Challenging conversations either help us or hurt us. We all have some conversations in our life and work that leave us worse off than we’d be if we never opened our mouths. These failed conversations don’t solve problems; they create new ones. They don’t help us reach decisions or understand one another; rather, they breed confusion, frustration, anxiety and irritation. And instead of strengthening our relationships, they alienate us from the people we care about most. Worst of all, these failed conversations have a strong tendency to repeat themselves. We may find ourselves in the same frustrating meeting or explosive personal argument over and over again. Until we understand what causes these breakdowns, we have little chance of getting better results in the future.
Ben Benjamin has spent decades helping people communicate better. At this dinner meeting of the Society of Professional Consultants, he will introduce you to SAVI, the System for Analyzing Verbal Interaction. SAVI clearly explains exactly why and how conversations fail, as well as what it takes to bring about positive change. This system, grounded in the latest neuropsychology research, helps people recognize and transform the specific behaviors that cause most breakdowns in communication in their professional and personal lives. The SAVI framework has been in use for more than 40 years, helping improve communication in couples, groups, work teams, and organizations.
For consultants, SAVI can become an important tool for understanding why conversations fail and what is needed to turn them around. Those attending this presentation will learn how to identify and surmount the barriers that impede communication and increase frustration, conflict, and distancing. Attendees will come away with an understanding of the anatomy of conflict. They will learn how to dissect failed conversations to determine what went wrong – and how to start communicating more effectively right away.
About Our Speaker:
Ben E. Benjamin, PhD, is a consultant, coach, writer, and entrepreneur who has been teaching communication skills for more than 30 years. In recent years, his teaching and writing have focused increasingly on SAVI, the System for Analyzing Verbal Interaction. A certified Senior SAVI Trainer, Ben has developed and led communications workshops for a wide range of organizations undefined in sectors such as finance, legal, and manufacturing, as well as educational, healthcare, and religious institutions. He also provides advanced facilitation training to help organizations resolve conflicts and hold more effective meetings.
Ben Benjamin, along with coauthors Amy Yeager and Anita Simon, has written the first book that uses the SAVI framework, Conversation Transformation: Recognize and Overcome the 6 Most Destructive Communication Patterns.
