Explore every episode of the podcast TalkWise Podcast

Narratives are powerful forces, shaping not only our perceptions and attitudes about issues but also how we behave towards other people. A narrative can inform or misinform, do good or do harm, expand understanding, co-operation, trust and well-being or reduce them. In a challenged, conflicted and changing world the manner of our storytelling has never been more important. In this episode communications professional Rachel Erskine explains the vital role that ethical storytelling plays in the work of an international health NGO and in any endeavour to do good.

Many of the communications experts who have featured on the TalkWise Podcast use VoicePrint as a developmental tool to help their clients improve their communications practice.

To find out more about becoming a trained and accredited Voiceprint practitioner yourself visit https://letstalk.voiceprint.global/voiceprint-accreditation/

For some people severe speech and language difficulties are very  evident, whether they date from birth or from life misfortunes such as accidents, strokes and dementia. But in this episode learning and development expert and coach Stef Ticehurst, a highly experienced speech and language therapist herself, points out that we all have difficulties with speech and language in some form and to some degree or other. She  suggests some practical ways we can be more sympathetic and helpful towards one another in addressing this everyday aspect of life.

Many of the communications experts who have featured on the TalkWise Podcast use VoicePrint as a developmental tool to help their clients improve their communications practice.

To find out more about becoming a trained and accredited Voiceprint practitioner yourself visit https://letstalk.voiceprint.global/voiceprint-accreditation/

The world of work is still adjusting to the shocks and after-shocks of the covid pandemic. Rather than simply choosing or balancing where work happens, RTO (Return to Office) or WFH (Work from Home), organisations are faced with the need for unprecedented levels of behavioural and technological adaptability and flexibility. In this episode Organisation Development explorer and guide Gwen Stirling-Wilkie talks about her concept of Omni-Working, working effectively in all ways from all places, and the radical shift that this requires in the conduct and quality of our conversations at work.

Many of the communications experts who have featured on the TalkWise Podcast use VoicePrint as a developmental tool to help their clients improve their communications practice.

To find out more about becoming a trained and accredited Voiceprint practitioner yourself visit https://letstalk.voiceprint.global/voiceprint-accreditation/

One of the reasons why it is not easy to be a good listener is that  there are so many other calls on our attention, both from the world around us and from what’s going through our minds as we supposedly ‘listen’ to others. 

In this episode guest interviewer Amy Dempsey returns to question Alan Robertson about the development and purpose of the latest addition to the VoicePrint suite, the Listening Questionnaire, a talk-wise tool that can help us all to learn to listen better.

Many of the communications experts who have featured on the TalkWise Podcast use VoicePrint as a developmental tool to help their clients improve their communications practice.

To find out more about becoming a trained and accredited Voiceprint practitioner yourself visit https://letstalk.voiceprint.global/voiceprint-accreditation/

Listening is a vital part of good communication and effective interactions, but it can be difficult to do it well. Selfless listening requires us to set aside our own concerns and to give our full attention to what someone else wishes to say. In this episode communications expert and Samaritans listening volunteer Janie Van Hool returns to the TalkWise Podcast to emphasise why listening selflessly can be so beneficial, to reflect on how easily good listening intentions can be  disrupted and to suggest specific ways of enabling selfless listening.

Many of the communications experts who have featured on the TalkWise Podcast use VoicePrint as a developmental tool to help their clients improve their communications practice.

To find out more about becoming a trained and accredited Voiceprint practitioner yourself visit https://letstalk.voiceprint.global/voiceprint-accreditation/

Although communication is sometimes described as one-way, no act of communication is merely one-dimensional: all communications reflect both intent, conscious or subconscious, and impact, positive, neutral or negative. So while speeches, presentations and monologues can be multi-faceted in these respects, how much more complex, dynamic and potentially either creative or destructive is the interactive process of dialogue. In this episode guest Paul Minx shares reflections and insights about the part that dialogue - good and bad - plays in his parallel careers as an executive coach and a professional playwright.

Many of the communications experts who have featured on the TalkWise Podcast use VoicePrint as a developmental tool to help their clients improve their communications practice.

To find out more about becoming a trained and accredited Voiceprint practitioner yourself visit https://letstalk.voiceprint.global/voiceprint-accreditation/

It is generally agreed that most human interactions would be improved, if we were better listeners. We are urged to ‘be present’ and to ‘listen actively.’  But what do these ideas mean in practice? How do we become better listeners? In this episode Toni Smerdon, a qualified lawyer whose work now focuses on coaching others, explains the practicalities of the elusive skills of being fully present, of attaining the highest and most productive levels of listening, and of using questioning to promote inquiry.

