Let's Talk: How to Have Better Conversations

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While effective dialogue is supposed to lead to greater fulfilment in our personal and professional lives, all the scientific evidence points towards us sharing fewer interactions than previous generations. Read this fascinating book and you'll become a better listener, a better conversationalist and better company' Adam Kay'A brilliant book on the art of conversation' Matt Haig'A compulsory book for these divided times' Sathnam Sanghera'An intriguing exploration of the importance of a proper chinwag' Sara Cox'A terrific book from a terrific broadcaster.

Broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake helped me through lockdown; I’d often sit listening to his interviews on his BBC Radio 5 Live show when my social interaction and conversation topics were limited!

With insights from ‘professional conversationalists’ from various sectors, this is a thoughtful read with some practical takeaways on how to have better conversations. Think about how this, and how you can make other people feel when you are interacting with them; however brief that connection may be. For other, more casual conversations, it’s the desire to actively listen rather than wait to respond.

And while we know that effective communication can lead to greater fulfilment in our personal and professional lives, evidence suggests we are having fewer meaningful conversations than previous generations. By the end of the introduction, I was already growing to dislike him after constant bragging and ensuring the reader knows how talented and qualified he is at conservation. Nihal interviews a range of people for whom communication is a key part of their life and business, whilst blending in some of his own stories and experiences along the way, to highlight his key recommendations for the importance of open and varied communication, and how we need to improve in ‘the art of conversation’.We have a great resource as part of the bibliography at the back, and I would like to read the conversations too! Nihal has produced a fascinating, informative and nuanced look at the very nature and need for conversation. Within the chapter “Conversations in Extremis” we are given insights into conversations with Paramilitaries, Neo-Nazis and Hostage Negotiation; where people with opposing views still find a way to communicate.

In conclusion, “Let’s Talk: How to Have Better Conversations” is a book that gives us insight into why conversations, even the most difficult, as ones that are worth having, I leave you with a quote from one of our previous book club authors, Matt Haig “ A very impassioned defence of conversation as an art”. His is a podcast that I dip into when he interviews someone of interest, and I often find that Nihal is an easy interviewer to listen to. I found the chapter on The Mechanics of Conversation fascinating; it highlighted how our stress response and the physiological markers change between different types of communication – nothing beats hearing a person’s voice when you communicate!The only thing lacking for me was actual transcripts of the conversations, in raw form, before they are converted into the prose of the book. So, in true Clara Cliff Notes style, here are four things you need to know about “Let’s Talk” by Nihal Arthanayake.