The Art of Communication, AKA, How Not to Throat Punch People

Gretchen Ramsey believes her strongest God-given talent is her ability to communicate (or as others say, to talk incessantly until others give in to her whims.) While others are making millions on Instagram, Pinterest and/or YouTube sharing their talents with homemade crafts, baked goods and signs with the stick-on letters, Ramsey will get down to the basics and educate participants on how to NOT throat-punch someone while attempting to communicate with them.

Ramsey is eager to share her experiences at failing to properly communicate with people of all ages and backgrounds. Participants will learn how to avoid the same pitfalls Ramsey has experienced over the years, especially in state government, both as “staffer” and a lobbyist. She will teach participants how to boldly, humbly and successfully navigate communication in a world fraught with emojis, grammatically incorrect text messages, social media posts veiled in passive aggressiveness and narcissism and AVOID throat-punching people in response. Come to this session to learn how to choose and use your words to create a more positive environment and feel better about yourself on a daily basis.

Attendees of this session will learn, through honesty and humor, several key concepts throughout the one-hour training, including:

• Emotional Intelligence as the foundation for all basic forms of human communication.
• Empathy – can we start by giving EVERYONE the benefit of the doubt, please?
• How to Get Off the Ladder – The Ladder of Inference
• Practice – you just can’t just open your mouth; it just doesn’t work that way.
• End with Excellence – how to close the loop and make them fall for you, EVERY TIME!

The event is approved by NFPA for one general credit.