How to Have a Bloody Good Conversation
How to Have a Bloody Good Conversation
Podcast Description
Have we forgotten how to talk to each other? We communicate non-stop online, but the more we type the less we talk, and then we get out of the habit of having a bloody good conversation.Yet conversations build important connections. They can double a company’s turnover, forge lasting relationships, land that dream job, so how can we make sure every conversation ends well for everyone? Join two conversationalists, journalist and broadcaster Mai Davies and communications consultant Sarah Wright, as they explore the ins and outs of having a bloody good conversation. It might just change your life!
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores themes around the art of conversation, focusing on barriers to effective communication, leadership communication, and the role of vulnerability and active listening in fostering connections. Specific episodes address topics such as improving conversational skills in professional environments, addressing generational differences in communication styles, and navigating difficult interactions during the holiday season.
If you want to succeed in life, you have to master the art of conversation.
From dating to doing business, negotiating a pay rise to haggling over bedtimes, conversations make our world go round.
The thing is, most of us were never taught how to have them well.
We all learned to talk as toddlers, but mastering conversation that’s a different skill entirely, and let’s be honest, most of us are winging it.
So if you’ve ever found yourself tongue-tied, lost for words, or dodging a difficult chat, this podcast is for you.
Join two curious conversationalists, psychologist and mindset coach Dr Victoria Stakelum and communications consultant Sarah Wright, as we explore how to have a bloody good conversation. It might just change your life.
The Conversation You’re Having At 3Am (And How To Change It)
You know the one. It starts the moment you wake up at 3am, or maybe it’s the reason you woke up in the first place. Not good enough. Not clever enough. Not doing enough. Most of us are having a conversation with ourselves that we would never tolerate from another person. And it’s doing real damage: to our confidence, our relationships, and for many of us, our sleep.
In this episode, hosts, Sarah Wright and psychologist Dr Victoria Stakelum, explore why our brains default to negative self-talk, what it is physically doing to our bodies, and what we can do to change it. Victoria explains the science behind negativity bias – the evolutionary survival mechanism that causes the brain to scan for threat and, in the absence of real danger, manufacture it – and why the stories we tell ourselves at night are particularly potent. In a wakeful sleep state, the body can’t tell the difference between a real threat and a vividly imagined one. The catastrophic 3am thought spiral is, quite literally, a self-induced stress response.
The conversation covers the physiological cost of chronic self-criticism (inflammation, disrupted sleep hormones, reduced immunity), the origins of the inner critic in childhood programming and social comparison, and the research showing that how we speak to ourselves directly shapes what becomes possible for us. Victoria also opens up about her own relationship with perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking – a reminder that even the psychologist is working on it.
You’ll come away with a step-by-step process for building kinder self-talk from the ground up: from the one sentence that can de-escalate a 3am spiral, to body scan techniques, to the most powerful reframe of all: responding to yourself as you would to someone you genuinely love.
Contact
Be part of the conversation. If you have a conversational conundrum or a question, please do get in touch via our email: [email protected].
References
Sarah’s book
- Get Back to Sleep: A Recovering Insomniac’s Practical Guide to Beating Insomnia – Available on Amazon
CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia)
- Sarah refers to this course that helped her: ReSleep.
Self-talk and self-compassion
- Self-Compassion – Dr Kristin Neff’s research and free self-compassion exercises https://self-compassion.org
- Psychology Today – What Is Negative Self-Talk, and How Can You Change It? https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/self-talk
Negativity bias
- Verywell Mind – What Is the Negativity Bias? https://www.verywellmind.com/negative-bias-4589618
Mindfulness and body scan
- NHS Every Mind Matters – Mindfulness and body scan audio guides: https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-wellbeing-tips/mindfulness/
Disclaimer
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