to, especially under pressure.
Unlearning those old habits and internalising a more effective and lasting approach to communication needs more than a short course of lectures on how to do it.
What Makes This Training Stand Out?
What makes this training stand out is the exceptional support through one-to-one coaching sessions and continuous feedback. Changing behaviour is not an easy task as old habits are hard to break.
With a 40-year track record we can help you cultivate practical skills, and build your confidence to so you can successfully navigate real-world challenges, ensuring lasting behavioural improvements.
Testimonials
Join thousands of participants getting results
"What I love about this course is that I didn't just learn about the topic, this course is about ME. I'm confident I can reliably use my new skills, even when under pressure".
"A lesson for life! The power of effective communication is incredible when one masters the skills "listening with empathy" and "speaking assertively"
Clients We Have Worked With
Well-known companies who have used this course again and again, over many years
Course Summary
Training Objectives
This communication skills training course is designed to help develop your conversational skills that are essential tools for improving communication and developing interpersonal relationships, both professionally and personally. This conversation skills training can provide crucial benefits like improved confidence, better self-esteem, and the ability to communicate more effectively with others. This communication course involves both verbal and nonverbal messages, so you can learn how to effectively communicate your needs and become comfortable using a range of techniques from attentive listening to thoughtful questions that convey understanding.
Develop Your Emotional Intelligence
You will learn a set of powerful emotional intelligence communication techniques so that you can manage difficult conversations, handle challenging situations, build relationships and set firm boundaries.
Transferable Skills
The goal of this training is to equip you with the tools they need to build strong, lasting relationships in your professional life, although because these skills are so transferable many clients report vast improvements in their personal relationships as well.
Develop Skills
This is a skills development rather than just a theoretical programme, so the emphasis throughout will be on you taking turn after turn, practising your skills, while receiving feedback and coaching about your effect on others.
Repeated Practice and Feedback
In your coaching sessions you will be helped to practise dealing with the kinds of situation you find challenging, again and again, until you are confident you can do it successfully.
Video Analysis
We'll combine practical, hands-on experience with video replay and analysis and discussion of the principles involved to help you gain both skills and understanding. Special attention is paid to your individual training needs, so you can practise your skills in real-life situations that you have to handle at work.
Sustained Change
That's why as well as your place in a small group, this training includes a generous amount of private and confidential one-to-one coaching sessions online, spread over several months, ensuring an exceptional level of support. This will ensure the changes you make are sustained over a longer period of time and any obstacles are overcome. Choose between online training available worldwide, or in-person face-to-face courses in the UK.
Course Dates and Price
For a list of upcoming course dates (for online coaching and face-to-face training), the locations of the next 3-day public courses in the UK and pricing Click here.
Free Initial Session
This initial coaching session serves as an introduction to the "Skills with People" course, allowing you to understand the course's relevance and effectiveness for your specific needs before committing to it.
Why Conversational Skills Training Is Essential
Training in conversational skills has been shown to be invaluable, and can provide you benefits such as improved personal and professional relationships, critical career growth opportunities, and enhanced self-esteem.
Benefits Of Enhancing Personal And Professional Relationships
Improving your conversations skills is an essential part of enhancing both personal and professional relationships. When your conversational skills are effective, there is trust, clear understanding, collaboration, respect and meaningful dialogue which can lead to better outcomes in all aspects of life.
With strong communication skills comes improved teamwork and increased productivity. Businesses grow more efficiently when employees have good communications and conversation techniques. Communication between professionals also allows for better patient care as communication provides clarity. Patients feel included and their needs are met more easily with open dialogue.
In relationships, clear and direct conversations provide a space to build common ground on which to create shared goals that extend the relationship beyond surface level interactions. Listening intently without interruption increases connection through attention, your significant other feels supported by that action alone. This helps you continue being present during times of difficulty when simple listening goes a long way.
Conversations allow you to explore your feelings about situations as well as interests or topics outside what we initially expected. Great conversations go places you weren’t expectin. Becoming a stronger communicator requires self-awareness and practice. When coupled with training, support and guidance from helpful resources like this training course or one-on-one coaching sessions, you can focus on growing this vital skillset.
