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Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue

When it comes to the health of relationships, teams, and organizations, one thing affects everything: communication. Backed by 30 years of social science, Crucial Conversation skills represent the standard in effective communication. Improve your skills and get better outcomes by attending a training course.

Learning Objectives

The communication skills taught in this training focus on a specific kind of interaction: those when stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. This is not a course on winning friends or winning people to your way of thinking; it’s about strengthening relationships and securing results in the moments that matter most.

This course teaches nine powerful skills for working through disagreement to achieve better resources: Get unstuck, Master my stories, Start with heart, State my path, Make it safe, Learn to look, Seek mutual purpose, Explore others’ paths, and Move to action.

In this course, you’ll learn:

  • What to do before a Crucial Conversation to:
    • Spot the Crucial Conversations that are keeping you from what you want.
    • Keep your strong emotions from taking control of the conversation.
    • Create emotions that will bring you into dialogue

  • What to do during a Crucial Conversation to:
    • Stay focused on what you really want.
    • Start a conversation with respect and honesty.
    • Talk to almost anyone about almost anything.
    • Notice the subtle and not-so-subtle signs that you and others are not in dialogue.
    • Find common ground, even when it seems impossible.
    • Listen actively and help others add their meaning to the pool.

  • What to do at the end of a Crucial Conversation to:
    • Turn a Crucial Conversation into action and results.

Crucial Conversation Videos

Learn more about this training with these videos.

Upcoming Training Sessions

Crucial Conversations: Employees
  • Date: Monday, March 17 to Friday, March 21, 2025 (2.5 hours x 5 days)
  • Time: 9:30 a.m. to noon
  • Location: Virtual
  • Target Audience: Employees
    Note: Participants must attend all dates to receive their certificate.

REGISTER FOR MARCH 17-21, 2025 EMPLOYEE SESSION.

Crucial Conversations: Employees

  • Date: Monday, June 16, 2025 to Friday, June 20, 2025 (2.5 hours x 5 days)
  • Time: 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm
  • Location: Virtual
  • Target Audience: Employees
    Note: Participants must attend all dates to receive their certificate.

REGISTER FOR JUNE 16-20, 2025 EMPLOYEE SESSION.

Crucial Conversations: Managers/Directors

  • Date: Monday, November 10, 2025 to Friday November 14, 2025 (2.5 hours x 5 days)
  • Time: 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm
  • Location: Virtual
  • Target Audience: Managers/Directors
    Note: Participants must attend all dates to receive their certificate.

REGISTER FOR NOVEMBER 10-14, 2025 MANAGERS/DIRECTORS SESSION.