Online Difficult Conversations Course

Course Description

The Stitt Feld Handy Group Online Difficult Conversations Course is designed to help you have the hard but necessary conversations that we all have to face. You take the course over the Internet and can pause at any time, picking it up days later from where you left off.

In each of the 5 course modules, you will take part in a simulated conversation with an interactive computer character. The characters make statements, ask questions, use difficult tactics, express strong emotions, and otherwise create difficulties for you. You will have to react to what the character says, answer questions, ask other questions, and try to achieve your objective.

If the conversation does not go as well as it can, you will be told why and sent back to the spot where you made your wrong turn so you can try again.

At the end of the course, you will find downloadable notes that you can save for future reference.

The material taught in this course is based on the material presented in the Stitt Feld Handy Group public Dealing with Difficult People workshop and some of the ideas in the books Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen, and Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work & in Life One Conversation at a Time by Susan Scott.

This course is part of the Executive Certificate in Conflict Management and the new Advanced Certificate in Workplace Coaching. Executive Certificate in Conflict Management and the new Advanced Certificate in Workplace Coaching.

Learning Objectives

You will learn:

How to deliver difficult messages clearly and powerfully
How to confront someone without provoking them
How to persuade difficult people
How to begin a difficult conversation
How to discuss issues that take you by surprise
How to manage strong emotions

Screenshots

Course Breakdown

Module 1 – The Presumptuous Customer
- You play the role of a restaurant owner who must confront a public figure who has jumped the queue and seated himself without a reservation on an evening when you are booked solid.
Module 2 – You’re Fired
- You play the role of a manager who must fire an unproductive employee who has become a friend.
Module 3 – The Office Dilemma
- You play the role of an employee who has to explain to their boss why their results are not as good as you would like.
Module 4 – The Contractor
- You play the role of a homeowner who must confront a contractor about a renovation that went wrong.
Module 5 – The Email
- You play the role of the spouse of either Helen or Yale and you must explain why you have concealed from your spouse an innocent relationship between you and a high-school sweetheart.

Who Should Enroll

Anyone who has difficult conversations in their roles can benefit from this course. This includes executives, managers, professionals, sales agents, entrepreneurs, customer service representatives, educators, university and college students, and administrators. Completing this course will empower each participant to be more confident in their roles and more likely to achieve their objectives in difficult conversations.