One of broadcasting's most adept conductors of public conversation, Arthanayake probes what makes for productive discourse in this eye-opening volume committed to enhancing the quality of debate in modern society.
Where do you start a conversation with people who have tried to kill your family?
How can a hostage negotiator teach us to get someone on side in less than a minute?
Can a Muslim woman who sat down with neo-Nazis teach us to be better listeners?
Conversations are broken. And while effective dialogue is supposed to lead to greater fulfilment in our personal and professional lives, all the scientific evidence points towards us sharing fewer interactions than previous generations. From ever decreasing face-to-face meetings to echo chambers online, we no longer have the necessary tools to talk to each other.
Nihal Arthanayake is bucking this trend. As the world becomes increasingly more fractured, he has built a platform of 1.2 million listeners a week on BBC Radio 5 Live who regard him as one of the best people of his generation at having public conversations. Guests from the world's biggest stars to leaders of inner-city gangs have lauded his seemingly innate ability to stimulate positive discussions without the need for confrontation. Now he wants to understand how he developed his skills, what it exactly means to have a 'great conversation' and, most importantly, how he can teach us to have better interactions in our everyday lives.
Let's Talk blends Nihal's experiences as an acclaimed interviewer with expert and celebrity opinion on the secrets and psychology behind successful communication. From tracing the evolution of dialogue to discovering what lights up in the brain when we're enjoying a good discussion, Nihal speaks to the experts - from the board room to the criminal courts - to find why good conversation has eroded over time and how we can fix it.
Part how-to and part manifesto, Let's Talk is Nihal's accessible, anecdotal and invigorating toolkit to having better conversations with anyone, any time.
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9781398702240
Number of pages: 288
Weight: 260 g
Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 26 mm
We're not currently in the golden era of conversation - it has either eroded away into emojis or escalated into online wildfires. Nihal is a master of the art of conversation, one of the country's finest and smartest interviewers, and his book is both brilliant and necessary. Read this fascinating book and you'll become a better listener, a better conversationalist and better company -- Adam Kay, bestselling author of This is Going to Hurt
A brilliant book on the art of conversation. It is entirely from the heart, an impassioned please for more meaningful conversation amid this era of online squabbling and all too easy animosity. This isn't some half-hearted celeb effort . . . a very impassioned defence of conversation as an art and one of the things that can save and retain our humanity in a world of GIFs and emojis and fifteen second digital dopamine hits. Nihal writes as well as he chats and this book is great -- Matt Haig, bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive
Nihal is nothing less than the most intelligent interviewer in British broadcasting, so I had high expectations for his book on conversations, and it doesn't disappoint. It's clever, original, surprising and reading it made me appreciate why he is so good at what he does - he actually listens to the people he consults. A compulsory book for these divided times -- Sathnam Sanghera, bestselling author of Empireland
An intriguing exploration of the importance of a proper chinwag by one of our most brilliant broadcasters -- Sara Cox, bestselling author of Till the Cows Come Home
You won't want to check your phone while you're reading this. Nihal hits the nail on the head - again, and again, and again. Breaking news: conversation isn't shouting at a crowd on social media. Nihal has rediscovered the art and we are all winners as a result. A terrific book from a terrific broadcaster. Worryingly good -- Jeremy Vine, author of What I Learnt
Turns out when he's interviewing all those amazing folk on 5 Live he's taking it all in and constructing a grand theory of conversation -- Dan Snow, host of the History Hit podcast and author of On This Day in History
There is no more important task today than improving the conversations we all have. And there is nobody better to guide us than Nihal Arthanayake -- Matthew d'Ancona, author of Post Truth
I'd like to say what a great broadcaster Nihal is. Well on his way to becoming a national treasure. Informed, open-minded, fair, astute, caring and funny. A dying breed -- Ricky Gervais
An insightful, important read -- Stacey Dooley, bestselling author of On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back
A genuinely brilliant broadcaster -- Matthew Syed, bestselling author of Rebel Ideas
Fascinating and thought-provoking -- Jane Fallon, author of 11 Sunday Times Top 10 Bestsellers
The conversation king -- Laura Whitmore, bestselling author of No One Can Change Your Life Except For You
Brilliant in the ear and just as brilliant on the page. Nihal has produced a fascinating, informative and nuanced look at the very nature and need for conversation. To read him is to get a lesson from a master practitioner of the art -- Anita Anand, author of The Patient Assassin
From the get-go, the title of this book was extremely striking and I was excited to get into it. This book is extremely effective and to the point - the tips are extremely profound and thoughtful. It's absolutely... More
I read this book because i am fascinated by topic of having good conversations. Nihal Arthanyake has done a wonderful job of telling us how wonderful conversations by bringing people who need to communicate on... More
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