Importance Of Improving Communication Skills For Career Growth
Improving communication skills can have direct and positive effect on an your career growth.
For example, effective communication in the workplace can be beneficial for both networking opportunities as well as performance reviews. Through skilled small talk, asking open ended questions and displaying some empathy you can demonstrate your social flexibility, empathy and attention towards others which increases chances of getting promotions.
Also if you know how to use precise words efficiently, you can have higher engagement levels when pitching ideas to a client base or senior management creating opportunities for future collaborations.
Studies show that people with strong interpersonal skills receive morale bonuses such as higher evaluations due to the impact they make interacting with customers or staff members.
Recent studies also suggest that companies who foster an environment based on improved dialogue between staff often experience increased productivity making them attractive locations for further career development potentials.
Mastering great conversation techniques is extremely helpful for business where personal connections makes all the difference, from building trust amongst colleagues leading to lower stress levels, ultimately leading to achieving greater goals.
Boosting Confidence And Self-esteem
Conversational skills training can be beneficial in helping you to build your confidence and self-esteem. Improved communication skills have a wide range of personal, social, and professional benefits such as the ability to effectively engage with others, connect better with those around you and express yoursefl more confidently.
By engaging in conversations with openness and sincerity, you can learn how to communicate clearly and effectively in order to participate actively during any conversation or discussion at home or work.
Through proper conversation techniques such as active listening, clarity of expression, being mindful of non-verbal cues like body language and reading the room by understanding existing moods, you can improve your assertiveness as well as their problem solving abilities. This leads not only to improved relationships but also interpersonal success when it comes to career growth.
Improved communication skills benefit both children and adults alike. For example they give children the confidence they need when speaking up while providing adults an edge over competition in job interviews or boosting autonomy within teams.
Key Elements Of This Effective Communication Course
Key elements of this effective communication course involve active listening techniques, the importance of nonverbal communication, and strategies for asking open-ended questions and giving feedback.
Active Listening Techniques
Active listening is an important part of conversation skills training that allows for improved understanding and stronger relationships between the speaker and listener.
Listening actively means paying full attention listen to what the other person is saying, without forming premature judgements or interrupting them. It involves suspending personal biases in order to focus on comprehending a message as it is being communicated.
Active listening requires keen observation of both verbal and non-verbal cues during conversations in order to make sense of messages that are being conveyed.
This includes following clues such as tone, body language and facial expressions that can bolster interpretations of words spoken aloud. Additionally, active listeners often use techniques like paraphrasing comments back to speakers - repeating their statements in an effort to check if they have been heard correctly or accurately interpreted - or asking open ended questions which encourage further dialogue.
This can be further enhanced by using empathy, which involves providing your best guess as to state of mind and mood the other person is in as they relate their story.
Importance Of Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal communication is key in building relationships and communicating effectively. This form of expression includes posture, bearing, stance and subtle movements as well as gestures.
Nonverbal skills allow people to send messages without having to use any verbal cues.
Common forms of nonverbal communication are facial expressions, eye contact, tone and pitch variations in voice, certain postures that signals aggressiveness or submission such as open palms compared with tightly crossed arms etc.
Each type has its own purpose depending on the context and its proper usage serves to build strong relationships both professionally and personally. Eye contact is seen not just as sign respecting someone but also indicating truthfulness while body language like positioning oneself towards a person can indicate interest from an individual's side.
Open-ended Questions And Feedback Strategies
Open-ended questions and feedback strategies are two key tools for people who want to improve their conversational and public speaking skills. Open-ended questions prompt a speaker to share more about themselves, as opposed to yes or no answers.
They create space for meaningful communication by encouraging the other person to give elaborate answers so that both parties gain insight from the conversation.
Conversely, providing helpful feedback is an essential way to build relationships, because it allows both your opinions and ideas to be heard and validated in order for collaboration between you to take place.
