Alison Wood Brooks: Talk

Alison Wood Brooks is the O’Brien Associate Professor of Business Administration and Hellman Faculty Fellow at the Harvard Business School, where she created and teaches a course called TALK. As a behavioral scientist, she is a leading expert on the science of conversation and her research was referenced in two of the top ten most-viewed TED talks and depicted in Pixar’s Inside Out 2. She is the author of Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves*.

Conversations are the venues where leaders do so much of their work. We all know someone who always can keep a conversation interesting and relevant. In this episode, Alison and I discuss how a key tactic can help you towards more meaningful conversations.

Key Points

• Healthy relationships are critical for success, and relationships are about talking.


• Good conversation is both instinct and deliberate effort. Preparing topics in advance improves conversation immensely.


• Topics for conversation can be sourced from almost anywhere and help even if we don’t use those topics.


• Good topic management is more important than the right topic. The best conversationalists know when to shift.


• Small talk in an essential exploration ground for getting to bigger, more meaningful conversation.

Resources Mentioned

• Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves* by Alison Wood Brooks

Interview Notes

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

• The Way Into Difficult Conversations, with Kwame Christian (episode 497)


• How to Help Difficult Conversations Go Better, with Sheila Heen (episode 655)


• How to Connect with People Better, with Charles Duhigg (episode 670)

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