REFLECTIVE-DIRECTIVE COMMUNICATION TRAINING

Who is this training for?

This training is designed for those who need to effectively communicate with potentially adversarial partners online or offline, including first responders, airport and airline staff, human rights defenders, environmental activists, aid workers, members of various observation missions. Additionally, this training is suitable for decision-makers who want to enhance their negotiation skills.

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Training Topics

Effective communication requires more than assertiveness. There are times when bringing your own needs, feelings, and objectives openly into the exchange is not effective and can be outright dangerous and counterproductive. This training will teach you how to manage partners over whom you have no power, who face no constraints, and how to be in control when you are not dealt a card. Most importantly, you will learn how to decide which communication or negotiation tactic serves you best in a given situation. We will cover five topics during the training to help you find the right answers in each particular situation you may face:

• Field diagnosis for negotiation tactic selection

• Attribution and self-reflection in conflict situations

• Purpose and methods of rapport building

• Negotiation tactics: openings, speed control, taking and retaining the initiative, the transaction analysis model and its application

• Toolkit: 10 different communication systems and their use as a function of the field diagnosis and the situational context

 

Methodology

This training program is based on our experience in training professional hostage negotiators. We have adapted our training methodology to "civilian" situations while retaining the principles of reflexive-directive communication. Hostage negotiators use communication to save lives by building rapport, diffusing tensions, and achieving their objectives against the intentions of an all-powerful counterpart. We borrow concepts and tactical moves from their toolbox and teach trainees how to apply them to everyday situations. Concepts such as "you don't necessarily have to defeat an opponent to achieve your goal" serve as the foundation for teaching the tactical elements of reflexive-directive communication. Participants will practice each tactical element covered in interactive exercises to ensure that subject knowledge is associated with an emotion-rich, personal experience. This experience-based learning ensures that trainees can apply what they learn beyond the specific situations practiced in training, anywhere and anytime.

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Delivery

We deliver the reflective/directive communication training to groups of up to 15 trainees. The training is typically delivered in two half-day sessions in a classroom-like environment either at the client's facilities or at our own, as requested.