★★ Strongly recommended by announcers Lee Geum-hee and Oh Sang-jin
★★ Recommended by world-renowned scholars Angela Duckworth and Ethan Cross

Professor Allison Wood Brooks, a rising star in the American psychology world
Harvard MBA's renowned lectures are now available in a book!
The scientific principles of speaking that will get you the results you want, no matter who, when, or where you talk.

Allison Wood Brooks's "TALK: How to Speak Better in Business and Everyday Life," a Harvard Business School lecture that has captivated the next generation of business leaders, has finally been published as a book.
Wood Brooks, who has garnered attention from the psychology world by being selected as the best MBA professor under 40 (Poets & Quants), has persuasively explained why 'conversation' is the most important management tool today.
He emphasizes that even in the AI ​​era where technology replaces people, 'conversation' remains at the core of all business and human relationships.
The factor that determines success is not strategic skills or professional abilities, but 'human relationships', and the success or failure of human relationships depends on 'conversation'.


So how can we achieve our goals through conversation? Based on ten years of in-depth research and vivid classroom experience, the author has identified the core principles essential for effective conversation.
The four core principles that enable meaningful communication are 'TALK - Topic, Asking, Levity, and Kindness.'
Drawing on psychology, behavioral science, and management, he presents a logical and clear explanation of how the TALK principle can lead persuasive conversations, build trust, and foster collaboration. Simply memorizing the TALK principle and implementing it one by one will bring remarkable changes to your business and daily life.


Today, exploring "how to converse" is no longer a matter of choice. Even AI can't converse for humans, and no one wants to.
The ability to judge context, orchestrate conversations, and produce results is a core competency that determines the success or failure of today's businesses.
Now, why not immerse yourself in the world's best conversational skills lecture that Harvard's business leaders have been enthusiastic about and turn 'conversation' into your own weapon?

We 'always' talk.
Yet, there is no activity as difficult and risky as conversation.
In fact, few human activities involve as much complexity and uncertainty as conversation.
…This book is a supplement to the ‘TALK’ lecture.
The goal of this book is to help you approach conversations with confidence and develop your conversational skills.
I want to help you seize more opportunities and achieve more through everyday conversations with a solid foundation in conversational skills.
My lectures are limited to a certain number of attendees, but this book is available to everyone.
It will help you no matter whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, or what role you play within an organization, group, or family.
--- From "Starting the Lecture"

Conversations we have in everyday life are uncertain and complex.
When I review the transcripts of conversations my fellow researchers and I analyze, it is incredibly confusing.
Unlike conversations in sitcoms or movies, real-life conversations don't follow neat and tidy scripts.
In fact, conversations in everyday life are often absurd and strange.
There are incomplete ideas, circular and clumsy logic throughout, and expressions of affection and defensive remarks are interspersed in various ways.
…That's why we need the TALK principles. The TALK principles—topic, questioning, lightness, and consideration—help us effectively achieve our goals across the four quadrants of the conversation compass.
These principles are especially important because conversations often go astray or lead to incorrect coordination activities.
Based on my 10 years of research on conversation, I have
The principle was derived.
Each principle is intuitively easy to understand.
--- p.64-65, from "Lecture 1 | Before Delving into the Principles of Conversation"

We need to use System 2 thinking more.
Students in my class were able to have more interesting conversations by coming up with stories like Doctor Manhattan from Watchmen.
Of course, you can have a smooth and enjoyable conversation spontaneously, but you're more likely to have a conversation that flows that way if you think through the topic well in advance.
This is heart
This is because of a phenomenon that psychologists call “cognitive offloading.”
This refers to lowering the level of cognitive effort by reducing the information processing demands of a particular task through physical actions (e.g., writing down ideas).
…it's much easier to think about the topic before you start a conversation, when you have time to engage System 2 thinking.
--- p.86, from 「Lecture 2 | First Principle, 'T' is for Topics」

This is the important point that the research team noticed.
Do the people they're asking actually feel uncomfortable? Will the conversation become as awkward as they imagined? … People who know each other seem to handle sensitive questions better than you might think.
So what about when people don't know each other? Even then, the questioner's prediction was wrong.
Even in relationships where people don't know each other, asking sensitive questions doesn't lead to negative outcomes, whether the conversation is in person or via text message.
In five experiments with more than 1,400 people, the research team found no evidence that asking sensitive questions made conversations more risky than asking safer questions.
A question that feels sensitive is actually not being perceived sensitively by the other person.
This is something we cannot know until we actually ask the question.
--- p.136-137, from 「Lecture 3 | The Second Principle, 'A' is Asking」