On a professional level, effective communication will make sure instructions are clear and properly understood. This avoids misunderstanding which could potentially resulting in wasted resources or further conflict down the line.
From a personal standpoint, using open ended questions facilitates deeper understanding between people by promoting mutual engagement and talking with one another on topics we would not have discussed without those prompts from open dialogue. This fosters stronger feelings of empathy between you. You’ll learn more through being exposed to different viewpoints outside your own bubble.
Types Of Conversational Skills Training
We provide different types of conversational skills training. These include one-on-one coaching for personalised strategies, group workshops for practicing skills, and online courses for self-paced learning.
One-on-One Coaching For Personalised Strategies
Our one-on-one coaching is an ideal training option if you are seeking to improve your conversational skills. A personalised approach allows your coach to address your unique communication challenges and provide tailored strategies for improvement. This type of training is beneficial for a range of situations, from helping you build professional relationships in the workplace to making meaningful connections in social settings.
Individual coaching can help you become more aware of your communication style as well as identify which techniques will be most effective when engaging in conversation. Your coach can also offer personalised guidance on active listening and provide feedback on non verbal communication cues, such as body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. Our one-on-one coaching provides a safe environment for exploring more challenging topics, such as handling difficult conversations or difficult people. With the support of your experienced coach, you can gain confidence and learn how to effectively communicate with others in any situation.
Benefits of our one-on-one coaching include:
- Personalised strategies tailored to individual needs
- Improved confidence in communicating with others
- Ability to identify effective listening techniques
- Techniques for enhancing interpersonal relationships
- Practical guidance on how to handle challenging conversations or difficult people
By enrolling in our one-on-one coaching programs, you can receive the specific help they need to become better communicators and strengthen their personal and professional relationships.
Group Workshops For Practicing Skills
Group workshops provide an ideal environment to practice and develop conversational skills, while receiving feedback from peers and facilitators in a supportive environment. You facilitator is able to give tailored insights, which can help you better understand your communication style and how others interpret your messages. Through this interactive experience, you can gain confidence in your communication skills and discover strategies for improving future conversations.
Group workshops also offer the benefit of learning from the experiences of others in the room. These sessions allow you to build meaningful connections with other course participants, encouraging conversation around shared interests or topics. This ultimately fosters better emotional understanding and builds stronger relationships, enabling you to more effectively communicate in all your interactions.
Another key advantage of group workshops is the potential for networking and professional development opportunities. When you come together to discuss ideas or issues related to your industry, you can create meaningful connections with other professionals interested in similar topics. The skills which are developed during these workshops can then be applied when interacting with new contacts that could lead to business partnerships or other professional engagements.
Group workshops for conversational skills training is a great opportunity for professionals looking to grow both personally and professionally. These interactive sessions open up a dialogue between participants allowing you to create meaningful relationships that support career growth.
Online Courses For Self-paced Learning
Self-paced learning is an ideal option for individuals who require flexibility and convenience in their training program. Our online course allow students to access one-to-one coaching at a time that is convenient for you, providing you with the chance to learn at a time schedule the works for you, or from anywhere with a strong internet connection.
By taking our online course for conversational skills training you can learn practical techniques without feeling anxious about public speaking or personal interaction. With the help of your experienced trainer this greatly reduces chances of embarrassment, and provides a safe environment where you can work at your own pace without being worried about mistake or judgment from others. All our trainings is interactive as opposed to mere theory-based.
The advantages of taking an online communication skills course include:
- More flexible accessibility - Numerous resources at your fingertips with no deadlines pressure
- Cater To Different Learning Styles - Courses suitable for different kinds such as audio visuals aids , reading based aids etc .
- Cost Efficient - Cheaper cost than one on one instruction sessions
- Increased Comfort Levels - Feels more comfortable due less assessing hence better practice scenarios
Is This The Right Conversational Skills Training Program For You?
Considering the range of conversational skills programs available, it is important to make sure you choose the right one for your needs.
We can help you choose the right conversational skills training program with our FREE initial one-to-one coaching session.
