Thursday 2 February 2023 is Time to Talk Day. Described as the nation’s ‘Biggest Mental Health Conversation’, Time to Talk Day celebrates the power of conversation to help change lives.
Our workplace mental health workshops are packed with tools and advice to help have meaningful conversations around mental health. So, on Time to Talk Day, we thought it might be helpful to share some of these with you.
Indeed, feel free to forward the resources below to your teams. You can also add to your company intranet, newsletters or share on social media. And if you’d like to learn some of these tools ‘live’, see our Time to Talk: Cultivating Conversations around Mental Health workshop here.
The Listening Wheel
Research shows that the average person listens at only about 25% efficiency. Besides, when we don’t actively listen, we miss out on all sorts of cues that help us understand, and trust one another on a deeper level. We love using The Listening Wheel tool. It was originally devised by The Samaritans charity to help develop our emotional awareness and listening skills. You can read more about the 6 stages of listening and how to put them in to practice in our blog post here.
Conversational Narcissism
Although it may be well-meaning, by telling someone ‘I know exactly how you feel’, you’re steering the focus away from someone who probably just wants to be heard. Sociologist Charles Derber describes this tendency as “conversational narcissism.”
Often subtle and unconscious, it’s the desire to take over a conversation, to do most of the talking, and to turn the focus of the exchange to yourself.
He describes two kinds of responses in conversations: a shift response and a support response. So, the first shifts attention back to yourself, and the second supports the other person’s comment.
Example: The SHIFT response
Debs: I’m so busy right now.
Jen: Me, too. I’m totally overwhelmed.
Example: The SUPPORT response
Debs: I’m so busy right now.
Jen: Oh that sounds tough. What do you have to get done?
Shift responses are a hallmark of conversational narcissism — they help you turn the focus constantly back to yourself. But a support response encourages the other person to continue their story. It lets them know you’re listening and interested in hearing more.
📽 Take 2 minutes to watch this Dr Brené Brown animation on empathy and the power of vulnerability
In this beautifully animated video, Dr Brené Brown reminds us that we can only create a genuine empathic connection if we are brave enough to really get in touch with our own fragilities. Watch it here.
To find out more about our Stretching the City can support your workplace on Time to Talk Day and throughout the rest of the year, get in touch. Or see our Mental Health at Work offerings here.
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