Effective Communication by Choice

NEW: RKI presents Effective Communication by Choice, a workshop based on the Authentic Partnership&trade model. Join Steve Kay, RKI's gifted communicator and facilitator, at the legendary Holly Hill Inn in historic Midway, Kentucky, for these rare public events. Each workshop is strictly limited to 12 participants. For information about the workshops, or for information regarding individual consultation on strategic communication using the Authentic Partnership™ model, contact Steve at 859.252.0245.

Learn more about Effective Communication by Choice:

Read the short description below, or
Click here (PDF: 422KB, 44 pages) to download the complete, illustrated monograph: Effective Communication by Choice.

Short Description of Effective Communication by Choice

Effective Communication by Choice is an approach to communication that provides practical ways to handle both ordinary and challenging communication more effectively. Based on the Authentic Partnership&trade model, this approach increases the chances that our efforts in communication will be effective, and that our helpful intentions will translate into good relationships that make future communication more likely to be effective.

Two Key Values

The Authentic Partnership&trade model includes two key values: maximum understanding and maximum choice. These two values apply in two realms, which for shorthand we will refer to as the internal realm and the external realm. The internal realm refers to the thoughts in our own minds, including the choices we make about how we communicate with others. The external realm refers to actions we take in the world and includes the people with whom we interact.

Internal Realm

In the internal realm, the Authentic Partnership&trade model provides tools that help us gain understanding of the choices open to us in three related ways:

understanding of the underlying motivation behind our present communication choices (what motivates us);

understanding of a wider range of communication choices available to us than at first may be apparent (what choices we have);

understanding of strategies for making effective communication choices among those options (what strategies can help).

External Realm

In the external realm, which includes all our communication partners, the Authentic Partnership&trade model provides tools and strategies that help ensure as much understanding and choice as possible for our communication partners:

about the way we communicate with them;

about the substance of what we wish to communicate to them.

In sum, then, the Authentic Partnership&trade model is about providing understanding and choice for ourselves as a basis for providing understanding and choice for others. Taken together, these applications of understanding and choice combine to increase the effectiveness of our communication in a wide range of specific situations.

Five Guidelines

Five guidelines offer concrete and specific directions for keeping our actions consistent with the two key values. The guidelines reveal the underlying notions of the key values and put those notions in practical terms. The five guidelines are:

Share all relevant information
Explain your reasoning and intent
Test assumptions and inferences
Combine advocacy with inquiry
Jointly design next steps

The Authentic Partnership™ Model

The graphic below illustrates the parts of the model and the relationship among the parts.

Workshop

The Effective Communication by Choice workshop is typically structured as a one-day or two-day initial workshop and one or more shorter follow-up sessions that reinforce understanding of the Authentic Partnership™ model and the ability to apply the model to ongoing efforts. Participants in the workshop learn ways to analyze their present interactions and develop practical options for dealing with both ordinary and challenging situations. The workshop emphasizes continuously improved performance by each participant and by the groups they compose.

The initial workshop contains a minimal essential presentation of materials designed to equip participants for guided practice in applying the approach to authentic situations. Guided practice, which constitutes the balance of the initial workshop and the bulk of all follow-up sessions, allows the workshop to be tailored completely to the specific needs and practical experiences of the participants. The presentation of materials in the initial session includes a description of the Authentic Partnership&trade model and its elements, and introduction to two related tools for developing a fuller understanding of effective communication.