Everyone is talking about the importance of ‘lived experience’ and ‘experts by experience’, but what exactly do these phrases mean?  Just how do we practically involve people with this experience in our work? And what difference does it all make anyway? Answering these questions is researcher, writer, and lived experience expert Dan Holloway (from Oxford University spin-out Rogue Interrobang), and asking them is our host Chris Fitch.

Like vulnerability, trust matters. Behavioural scientist, Charlie Nixon from Cowry Consulting talks to Chris Fitch about how trust determines what products we buy, which organisations we agree to let deliver our essential services, and just what we tell these firms about ourselves. And, most importantly, how vulnerable consumers decide who is trustworthy and who is not? Charlie can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cnbnixon/ and Cowry at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cowry-consulting/ In the podcast, Charlie also talks about the following resources: David Maisters “The Trusted Advisor”( https://bit.ly/3Su34oi), Ken Rotenburg “The Psychology of Trust” (https://amzn.to/3SJvUCp) and Paul Zak on the Harvard Business Review on “the Neuroscience of Trust” (https://uk01.z.antigena.com/l/Hi2Fxuahf8j2KNJlXvG7XYgAjY64Ur-2jHfcSIIxbXFu-f9g3x-SvaphvaZON5SXt9SIobgrdRKAov8SFKNg88l4Q9qrUpkUQV~uQvZl5~-tZ~vqRKqWJLZxGOj1Cz0dwQul3mRej2tkJ27JqIa-KHrvFMy7fmLuIIf-rdRAZexnnuh0PmxkMsIm0a7xwzGNfWwyUYlIga8VbsIbwBRhpYib325hU81nI-3~pCnbf~ZURYXE_rq5hDDWJEmvmLPV5dlooekJ5zuigy7JR2u9 ).

This episode focuses on stammering (also known as stuttering). Talking with Lyndsay Edington from the national stammering charity STAMMA, our host Chris Fitch listens as Lyndsay explains how staff in banks, energy, and retail organisations can better understand and meet the needs of the 1 in 100 customers who will stammer. You can find out more about STAMMA at https://stamma.org/, including their guide for contact centre staff https://stamma.org/about-stammering/stammering-customer-contact, while Lyndsay is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndsay-edgington-672090198/

In this episode on empathy, Chris Fitch asks Mathieu Lajante: just what is empathy? Is it possible to train people to become more empathetic? And are empathy training courses a worthwhile investment in terms of time, money, and results for our organisations and staff? Mathieu is Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, Director of its Consumer Neuroscience Laboratory, and lead author of a new review of the scientific literature on the effectiveness of empathy training. More at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathieu-lajante-ph-d-b5b3461b2/?originalSubdomain=ca and [email protected], while Mathieu’s paper is at: https://uk01.z.antigena.com/l/Bk274bwsgooqOwaAQymiEvetfqZ4yYl0wu2ZtR061K7P42Vw9fKOul1EC~E15OcpYSuUGhJJrh-rWbeA3NEPQKTnCyGIdaJ~Q0YMeOyg8B_~ekrapyJ-_xDAsXK2Jx82yIx3X2SFp0FLzmXassrsSZF3OOk7a-o4wLojWWI9gMwDssPMVvaKyYc0qaNlnQCRQqio

For this fascinating ‘end of 2023’ episode, Lee Walls talks to Chris Fitch about the science, experience, and lessons for life and vulnerability, of being a fire-walker. Lee explains how walking over 350 degree red hot coals can help understand and reframe situations of personal and customer vulnerability, and how her own lived experience of alcohol addiction led to her stepping into, and onto, fire-pits across the world. Lee and Firewalk Scotland can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-walls and https://www.firewalkscotland.co.uk/

Katie Mackay and Jack Hatcher – from the Nationwide Building Society – talk to Chris Fitch about their ‘Speak Easy’ initiative to support non-speaking and non-verbal customers. Katie explains how her experiences of being non-speaking in certain situations informed its development, while Jack shares findings and communication lessons from the ‘Speak Easy’ pilot in Nationwide branches. You can find both on LinkedIn, and access the finalised ‘Speak Easy’ card system at: [email protected] | https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-mackay-a2a90512a/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-hatcher/

Joshua Aspden – a specialist in financial inclusion among refugee and asylum seeker populations joins Chris Fitch to talk about his work in helping helped thousands of people to make sense with not just a new country and culture, but with an entirely different system of financial and essential services. Josh talks about his own experience of being new to the UK, his work with asylum seekers and refugees, and the difficulties and vulnerabilities that people can experience with money. Josh can be found at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-aspden-0730423b/

Best-selling author Tim Farmer joins Chris Fitch to chat about mental capacity, decision-making, and his latest book “Grandpa on a Skateboard. The practicalities of assessing mental capacity and unwise decisions”. Clinical Director at Comentis, Tim takes Chris on a tour of the practical action needed to identify and support customers with decision-making limitations (both online and off-line), as well as explaining the definitions and law that can surround and cloud this topic. More on Tim and the work of Comentis (the cognitive assessment specialists) can be found at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timfarmertsf/

Steve Donovan from Ovo Energy talks with Chris Fitch about a tool that everyone working with customers will use every single day, but which most of us probably don’t give enough attention, care, or love to: our voice. Steve walks Chris through the Ovo training team’s ‘tone of voice’ model (covering pitch, pace, volume, energy, and articulation), talks about using this with vulnerable customers, and shares his top tips on how to protect and look after our voices. Steve is Vulnerability Lead at Ovo Energy and can be found at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-donovan-865a40131/

Rose walks our host Dr Chris Fitch through the science, experience, and impact of ‘being cold’. Explaining how the cold affects us in physical, mental, financial, and social terms, Rose outlines the actions that staff can take to help customers likely to experience detriment from colder temperatures and fuel poverty. Inclusive designer and researcher for a fair, low carbon energy future, you can find out more about Rose and Energy Systems Catapult at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rose-chard-35526625/