The Orderly Conversation Podcast

Dale Ludwig and Greg Owen-Boger envision a future where meetings, presentations, and training sessions are the least frustrating parts of doing business. Join them as they talk about The Orderly Conversation and how the concept informs the work that they do at Turpin Communication.Key concepts in this episode includeThe Orderly Conversation concept benefits Turpin’s clients by helping them be more effective and efficient.Manufacturing squeezes every ounce of inefficiency out of the process. Communication? Not so much. Dale and Greg think you and your organization deserve better.Rules are not effective tools to improve communication. Beware of training companies who focus on do-this, don’t-do-that rules. Peoples’ communication can be improved through a nuanced approach and methodology.A company’s culture must be considered when developing communication training and strategies.When teams participate in the same training experience, efficiencies are realized because they now have a common language, experience, and tools to draw from. This makes it easier to coach each other as well. Improving someone’s self-awareness so that they can think on their feet is key to improving communication.Turpin’s tagline is “Business Communication. Untangled.” What exactly does that mean?The notion that a presentation or meeting is a conversation and not a speech can be a game changer for some.Perfection is not the goal; effectiveness is, which means that a certain degree of imperfection is good and can help nervous communicators lower the bar and be more effective.Effective communication coaches take the trainee’s emotions (nervousness, frustration, fears) into account.Improving an individual’s communication leads to confidence for him or her, empowers teams to succeed, and cultivates leadership.How single malt scotch vs. RumChata informs the tone of the work Turpin does. ABOUT TURPIN COMMUNICATIONTurpin Communication is a business communication training company. We build the skills presenters, meeting facilitators, and trainers need to achieve their goals, work more efficiently, and grow leadership capabilities. Our process is about simplification and personalization. We untangle confusing assumptions, clarify fuzzy definitions, and reject the tyranny of generic rules.As communication trainers and coaches, Dale and Greg help businesspeople, or as they call them “Busy People at Work,” communicate more effectively and efficiently. They do that in workshop settings and private coaching sessions. Learn more at www.turpincommunication.com 

In Part 2 of this episode, Dale and Greg discuss the methodology and guiding principles behind their work and the benefits their clients gain after employees participate in a Turpin workshop. Sophisticated buyers understand they are not buying a commodity and that growing self-awareness and improving communication requires a nuanced approach. Key concepts in this episode includeThe Orderly Conversation, what it is, and how it affects every element of business communication.Everyone has a Default Approach, which informs how they prepare for and deliver presentations. Ted talks and Public Speaking 101 create trouble for business presenters when they treat presentations in the same way.Nuanced coaching leads to self-awareness.Nervousness can be managed by improving one’s degree of engagement. Three guiding principles, one of which is the Orderly Conversation, play a role in helping people improve their communication. Improving one’s communication by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of your communication can help you grow your career.There are dangers of commodity thinking when it comes to buying communication training. Tailoring training to each organization, team, and individual is necessary for long-term improvement. Skill-reinforcement and manager support play big roles in making sure training sticks and is applied back on the job.Turpin provides a Vendor Checklist to help managers and learning & development professionals understand what they should look for when shopping for communication training. Download a copy of the Vendor Checklist here.ABOUT TURPIN COMMUNICATIONTurpin Communication is a business communication training company. We build the skills presenters, meeting facilitators, and trainers need to achieve their goals, work more efficiently, and grow leadership capabilities. Our process is about simplification and personalization. We untangle confusing assumptions, clarify fuzzy definitions, and reject the tyranny of generic rules.As communication trainers and coaches, Dale and Greg help businesspeople, or as they call them “Busy People at Work,” communicate more effectively and efficiently. They do that in workshop settings and private coaching sessions. Learn more at www.turpincommunication.com 

