Everyone is talking about conversations but are we really having them? Are 90% of conversations incorporated in 140

characters or thinking of the latest sound bite to get our message across? In

Russ Unger’s new book, Designing

the Conversation: Techniques for Successful Facilitation (Voices That

Matter) he discusses the ability to communicate and the practice of setting

up the conversation to make it productive. Stephen Anderson sums up the

book:

A book on facilitation? I wouldn't have thought this was needed, but after

reading Designing the Conversation, I'm reminded of all the valuable skills we

learn—with some difficulty, mind you—on our own. Fortunately, all that stuff is

covered here, from preparing for a session to handling the difficult

personalities. And it's all delivered in a way that's short, to the point, and

packed with plenty of pop culture references, making this a fun, lively read!

You'll grin at uncomfortably familiar situations and nod in agreement as bits of

invaluable advice are served in style through every

chapter.

I enjoyed the book as much Stephen did and almost as much as Russ’s first

book, A

Project Guide to UX Design: For user experience designers in the field or in the

making (2nd Edition) (Voices That Matter). 

Russ Unger is a user experience consultant and is on the

Advisory Board for the Department of Web Design and Development at Harrington

College of Design. His workshops have been attended by a variety of

companies, from lean startups to large corporations. Since 1993 he has helped

many companies incorporate user experience strategies and tactics into their

designs. You can find Russ at http://userglue.com.