Time to converse

About the Book

This book brings to the fore the crucial importance of real conversation and treating each other well, and points out the close relationship this has to the Golden Rule (do as you would be done by), giving many and amusing examples and quotations on how good things happen when we act in this way. It talks about the various kinds of conversation and the significance of the genuinely friendly, open-ended kind, which has appeared to be in decline. And makes clear that it can give rise to unpredicted good new ideas, while valuing the contributions of all involved in the conversation and boosting everyone’s sense of well-being. Many ideas are presented on how to bring about this kind of conversational dance, and ways in which one can begin and continue to notice how this comes into life and how we may act on this at every opportunity.

About the Author

I am a ‘professional conversationalist’, a social artist with skills as a facilitator of group processes in which participants converse when addressing complex issues. I am guided by the belief that we humans are intelligent, creative and adaptive. And that we express this in circumstances in which we feel included and respected. With a PhD from London University in biological sciences I was a university lecturer in human nutrition. Doing qualitative research on how people construe meaning of food, particularly in social contexts, inspired me to develop a new career as a conversationalist. This has led to much professional satisfaction, extensive travel, encounters with remarkable people and now a desire to make the fruits of my learning more widely available. I live in Adelaide, Australia, having recently returned after being away for six happy years in Asia, based in Hong Kong. I have been a Senior Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University, USA.