Many of the communications experts who have featured on the TalkWise Podcast use VoicePrint as a developmental tool to help their clients improve their communications practice.

To find out more about becoming a trained and accredited Voiceprint practitioner yourself visit https://letstalk.voiceprint.global/voiceprint-accreditation/

There is a tacit assumption in all organisations: that their constituent parts will fit together and work. The reality is somewhat different, as evidenced by the size of the management consultancy sector, advising to organisations on how to improve their performance. In this episode internal communications expert Lindsay Uitenbogaard explains the ubiquitous problem of unconscious misalignment between functions and people in the modern organisation and how her diagnostic tool, Mirror Mirror, can assist organisations to overcome this performance-destroying obstacle.

Many of the communications experts who have featured on the TalkWise Podcast use VoicePrint as a developmental tool to help their clients improve their communications practice.

To find out more about becoming a trained and accredited Voiceprint practitioner yourself visit https://letstalk.voiceprint.global/voiceprint-accreditation/

Talking is not just something that we do with other people. The way we talk to ourselves can also have an enormous impact on how we think, feel and behave, and on our life prospects and outcomes. In this episode, seasoned people professional and coach Paul Gaskin describes the part that self-talk has played in his own career and the transformational effects of turning a negative inner voice into a capacity for generative 
inner conversation.

Many of the communications experts who have featured on the TalkWise Podcast use VoicePrint as a developmental tool to help their clients improve their communications practice.

To find out more about becoming a trained and accredited Voiceprint practitioner yourself visit https://letstalk.voiceprint.global/voiceprint-accreditation/

Being seen, heard and understood are vital to feeling valued and being 
able to make one’s full contribution, not just at work but in any social 
interaction. Too often we diminish others and ourselves by failing to 
see, hear or understand them properly. In this episode linguist Dr Clare 
Anderson explains how she uses her own deep appreciation of the 
importance of being seen, heard and understood in her work as an 
organisational consultant and an executive coach.

Many of the communications experts who have featured on the TalkWise Podcast use VoicePrint as a developmental tool to help their clients improve their communications practice.

To find out more about becoming a trained and accredited Voiceprint practitioner yourself visit https://letstalk.voiceprint.global/voiceprint-accreditation/

Storytelling is one of the oldest, most enduring and most impactful of all the uses that we make of talk. Stories encourage us to listen, resonate with our felt experiences, and generate both meaning and connections for us. In this episode we explore, with physiotherapist, actor, coach and facilitator, Sue Macmillan, the various and significant roles that storytelling continues to play, in both our interactions and our inner lives, especially during turbulent times.

The way we talk to and about one another can make or break relationships, inter-personal, organisational or societal, so it’s important to be conscious, current and considered in how our words land with others. But such in-the-moment awareness requires real attention and effort, when so much of our speech follows unconscious habits and patterns. In this episode of the TalkWise podcast we explore with educationalist Duncan Partridge how to become more alert to micro-aggressions, how to co-create collaborative dialogues and how to use talk in the pursuit of greater equity, diversity and inclusion.

Strings of words arranged in meaningful patterns are central to human communication, so how is the sharing of understanding through the medium of words affected by dyslexia? In this episode we talk to designer, consultant and author, Dr Emma Jefferies, about how she overcomes the difficulties posed by her own dyslexia and uses it in her life and work to generate curiosity, creativity and empathy.

For full episode notes click here. 

Talk is potent. It’s the principal everyday means through which we humans make things happen. It influences how we and others feel, think and behave. Sometimes its effect is vanishingly slight, while at others it is real but temporary, but sometimes its impact is profound and lasting.

In this episode TalkWise podcast host Alan Robertson becomes the interviewee and reflects on some memorable conversations that had formative effects on him and his work during his own career.

See the full episode notes here. 

One of the most significant trends in the continuing evolution of executive coaching is the emergence of team coaching with its focus on the performance and dynamics of the whole team as a collective entity. 

In this episode we speak with team coach Kate Mason-Keaney, who explains some of the distinctive considerations and approaches involved in the process of giving deep and sustained developmental attention to a team over an extended period of time.

Much is said, supposed and written about management and leadership, but what do these big concepts actually require of individuals in practice? Are there really significant differences between management and leadership and, if so what are they and how do you prepare for them? In this episode of the podcast we explore these questions with someone who coaches people to make the transition from manager to leader, accredited master executive coach Helen Mundy.

Selling is one of the most intentional and frequent uses to which we humans put our ability to talk. Whether we’re endeavouring to sell products, services or ideas, we consciously want this form of talking to produce a result, and organisations invest more in this area than in any other form of communications training. In this episode we interview sales consultant, lecturer and trainer Andrew Wilcock to explore how patterns of effective Sales Talk have evolved and developed.