If you have difficulty in networking, or making positive lasting impressions during job interviews, you may opt for a one-on-one session with a coach to work on specific strategies that address these issues.
During this FREE session we can help you evaluate your personal needs, and help you understand both strengths and weaknesses thereby creating opportunities for professional growth as well as boosting confidence and self-esteem.
It also allows you to gain insight into how conversations are constructed so you can more effectively engage with people through active listening techniques, nonverbal communication cues, open ended questions etc., while creating common ground by expressing shared interests with others which strengthens interpersonal connections.
We will begin by assessing exactly what you hope to gain from a program and develop clear objectives. Identify any special circumstances that might influence which type of training works best for you. This personal assessment can help guide future decisions and make sure realistic goals are established in accordance with available resources such as time or budget constraints.
Applying Conversational Skills In Real-life Situations
Learning and practicing conversation skills can be applied to many scenarios in life from professional networking opportunities, job interviews, social gatherings, and conflict resolution.
Networking To Build Professional Connections
Networking is a crucial part of any career journey and can provide the opportunity to build mutually beneficial relationships with other professionals. Knowing how to foster professional connections is an essential part of networking and a useful skill for improving one's career success. Effective conversation skills training can help you develop your social skills further, as well as improve your confidence when meeting new people in different types of settings.
Professional networking allows you the chance to make new friends, industry acquaintances, and potential business partners while discovering common ground through which they can explore further opportunities within their networks. Conversational skills training offers an opportunity to practice these interactions with your experienced coach, or peers who have gone through the same processes and developed key strategies for successful connection-making. Training may also help lessen social anxiety so you become more comfortable interacting in such situations. With enhanced conversational techniques, it becomes easier for you to demonstrate how passionate you are about your careers and goals during networking events, making you stand out from others sharing similar interests or occupations.
By participating in conversational skills training, you gain insight into active listening techniques, open-ended questions, body language cues, understanding nonverbal communication , feedback strategies, all important elements that contribute towards effective communication. You learn how best to take advantage of situations presented from everyday encounters. Once armed with interpersonal skills, and the confidence to help you foster meaningful connections, these skills can become second nature. Then interacting with strangers no longer seems intimidating, but rather invigoratingly rewarding as every conversation presents another possibility (whether personally or professionally). It’s never too late for anyone at any stage of life to start conversations confidently using basic conversation tactics.
Making Lasting Impressions In Job Interviews
In a competitive job market making a positive first impression can make all the difference in landing your dream job. Whether it’s through interacting with potential employers via email or attending a face-to-face interview, mastering certain interpersonal skills will help you stand out and make sure that you get noticed by hiring managers.
Here are some key strategies and techniques to leave a lasting impression during interviews:
Research the company and interviewer: Knowing who you’ll be speaking to ahead of time gives you the opportunity to research their background as well as those of other personnel related to the organisation. Taking proactive steps like this will demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment which can reflect positively on how hiring managers assess your qualifications.
Practice responses to common interview questions: Have answers prepared for typical inquiries such as “what is one area in which you would like to improve?” This also includes thinking of relevant examples beforehand so that should an appropriate topic come up in conversation, then you feel confident they can easily be discussed confidently at length.
Use proper body language: Nonverbal cues convey a lot throughout conversations from posture, gestures, eye contact etc., so try not sacrificing them due to nerves or lack of comfort. Use these tools instead. Take deep breaths when feeling overwhelmed by adapting calming breathing exercises for moments of silence. Have patience when replying shows confidence and composure without rushing topics too quickly which might cause needless awkwardness between both parties.
Follow up with thank you note: Finally once an individual has secured themselves an offer after overcoming various stages - sending thankfulness via letter or email helps keep their name fresh within recruiters' minds whilst simultaneously expressing gratitude displaying genuine appreciation towards being selected amidst competition from others vying for same position(s).
