Design your way out of the conversation crisis / Fred Dust/ Episode #161

Think for a moment about a hard conversation you needed to have about a topic that really mattered to you. This could be a conversation at work or just in your private life.

Now, what if... that conversation went down in your memory as exciting, productive, and fun? What if it almost felt like a game? Sounds too good to be true, right? 

Well, according to Fred Dust, that's exactly what's possible and even what's necessary. According to Fred, we have almost entirely lost the ability to have hard conversations about important topics. We aren't having the conversations we need to have. And that's causing us a lot of trouble.

Many conversations these days have become shallow, lack connection, and don't build shared understanding. But there's hope. There is a way out of this conversation crisis. We need and can design for better conversations.

In his book Making Conversation, Fred shares why and how you do that. The book has been a huge inspiration source for me lately, so I just had to get Fred on the Show to dig a bit deeper.

So if you also want more human, meaningful, and productive conversations, you'll definitely enjoy this conversation. Yes, that's a bit meta :)

Conversations are a creative act, make the most of them!

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to episode 161
04:15 Who is Fred
05:45 Lightning round
10:30 Why do we need this book
12:30 How did we lose conversation
14:00 Why did you write this
16:00 What are we losing
17:00 Who is this book for
20:00 Key concepts
23:30 Applying the ideas
27:30 Setting the stage
31:00 Active versus creative listening
34:15 Be more human
37:30 Common response
39:30 Overcoming the biggest roadblocks
42:00 Doing not talking
46:30 Better conversations online
50:00 Lessons learned
51:30 You can get better
53:00 Remember this
54:15 Book giveaway contest
55:30 Closing thoughts

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

* https://www.linkedin.com/in/freddust/
* https://www.dustand.co
* Making Conversation (book) - https://amzn.to/3N6R9Kd

--- [ 3. CONTEST ] ---

To enter the contest, head over to the video version of this conversation on YouTube and leave a comment there to answer the question posed in the episode.

https://go.servicedesignshow.com/episode161

--- [ 4. CIRCLE ] ---

Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

https://servicedesignshow.com/circle