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It's Been a Minute

Presenting Life Kit: How To Have Better Conversations

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News, Religion & Spirituality, News Commentary, Spirituality, Society & Culture

4.79.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 November 2020

⏱️ 20 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

With the holidays coming, we're all trying to figure out how to celebrate with loved ones from a distance. When all we have to connect this year are phone calls and video chats, how do we make the most out of our conversations? In this episode from NPR's Life Kit Sam gets advice from the owner of a hair salon, whose job has taught her to be a good conversationalist. Then, Sam talks to journalist and professional speaker Celeste Headlee. Celeste, who gave a TED talk on this topic, shares her guidance on how to have more meaningful conversations.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

It's the holiday season, and this episode is about a thing we all could use some help with during every holiday season.

0:06.5

Even the socially distanced ones.

0:08.5

I'm talking about how to have a good conversation.

0:11.2

So to begin, I went to a place where good conversation happens like all the time.

0:16.6

Good morning. This is so cute.

0:19.0

I hear Salon.

0:21.0

My name is Juliet Montoya. I am co-owner of Headquarters Salon here in San Antonio, Texas.

0:26.8

Juliet Salon, it is really hard to overstate just how cute it is.

0:31.2

So we took at 1968, Lasaber trailer. So it's kind of like an air stream style,

0:37.9

and it's just a single setup. So one chair, one-on-one.

0:41.5

We refurbished it, gutted it, and now it's a Veda Salon.

0:45.6

It's so cute. Can I go inside for a little bit? Oh my god. Okay.

0:49.1

Look at this. It's bigger than it looks from the outside.

0:53.2

Yeah. Juliet talks to people all day about all kinds of things.

0:58.0

And over the years, she's gotten really good at deciphering all kinds of conversations.

1:02.7

I've had people try to describe a haircut in sound effects.

1:08.8

And I'm like, okay.

1:10.4

I'm like, they'll say something to the effect of.

1:14.9

I want it to be like, I'm like, can we look at a picture?

1:20.1

Juliet has a lot of tips about just how to talk to folks.

1:24.5

I mean, some of these tips might seem kind of specific to her work,

1:28.0

but they're really not. Kind of get down on their level.

...

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