It’s well known that leaders across all industries are concerned about the lack of soft skills in their employees. As business evolves, soft skills will become key differentiators in the workforce. Dale and Greg discuss the nuanced approach that is necessary in order to coach people to improve their self-awareness and develop their soft skills.  Key concepts in this episode includeCommunication touches all soft skills, so by improving communication, related soft skills are easier to address.Skills are behaviors used intentionally, which means they can be improved.Growing one’s self-awareness is key.There is a difference between skill-building and skill awareness. When shopping for soft-skill training, make sure you know what you’re buying, so you don’t waste resources.Many communication trainers treat the development of soft skills in the same way that hard skills are taught (do it this way). Developing soft skills requires a more nuanced approach that includes one-on-one coaching and helps people think on their feet.Beware the pitfalls of hiring too many different companies with inconsistent approaches to communication. Working on your communication must be like practicing tennis. It’s not enough to just work on the serve (what you’re saying). You must also work on the return (your response to what others say).ABOUT TURPIN COMMUNICATIONTurpin Communication is a business communication training company. We build the skills presenters, meeting facilitators, and trainers need to achieve their goals, work more efficiently, and grow leadership capabilities. Our process is about simplification and personalization. We untangle confusing assumptions, clarify fuzzy definitions, and reject the tyranny of generic rules.As communication trainers and coaches, Dale and Greg help businesspeople, or as they call them “Busy People at Work,” communicate more effectively and efficiently. They do that in workshop settings and private coaching sessions. Learn more at www.turpincommunication.com 

Subject Matter Experts bring a depth of experience, credibility, and relevance to live instructor-led training. Their contributions and institutional knowledge are immeasurable.Reliance on them in the training room also brings a certain amount of risk because SMEs are not, in most cases, experts in facilitation. It’s our responsibility then, as learning professionals, to do what we can to design learning events to play to their strengths and to coach them to be successful in the training room.In this episode, Dale and Greg discuss their work with SMEs that led ATD (the Association for Talent Development) to ask them to write a book about their experiences. That book is titled “Effective SMEs: A Trainer’s Guide for Helping Subject Matter Experts Facilitate Learning.”Key concepts in this episode includeInstructional design is different when designing for SMEs than it is when designing for professional facilitators. SMEs often want to take an academic approach, which is understandable, but inappropriate for corporate learning environments.Recognizing that learners are Busy People at Work can lead to better training outcomes.Helping SMEs understand their role in making sure training leads to business results is important.All trainers, including SMEs, need to be business savvy.The brand of L&D can be put in jeopardy when SMEs don’t understand how to be TD (talent development) savvy.When choosing SMEs to facilitate learning, it’s important to look for the right skillset. Scripting SMEs doesn’t work. Showing intention behind the design does.Learn more about improving the performance of your SMEs-turned-trainers here,ABOUT TURPIN COMMUNICATIONTurpin Communication is a business communication training company. We build the skills presenters, meeting facilitators, and trainers need to achieve their goals, work more efficiently, and grow leadership capabilities. Our process is about simplification and personalization. We untangle confusing assumptions, clarify fuzzy definitions, and reject the tyranny of generic rules.As communication trainers and coaches, Dale and Greg help businesspeople, or as they call them “Busy People at Work,” communicate more effectively and efficiently. They do that in workshop settings and private coaching sessions. Learn more at www.turpincommunication.com.

You know it when you see it, but what exactly IS executive presence? In this episode, Dale and Greg discuss their journey to finally understanding Executive Presence and, more importantly, how to coach their clients to achieve it.Key concepts in this episode includeThe science-based definition of Executive Presence developed by Suzanne Bates led to a better understanding of how to coach it.Suzanne’s book, “All the Leader You Can Be: The Science of Achieving Extraordinary Executive Presence,” dovetails with Turpin’s work beautifully.There are three dimensions and 15 facets of Executive Presence.The observable behaviors of Executive Presence are what make it coachable.Sometimes our intentions do not match others’ perceptions. Growing self-awareness around how our presence is being perceived can help us flex our style and avoid knee-jerk reactions in a variety of situations.Too much of a strength can have a negative impact on the people we work with.Emotional Intelligence plays a role in Executive Presence.For more informationWorkshop: The Executive Presenter (includes 360 assessment) Workshop: Executive Presence at Work Coaching: Executive Presence Private Coaching ABOUT TURPIN COMMUNICATIONTurpin Communication is a business communication training company. We build the skills presenters, meeting facilitators, and trainers need to achieve their goals, work more efficiently, and grow leadership capabilities. Our process is about simplification and personalization. We untangle confusing assumptions, clarify fuzzy definitions, and reject the tyranny of generic rules.As communication trainers and coaches, Dale and Greg help businesspeople, or as they call them “Busy People at Work,” communicate more effectively and efficiently. They do that in workshop settings and private coaching sessions. Learn more at www.turpincommunication.com

