Introducing the REAL TALK® Mobile App
The REAL TALK® Mobile App is brought to you by DialogueWORKS, the communications experts behind the popular training program “REAL TALK: Creating REAL Conversations for Results,” and Dr. John R. Stoker, the bestselling author of Overcoming Fake Talk. If this handy mobile app is your first tool for improving the quality and effectiveness of your interactions, you will find the brief tutorials and examples in each step of preparation to be very helpful.
Of course, we highly recommend you use this mobile app in conjunction with your very own copy of Overcoming Fake Talk. Or if you have been fortunate enough to participate in a REAL TALK training, the app will help transfer the principles you learned in class to your everyday interactions.
“What,” you may ask, “is REAL TALK?”
Do you or people you work with struggle to talk about broken commitments, poor performance, lack of accountability, useless meetings, safety violations, a failure to tell the truth, strained relationships, a lack of respect, tardiness, bad attitude, and ongoing conflicts?
Do you have to deal with people who constantly criticize you and everyone else, don’t do their fair share of the work, cave in when confronted, can’t meet a deadline, or refuse to learn new skills?
Or perhaps you find it difficult to talk about “sacred cows,” or to work with people who “go along to get along.” These issues and others like them can be improved or even resolved if the people involved are willing to learn how to create REAL TALK. In short, REAL conversations get results, increase respect, and build relationships—unlike “fake talk,” which generates chatter and drama, but never any real change.
What the REAL TALK Mobile App Does
All types of effective conversations—even effective difficult conversations—essentially follow a framework (presented in the book and training mentioned above): the conversation is initiated in a carefully thought-out manner, and questions are asked and answered until both parties clearly discover what issues are involved. Ideally, next comes a connecting discussion of wants and expectations. Finally, a REAL conversation ends on a practical, building note once plans are developed, goals are set, and commitments are finalized.
Naturally, a conversation that involves giving constructive feedback in the office is going to be different in many respects from a conversation with your spouse about plans for the weekend (for example), but the framework of Initiate-Discover-Connect-Build truly can be applied to both of these conversations!
The REAL TALK Mobile App guides you step-by-step through the framework, jogging your ideas and thoughts along the way with questions and examples to help you focus your thinking. After recording what you want to say in all four phases of the conversation, the app displays the entire conversation you have created on a summary screen you can easily and discreetly refer to during the conversation—if you need to.
Of course you can save your conversation, so you can prepare in advance for touchy topics. Or use yesterday’s conversation as a template for a similar conversation you need to have with another colleague tomorrow by saving a copy of the prepared conversation and then modifying it appropriately.
And the Resources screen on the app gives you fingertip access to all kinds of helpful information available on the DialogueWORKS.com website, including self-assessments, blogs, webinars, newsletters, media presentations, and much more.
Download the REAL TALK Mobile App today to get into the conversation.