How Email, Instant Messaging, and PowerPoint Presentations are Killing Conversation—and Business

July 12, 2011 - PRLog -- For media interviews contact:
            
Cynthia Zigmund   920/868-1333  cindy@insightspress.com
                     
Why Can’t We Just Talk About It?
How Email, Instant Messaging, and PowerPoint Presentations are Killing Conversation—and Potential Business

ROCHESTER, MN—More and more, conversations are being replaced by messaging, resulting in information overload and communication breakdown. In Defining Conversations: A Little Book About a Big Idea, conversation and communication experts Scott West and Mitch Anthony explore what it means to have “defining conversations”—conversations of substance that lead to real and sustainable results. According to Anthony, “More and more technology and ever-growing to-do lists mean fewer face-to-face interactions with customers.” Adds West, “The conversations many of us have end up feeling as if they are ‘counterfeit’ because we talk at each other rather than exchange ideas. In our experience, we have seen time and again that this type of interaction leads to a standoff at best, and lost customers at worst.”

Defining conversations have two key elements: ‘mutuality,’ or a sense of agreement, and ‘significance,’ or a sense that both parties have truly understood each other’s points of view and feel good about the outcome. West and Anthony discuss why people need to move toward having more straightforward conversations. Notes Anthony, “Our clients have reported that the less direct communication they have with customers, the more stress they experience—there is a need to get back to the true meaning of conversation.”

Designed to be a quick and entertaining read at just 128 pages, Defining Conversations: A Little Book About a Big Idea shows each of us how to understand the other person’s point of view, hear both thoughts and feelings on a topic, and comprehend a conversation’s significance. West and Anthony introduce you to conversation saboteurs, show you how to identify counterfeit conversations—and reveal the one question that will set you apart from others. Whether you are an initiator or a respondent in a conversation, once you master a defining conversation, your credibility will rise.
   
Scott West is Head of Consulting for Invesco Van Kampen Consulting. He is a well-respected and popular speaker on a wide range of topics and is best known for his creative application of marketing strategies and concepts. Scott is coauthor of four books, including The Language of Trust.

Mitch Anthony Mitch Anthony is the founder and president of Advisor Insights Inc. and the Financial Life Planning Institute, training companies serving the financial services industry. He is the author of several bestselling books including The New Retirementality. Anthony is a regular contributor to Financial Advisor magazine, and is regularly quoted by the media as an expert on client and customer communications.

View the book trailer on Youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkFN1yeuphQ



Defining Conversations:  A Little Book About a Big Idea (April 2010) $15.95, 128 pages, 5x7, hardcover, ISBN:  978-0-9727523-4-0 is available from Insights Press (507/282-2723) or online at Amazon.com or mitchanthony.com.