Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Language and Numbers are the Basis of Our World

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” [Aristotle] Reading on a variety of topics helps us expand our thinking while it contributes to our ability to discover patterns across different disciplines. This method of learning is based on the liberal arts subjects of study in schools and apprenticeship studios of the first millennium after Christ in the West—the Middle Ages. The classification... Read more →

Value and Conversation as a Tool for Marketing in 2017

Our ability to see into the future well enough to make good predictions is the product of diligent work and on the ground interaction and impact rather than tea-leaf reading (with all respect to useful ways of doing that.) According to Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner, “it involves gathering evidence from a variety of sources, thinking probabilistically, working in teams, keeping score, and being willing to admit error and change course.” In Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction, Tetlock and Gardner say open mindedness, flexibility and an ability to move quickly between different viewpoints is essential to good forecasting.... Read more →

Being Wrong, Adventures in the Margin of Error

“as a staff, we joke that every single episode of our show has the same crypto-theme. And the crypto-theme is: 'I thought this one thing was going to happen and something else happened instead.' And the thing is, we need this. We need these moments of surprise and reversal and wrongness to make these stories work.” [Ira Glass] Ever wondered what that sign is for? Sometimes we do wonder about things, yet we don't ask and pretend we know (unless we're among friends) for fear of looking stupid. To be wrong in public is the ultimate source of shame. Yet... Read more →

What Walking on the Moon can Teach us About Problem Solving

Our fascination with the stars began many centuries ago. Who doesn't remember the words made famous by Tom Hanks as James Lovell in Apollo 13? “Houston, we have a problem.” On April 11, 1970 at 13:13 CST, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert took off for a lunar mission on board Apollo 13. Two days later, on April 13, Lovell and Haise heard an explosion in the spacecraft. One loud enough to divert Swigert from his observations. It was Lovell who contacted mission control with the famous words—“Houston, we have a problem.” Lovell described his experience to a rapt... Read more →

Why Focusing on a Problem can Make it More Difficult to See

“The real issue is not how do you find your voice, but... getting rid of the damn thing.” [Philip Glass] Our first untrained attempt to draw something by hand may disappoint us. To function in the world and recognize objects, we need to carry models in our heads. But we cannot possibly carry all possible versions of something, like a shoe, in our head. The three-dimensional image needs to be something general to become a viable mental model of the object. We all have this ability to generalize; some people people have the ability to be more specific. Those who... Read more →

Value and Energy

Anyone who has direct selling experience is familiar with how identifying the stumbling blocks and embracing it is often the path to getting the deal. Rather than shy away from questions, they welcome them. They flip the typical image we might have in mind about sales. Research shows the most effective salespeople are the best listeners. They also tend to be people who can adapt to situations and take on a more advisory-style role. By understanding prospects and customers through their conversation style and non verbal communication, they adapt their style to complement them. It has to do with energy.... Read more →

What Books Would you Recommend to Someone Who Wants to Improve their Effectiveness in Conversation?

People who work with me often ask me what I'm reading. So I flipped it around and asked members of the Conversation as a Tool tribe on Facebook what books they are reading. Most of them fall into the category of something I would recommend to someone who wants to increase their effectiveness in conversation. Some of them were surprising—some fiction and some technical stuff. I bought four books I did not even know existed. Here's the list if you're thinking about getting a jump start on planning for a successful 2017, or are just looking for different things to... Read more →