The way meetings are conducted says a lot about an organization’s culture, and it’s the responsibility of leaders to set expectations around how business will be conducted during meetings. This applies to everyone in the room, not just the facilitator of the meeting.In this episode, Dale, Greg, and Barbara hold a meeting about meetings(!), and they share stories about how they’ve worked with organizations and individuals to improve meeting culture.Key concepts in this episode includeThe culture of meetings needs to be established by managers and reinforced over time.Meetings should be run effectively and efficiently so that business moves forward. Presentations are always part of a meeting; therefore, meetings and presentations share common characteristics.A meeting happens any time two or more people interact with one another, regardless of the situation or the degree of planning that went into it.Meetings are expensive, so our businesses deserve for them to be run as efficiently as possible.Participating in meetings is as important as running the meeting, and therefore, understanding your role in meetings is critical.Meetings always succeed on two different levels. Are you meeting the goal, and are you creating the conditions for a fruitful conversation to take place?Trust in both directions plays a role in effective meetings: (1) are you the leader that people trust to be efficient? And (2) can you trust everyone else to participate fully?Consistency over time is key to real culture change.How do you want people to feel? Do you want this to be a pleasant place to work? Meetings play a role in this.Contribute to meetings and be the type of person that others want to work with. When you do this consistently, your professional brand grows, and so does your career.Use a framing strategy to set context and give people a reason to participate in your meetings.Three resources were mentioned in this episode. Download here:Ground Rules for Effective Meetings Blog about expensive meetings Framing Strategy Worksheet Meeting & Facilitation Skills Workshops: https://www.turpincommunication.com/offerings/meeting-facilitation-skills-training/ ABOUT TURPIN COMMUNICATIONTurpin Communication is a business communication training company. We build the skills presenters, meeting facilitators, and trainers need to achieve their goals, work more efficiently, and grow leadership capabilities. Our process is about simplification and personalization. We untangle confusing assumptions, clarify fuzzy definitions, and reject the tyranny of generic rules.As communication trainers and coaches, Dale and Greg help businesspeople, or as they call them “Busy People at Work,” communicate more effectively and efficiently. They do that in workshop settings and private coaching sessions. Learn more at www.turpincommunication.com

Most people agree that storytelling can be an effective communication tool. Stories communicate emotions, personalize events, make complicated concepts clear, and build relationships. However, traditional storytelling approaches tend to be too complicated because they are based on a literary approach. We shouldn’t expect businesspeople to be professional storytellers, so a simplified approach is necessary. Listen in as Dale and Greg discuss their unique take on storytelling and how to simplify the process. Key concepts in this episode includeA simplified story definition: Stories describe events that happened (or could happen) at another time or in another place. Business stories are always part of a larger conversation and are told with specific intent.Stories may be planned or told spontaneously. Regardless, they should always be told with intent and within the context of the conversation taking place.For people who shy away from telling stories, it’s important to realize that people tell stories all the time. The difference between those stories and effective business stories is intent.When crafting a story, identify the raw materials, then dial up or dial down various elements in order to shape the story. Always wrap up your stories by explaining why you wanted to tell the story. This provides the story’s intent.Resources: What We Wish Everyone Knew About Storytelling Storytelling Workshops:Storytelling for Business Results (presentations) Storytelling for Business Results (meetings)  ABOUT TURPIN COMMUNICATIONTurpin Communication is a business communication training company. We build the skills presenters, meeting facilitators, and trainers need to achieve their goals, work more efficiently, and grow leadership capabilities. Our process is about simplification and personalization. We untangle confusing assumptions, clarify fuzzy definitions, and reject the tyranny of generic rules.As communication trainers and coaches, Dale and Greg help businesspeople, or as they call them “Busy People at Work,” communicate more effectively and efficiently. They do that in workshop settings and private coaching sessions. Learn more at www.turpincommunication.com