If you work in a team, as so many of us do, you’ve run into your share of conversational mires, communication breakdowns, and, most likely, teammates you don’t gel with. Certain personal communication styles often result in individuals being labelled as “difficult,” leading to feelings of anxiety and resentment among team members who wish to avoid working with “difficult” team members. 

This is bad news for a business, with the potential to impact both culture and the bottom line. An environment in which all team members do not feel safe and are not set up for maximum cooperation lowers chances of success and harms employee motivation, necessitating that teams make concerted efforts to create communication channels that bridge gaps and build rapport, enabling everyone to perform at their best.

An expert communication speaker is an invaluable asset for teams looking for proven methods for fostering authenticity and emotional security that are practical and applicable. The specialists below are among the very best in their field, ranging from crisis negotiators to behavioral scientists who have devoted their professional careers to giving others the tools they need to have those necessary but dreaded difficult conversations.

Culture and communication speaker Bill Benjamin is an emotional intelligence expert who has combined his past career experience in technology and sales with rigorous scientific research to create methods to safely and effectively engage in often thorny feedback conversations. In his Last 8% program, he guides others through the process of fostering self-awareness, diminishing anxiety, and building the emotional connection necessary to  truly address, and move beyond, interpersonal barriers.

Media personality, bestselling author and communications speaker Rachel DeAlto is an expert on creating genuine connection between team members. Balancing authenticity and emotional intelligence, her methodology prioritizes creating environments of psychological safety that allows colleagues to better understand each other and their communication styles, effectively revolutionizing their capacity for collaboration and creating organization-wide ripples that boost chances for success.

Kwame Christian is a business founder, podcast host, and coach to the Fortune 500 counted among the world’s preeminent negotiation experts. As the author of two bestselling books on the subject and CEO of the American Negotiation Institute, Christian has helped thousands of people around the world develop the toolkits needed to confidently tackle difficult conversations for outcomes that lead to strengthened, not strained, relationships.

Crisis negotiator Scott Tillema is an expert in high-stakes communication, with degrees in behavioral science and forensic psychology. His experiences in crises and educational background have lent him incredible insight into the graceful resolution of difficult situations, allowing him to teach others how to turn hostility into trust and tension into a working rapport that promises stronger relationships among team members and better business results.

Colette Carlson is a speaker and human behavior expert that is a favorite among businesses looking to employ mindful communication methods. Carlson knows that thriving businesses succeed because of deliberate choices to foster awareness and authenticity, not by chance, and her techniques allow her to impart audiences with actionable ways to foster supportive work environments and encourage meaningful conversations that actually broach issues instead of skimming the surface. 

Ready to learn how to take the plunge and have that dreaded conversation? Reach out to us at info@bigspeak.com to partner with one of our expert communication speakers.