6Influencing a Conversation

“Affect others profoundly: the more you touch others, the better.”

– Thomas Leonard

Much of the time, when people chat to each other they're not thinking about a specific outcome – conversation just seems to happen! But people who are skilled in conversation are far from random when they chat. They hold an intention or intentions, usually unspoken, which influence the course their conversation takes. This can be a specific outcome they have in mind, or it may be something as intangible as a guiding quality or attitude.

When Oprah called some people “radiators”, she was in fact describing people who have this special skill of affecting a conversation. They might not give it a name, but in what they say and how they ...

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