Humor can be divided into 'friendly humor' and 'aggressive humor'.
Friendly humor is meant to entertain everyone and bring people closer together (rather than to encourage conflict or division).
Aggressive humor, on the other hand, is intended to put others down or insult them.
Affirmative humor enhances psychological safety (a prerequisite for all good conversations), while aggressive humor weakens it.
If you're not sure how your humor will be perceived by the other person, just be as friendly and kind as possible... Rick is using self-deprecation, a classic form of affiliative humor.
Most of us don't like ourselves at times.
Instead of dismissing such self-loathing as a pointless emotion, why not transform it into humor? Self-deprecation is often most effective when leaders or high-ranking figures reveal shortcomings they've overcome or criticism they've received in the past.
--- p.192-193, from 「Lecture 4 | The Third Principle, 'L' is for Levity」

Consideration, the last and most difficult and in many ways the most important keyword in the TALK principle, can be summarized in this sentence.
Do your best to put the other person's wants and needs first.
Of course it is difficult.
And sometimes it may be impossible.
It is not only realistically difficult to always think of the other person first, but it is also not always desirable.
But even if it's not always possible, constantly striving to put others first is ultimately the path to becoming the ideal person we aspire to be.
… consideration means helping him get whatever he needs: encouragement, honest feedback, new ideas, a smile, discussion of plans, challenging questions, a break.
--- p.227, from 「Lecture 5 | The Fourth Principle, 'K' is Kindness」

One important thing a person of high status can do is step back.
In other words, by refraining from speaking, you give others more opportunities to speak! This may seem easy at first, but it's harder than you think.
When you're comfortable or have expertise in a leadership role and others are quiet because they don't know what to say, it's hard for you to 'not' lead the conversation.
But still, if you take a step back, you can invite other people to speak.
…but for effective communication to occur in a group of people with different statuses, it is not enough for the higher-status person to simply step back.
This means that we must actively foster a sense of ‘psychological safety’ within the group.
Psychological safety comes from the belief that you won't be punished, reprimanded, or insulted for speaking up, asking questions, expressing concerns, or making mistakes.
You should feel safe to be yourself and express your views.
You must be able to trust that expressing yourself freely will not result in negative consequences.
--- p.282-283, from "Lecture 6 | How to Lead a Successful Group Conversation"

How can we effectively manage disagreement and avoid it straying into the upper left quadrant? What specific characteristics of productive, conflicting conversations are there? How can we make conversations enjoyable, or at least avoid them becoming hostile or hostile, despite differing opinions? Can we end the conversation on a positive note, without offending those with differing personal beliefs or desires? According to their research, conversations that lead to productive outcomes despite conflict exhibit a characteristic called "receptiveness."
Receptivity means being open to opposing views.
When talking to someone with opposing views, hostility can develop due to the various differences described above.
However, using receptive language not only reduces the likelihood that a conversation will end in a state of heightened hostility, but also increases the likelihood that the other person will agree with the person using such language.

--- p.328-329, from "Lecture 7 | The Art of Dialogue that Transcends Conflict and Cracks"

An apology is ultimately an act of restoring broken trust.
And the core orientation of the TALK principle is also trust.
Managing the conversation, asking questions, creating a bright and light atmosphere, and showing consideration are all necessary to build trust with the other person.
It's the belief that we genuinely care about the other person, understand them, and want to help them get what they want out of the conversation.
Even when arguments or uncomfortable conflicts arise between groups, using the TALK principle can help change the situation for the better and build trust.
In fact, the goals on the right side of the vertical axis of the conversation compass (having a good time, asking for advice, speaking honestly, making the other person feel good, breaking the ice, sharing memories, etc.) all contribute to building, demonstrating, and maintaining trust.
--- p.380, from "Lecture 8 | The Power of Apologies to Rekindle Broken Relationships"

Erving Goffman said, “The fire that lights up the world is not what we call love, but conversation.”
There are countless light bulbs hanging from strings throughout our lives.
What if we tried to make each light bulb just a little brighter? There would be moments when the light bulb in our conversations would flicker or go out, but there would also be moments when it would shine beautifully.
Now, let's rise up and light up the world.
The first conversation you have after closing the book is the starting point.

--- p.423, from “Ending the Lecture”