Our words are what often help us to frame whether we see the world as a set of problems or opportunities. Communications experts Jackie Stavros and Cheri Torres believe that anyone can create meaningful and productive conversations that can be catalysts for change.

It comes down to asking the right questions and approaching challenging conversations with creativity. Longtime friends and colleagues, they are co-authors of Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement.

For decades, Jackie and Cheri have counseled individuals, companies, institutions, and other organizations on how to use two simple practices to make every conversation count. In this episode, Jackie and Cheri offer the tools and techniques you need to have conversations worth having.

(Appreciative Inquiry is an approach developed by David Cooperrider. It fosters positive change in organizations and communities.)

GUEST BIOS:
Jackie Stavros has more than 30 years of leadership, strategy, organization development and change management experience, and is the creator of SOAR – a strategy to help organizations create meaningful conversations about opportunities and positive change. she is a professor at Michigan’s Lawrence Technological University College of Business and IT and a senior specialist in Appreciative Inquiry. Jackie earned her doctorate in management from Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Her master’s in business administration comes from Michigan State University. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Wayne State University. She lives in Brighton, MI, with her husband, Paul, and their kids, Ally and Adam, as well as their dog, Rex.

Cheri B. Torres specializes in leadership, team development, and whole system strategic planning. She is the lead catalyst at Collaborative by Design, a consulting firm that she founded in 2009. She’s taught thousands of trainers and teachers around the world in the use and practice of Experiential Learning, Appreciative Inquiry, and other strengths-based processes. She has worked in many sectors, including corporate, government, education, and nonprofit, focusing on shared leadership, teamwork, and collective impact. She holds a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Tennessee, as well as a master’s in transpersonal psychology. She lives in Asheville, NC, with her husband Michael, and their dog, Annabelle, and cat, Ziggy.

LINKS:
Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement

Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive Paperback, by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, and Robert Cialdini

The Petrified Wood Principle