Building Relationships Through Social Gatherings
Attending social gatherings is an important aspect of communication and relationship-building. These events offer you the opportunity to practice and refine your conversation skills by interacting with new people, sharing stories and experiences, and engaging in meaningful conversations. Social gatherings such as formal networking events, holiday parties, work celebrations, or casual dinners can all help you build meaningful relationships and increase confidence in your ability to communicate effectively.
When attending social gatherings it is important to make a memorable impression on those you meet - be sure to listen carefully and pay attention when others are speaking. Ask open-ended questions to keep the conversation flowing and express genuine interest in other people’s stories or experiences. Finding common ground allows you to establish a connection that could further fuel future conversations while emphasising the importance of listening and understanding.
It is also important to remember the power of nonverbal communication - body language including facial expressions, postures, hand gestures etc can often speak more eloquently than words alone. Being mindful about these details will help present yourself confidently and make you more approachable in social settings.
Ensure that you take something positive away from each networking gathering - it could be something related directly to your career growth such as making contacts for potential job opportunities or discovering new ideas that lead you towards creative projects; or something more personal such as gaining insight into different perspectives or laughing at something funny.
Handling Difficult Situations With Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution skills involve the use of specific techniques to diffuse stressful conversations and manage disagreements. It is important to strike a balance between expressing something challenging while also being sensitive to those involved in the conversation. Effective conflict resolution involves listening actively, speaking with a neutral tone, understanding differences between parties, and finding mutually beneficial outcomes.
Active listening is an essential component of successful communication when dealing with difficult conversations. By really paying attention not just to phrases used but also body language and reactions from others being spoken to, allows for more accurate understanding of what is truly being expressed. This can later be used when looking into ways of resolving conflicts or disputes quickly and effectively through non-confrontational dialogue. Similarly, using neutral language when addressing key points can help reduce animosity between two sides in a dispute as well as create a safe environment where communication can flow and relationships can grow without fear of repercussions due to heated arguments or debates.
When used properly, these conflict management skills have been proven effective in resolving disputes among coworkers in the workplace setting such as teamwork problems or customer issues leading to better working conditions as well better client relations over time. The same principles apply to personal relationships. The skills we teach can help build stronger ties across family members who may have different views about certain topics. Disagreements can become much smoother sailing if you can show understanding, and active listening before responding. The conflict resolution skills you’ll learn on this course can be extremely powerful assets that allow you to handle differing perspectives productively rather than hostilely to continue.
Take Action And Improve Your Conversation Skills Today!
Whether it’s meeting with colleagues to discuss a project, networking at a business event or negotiating terms with clients effective conversation skills are essential for success in all areas of life.
Taking the time and effort today to practice these techniques can yield rewarding results tomorrow.
Start small by carving out time in your schedule for daily exchanges and conversations. Take every opportunity you have to listen carefully, practice active listening, encourage two-way dialogue and ask clarifying questions about topics discussed.
Don’t be afraid of eye contact or using nonverbal communication cues like smiling or nodding your head to acknowledge someone’ points. Try not to focus solely on yourself when listening; instead, use open-ended questions that allow others to speak and share their ideas.
Taking an interest in what other people have to say will create meaningful connections as well as opportunities for learning from different perspectives. It is also important how you phrase things when responding avoid coming across as too direct or aggressive by framing statements into positive ones.
By regularly practicing through informal conversations such as exchanging pleasantries at a coffee shop, asking questions during lunchtime group gatherings, actively discussing current events while socialising with friends, even talking with family members during dinner time will go miles towards encouraging self-confidence and helping hone one’s conversational abilities. These everyday situations present valuable opportunities where applying newfound knowledge surrounding body language, empathetic responses and delivering feedback sensibly can help build relationships ranging from small talk and personal connections right up until professional referral networks over time.
Conversation skills training is an essential tool for improving communication and developing interpersonal relationships, both professionally and personally. Taking part in conversation skills training can provide crucial benefits like improved confidence, better self-esteem, and the ability to communicate more effectively with others.
Communication involves both verbal and nonverbal messages, so effective communicators need to employ a wide range of techniques from attentive listening to thoughtful questions that convey understanding.