See the full episode notes here. 

Agile working is an approach to project management developed for a complex, uncertain and dynamic world that calls for the delivery of fast, flexible and progressive solutions. Like all methodologies, its success ultimately depends on people and how they actually behave in practice. In this episode we interview culture architect, consultant and facilitator Marian O’Brien to explore her work and the role that communication plays in creating agile people and organisations

Show notes: https://talk-wise.com/podcast_episodes/agile-people-with-marian-obrien/

Good communication comes not from abstract principles but from actions, from what actually happens when we speak. Our voices too are rooted and carried through our physical bodies and the feelings and experiences that we hold in them. In this episode we interview coach and developer Rachel Harrison and explore how her work helps people to express their authentic, intentional voice with greater ease by reconnecting mind, body and voice through emotion.

The importance of being ready, able and willing to listen as a key element in effective communication has been emphasised over and over again by previous guests on the TalkWise Podcast, irrespective of the particular field in which they work. In this episode we interview Dr Tim Ojo, who describes himself as ‘listening for a living’, and explore how he uses listening in his work as a professional psychiatrist, coach, mentor and mediator.

Working at Board level is qualitatively different to other levels of  executive responsibility. Board members need to be able to engage with a  higher degree of complexity and apply their minds and voices to its  challenges in ways which are different and personally demanding. In this episode of the podcast we interview Board Mentor and Coach Rachael Hanley-Browne to discuss the nature of these challenges and how to rise to them.

Podcast page: https://talk-wise.com/podcast_episodes/working-at-board-level/

TalkWise: Talk is central to how we communicate, interact with one another and think. Using talk effectively is vital and at the same time beset with practical difficulties. In this episode of the podcast we interview business psychologist and developer Alan Robertson to learn more about VoicePrint, a developmental tool for raising awareness and skill with the nine different voices that contribute to good communication.

Presence is essential for anyone who wants to have influence and make an impact. But what does your voice sound like, how do others feel about it and how can you learn to use it so you can always make it count? In this episode of the podcast we interview voice coach and communications consultant Janie Van Hool and discuss ways of using your voice well to have presence, confidence and personal impact.

Tone of voice can have even more impact than the words we use. Having a deeper appreciation not just of what is said but of how it is being said is a vital aspect of becoming a better communicator, in expressing ourselves and in hearing others. In this episode of the podcast we interview linguistics researcher Professor Silke Paulmann and discuss how tone and other non-verbal factors affect how we interpret, and are interpreted by, others.

Networking has become a fundamental life skill in a world where continuing technological change and rapid economic shifts have such profound impacts, turning many careers into patchworks or portfolios of very different roles. In this episode of the podcast we interview process improvement consultant Howard Wilcox and discuss networking skills and their broader value for working successfully with others in a variety of different contexts.

Difficult conversations are an inevitable feature of life, both at work and outside. Attempting to avoid them only postpones the problem or makes it worse, while proceeding without sufficient care and attention leaves relationships damaged and issues unresolved. In this episode of the podcast we interview senior human resource business partner Liz Atkin to discuss the practicalities of what makes some conversations difficult and how to make them easier and more effective.

Women in executive roles and leadership remains a topic that attracts a surprising amount of special attention even now. It suggests that the underlying problem is that gender bias is still at work, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, here in the 21st Century.

In this episode of the podcast we interview executive coach Liz Palmer and discuss her experience and approach to tackling the challenges facing women in leadership.

Fear is something that we all experience. Too often it limits us, inhibiting, disabling and constraining what we feel able to do or even to attempt. The paradox is that fear draws its power more from what is going on inside us than from external threats as such.

In this episode of the podcast we interview original thinker and author Hilary Gallo, and discuss how to turn towards our fears, overcome them and turn them into opportunities for growth.

Innovation has become one of the most sought-after and elusive qualities for corporations and societies alike. Whether in pursuit of competitive advantage or in finding new solutions to sudden and potentially catastrophic problems, true innovation requires more than just blue-sky thinking.

In this episode of the podcast we interview organisational consultant Amy Dempsey and discuss ways to build cultures that nurture creativity and deliver innovation.

Employee engagement is essential both for business success and individual well-being. But as many as 70% of employees are reported to be either highly or partially disengaged, costing profitability, productivity, human energy, trust and fulfilment.

In this episode of the podcast we interview employee engagement expert Peter Wakefield and discuss ways to improve employee engagement through better conversations.

In this short introductory episode TalkWise creator Alan Robertson outlines the purpose, scope and format of these podcasts, in which experts from different fields share their experience and insights on practical ways to improve how we communicate.