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&lt;p&gt;Regardless of your career field, the art of face to face communication will help you get ahead in it: it cuts across everything from your performance in your first interview for an internship to your ability to have productive conversations with employees in your corner office. So why wouldn&#39;t you want to learn how to do that better?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As someone whose first instinct is typically to hide behind a screen and communicate digitally, I&#39;m always on the lookout for advice on improving my conversational game. And, equally, I&#39;m frequently disappointed by the quality of said advice: too often, it&#39;s about tips that try to make you follow a formula so that you wind up looking and sounding like someone else, rather than a better version of yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, I was skeptical when I came across the TED talk below by radio host Celeste Headlee promising &quot;10 ways to have a better conversation.&quot; But, a couple of minutes in, she defined exactly what&#39;s wrong with so much of the advice on communication (Emphasis added):&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Many of you have already heard a lot of advice on this,&#160;things like look the person in the eye,&#160;think of interesting topics to discuss in advance,&#160;look, nod and smile to show that you&#39;re paying attention,&#160;repeat back what you just heard or summarize it.&#160;So I want you to forget all of that.&#160;It is crap. &lt;em&gt;There is no reason to learn how to show you&#39;re paying attention&#160;if you are in fact paying attention.&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once I heard that, I had no option but to plow ahead with the remaining 7 minutes, and found that Headlee&#39;s take on communication is something that almost anyone could learn from, without having to become a different person or memorize any special tricks in the meantime. Or, as she puts it:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;We&#39;ve all had really great conversations.&#160;We&#39;ve had them before. We know what it&#39;s like.&#160;The kind of conversation where you walk away feeling engaged and inspired,&#160;or where you feel like you&#39;ve made a real connection&#160;or you&#39;ve been perfectly understood.&#160;There is no reason&#160;why most of your interactions can&#39;t be like that.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check out the full speech right here—it&#39;s well worth your time, provided that (spoiler alert) you listen to what she has to say:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;640&quot; height=&quot;360&quot; src=&quot;https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/celeste_headlee_10_ways_to_have_a_better_conversation.html&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; webkitallowfullscreen=&quot;&quot; mozallowfullscreen=&quot;&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;

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