Showing results by publisher "The Great Courses" in Relationships, Parenting & Personal Development

From asking a waiter for an unusual substitution to urging a service manager to get your car finished sooner to swaying your significant other toward a particular film or show, many of the decisions you make are decided by talking. And no matter why you engage in face-to-face talk, there's no way to insulate yourself from the dangers of miscommunication. These 24 mind-opening lectures are your chance to learn more about how you communicate verbally, the common problems you can encounter in doing so, and how you can improve your own effectiveness.

Ever noticed that trying to calm down often produces more agitation? Or that real fulfillment can be elusive, despite living a successful life? Often, such difficulties stem from the human brain's hardwired tendency to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Modern science demonstrates that this survival mechanism served the needs of our earliest ancestors, but is at the root of many problems that we face today, such as depression, compulsive and addictive behaviors, chronic pain, and stress and anxiety.

Being a great public speaker can put you on the pathway to success, whether you're looking to teach, inform, persuade, or defend an idea. Yet many of us live in fear of public speaking. As you'll learn in these 12 invaluable lectures, all it takes is confidence, practice, and the knowledge of techniques and strategies used by history's greatest public speakers. Whether you want to finally become the confident public speaker you've always wanted to be or are just looking for fresh advice on how to strengthen your skills, this inspiring course is packed with practical advice.

Meditation offers deep and lasting benefits for mental functioning and emotional health, as well as for physical health and well-being. These 24 detailed lectures teach you the principles and techniques of sitting meditation, the related practice of walking meditation, and the highly beneficial use of meditative awareness in many important activities, including eating and driving. You will also learn how to use the skills of meditation in working with thoughts and emotional states.

Building a Better Vocabulary offers an intriguing look at the nuts and bolts of English, teaches you the etymology and morphology - or the history and structure - of words, and delves into the cognitive science behind committing new words to long-term memory. By the end of the 36 enjoyable lectures, you will have a practical framework for continuing to build your vocabulary by discovering new words and fully mastering the nuances of familiar ones.

In 24 lectures brimming with practical tips, tools, and techniques everyone can use to better manage conflict in his or her professional and personal lives, gain the essential skills of conflict management. As presented by Professor Dues, these lectures will show you how to effectively deal with conflicts of all kinds, using the "win-win" model that has dominated the field for the past six decades.

The form of research-based meditation known as Integrative Restoration (or iRest®) has helped special operations troops improve their resiliency, executives manage stress, cancer patients cope with pain, and trauma survivors experience safety and healing. Now, bring the practice right into your life and home in these 24 classes.

We have all had experiences with people that prove that those with the highest IQs are not always the most successful. What could these very smart people be missing? Chances are it's emotional intelligence (EQ) - the ability to perceive, understand, and manage emotions in ourselves and others. Sounds very powerful, doesn't it? Could we really manage our own emotions, as opposed to having our emotions run the show? Could we really effect change in the emotions of our coworkers or family members?

Professor Allison Friederichs will walk you through six lessons that can help you better know your own mind, and thus understand and transform your own methods of communication. You will learn how your brain acquires, processes, and retains information. You can then take that knowledge and apply it whenever you need to convey something to others, with the best possible results. While you may not have any control over how other people communicate, developing your own methods of connection and conversation can have a positive impact on both your personal and professional life.

An absolute treat for the heart and mind, these 24 lectures demonstrate how to master the art of storytelling, offering insight into the process of crafting and delivering a tale to enhancing the stories you tell everyday-to your children at bedtime, in your conversational anecdotes, and in your presentations at work. Teachers, lawyers, clergy, coaches, parents, and anyone who wants to understand the power of stories to capture hearts and minds will benefit from these lessons.

What is effective reasoning? And how can it be done persuasively? These questions have been asked for thousands of years, yet some of the best thinking on reasoning and argumentation is recent and represents a break from the past. These 24 engaging lectures teach you how to reason, how to persuade others that what you think is right, and how to judge and answer the arguments of others - and how they will judge yours.

Do you ever wish you could just get rid of all of your problems? Research shows that we grow into our best and most joyful selves not when we avoid our problems but when we embrace them, confident that we are resilient enough to work through them to an appropriate resolution. Resilience is our ability to physically, emotionally, and mentally bounce back from adverse circumstances. In fact, our capacity to thrive in life depends directly our resilience.

Why do some lengthy sentences flow effortlessly while others stumble along? Why are you captivated by the writing of particular authors? How can you craft sentences that reflect your unique outlook on the world? This lively, 24-lecture course introduces you to the myriad ways in which we think about, talk about, and write sentences. Reviving the sentence-oriented approach to studying writing, Professor Landon provides a greater context for what makes sentences great - and how you can apply these methods to your own writing.

Parenting advice isn't hard to find. There are thousands of books on the subject, as well as a multitude of websites. Much has also been written on the science of child development. What's been lacking, however, are sources of reliable advice that bring together the scientific research and its real-world applications.

Wouldn't it be great if you could wake up every morning with an unending reserve of energy? Get a step-by-step guide and toolkit that will spark your life with a jolt of vitality. It's not just a list of "superfoods" or trendy exercises; the course takes a rigorous scientific approach to human vitality. Energy is a limited resource; learn to allocate yours in the best way possible to make the most of each day.

Heidi Sormaz has a PhD in psychology from Yale University with an emphasis on cognitive psychology, and she’s been a meditation and yoga practitioner and teacher for two decades. She is also a reformed over-thinker, so, she knows exactly what you’re going through—or what you’re (over)thinking, so to speak. Over the 12 engaging lessons of Overcome Your Overthinking, Heidi not only provides the science behind cognitive behavioral therapy but she’ll also arm you with a toolbox of exercises and techniques that are most effective at breaking the spell of overthinking.

Memory is, without a doubt, the most powerful (and practical) tool of everyday life. By linking both your past and your future, memory gives you the power to plan, to reason, to perceive, and to understand. Yet while all of us have an amazing capacity for memory, there are plenty of times when it seems to fail us. Why does this happen? And how can you fix it? In Scientific Secrets for a Powerful Memory, you’ll explore the real research on how memory functions - and then apply these findings to help you make better use of the memory abilities you have.

Don't just let influence just happen to you. Instead, take charge of your life by grasping the science behind how influence works and by strengthening your own skills at using it to your advantage. In this dynamic 12-lecture series, you'll discover how to tap into the hidden powers of influence - and use these powers to enhance your life in ways you never thought possible. Using clear and accessible language, Professor Brown teaches you how and why influence works.

The human voice is a powerful instrument. When it comes to speaking effectively, just as in music, targeted training and regular practice are key. In the modern technological era, a greater number of obstacles exist to overcome for listening and speaking successfully. From conversing with friends to addressing large audiences, a robust communication toolkit equipped to handle these challenges will benefit anyone hoping to convey an important message. A strong and prepared communicator is better received and more accurately understood.

In Masters of Mindfulness, 11 top researchers and proponents of mindfulness discuss what modern science and contemporary research have revealed about this ancient practice and the many ways in which it can benefit your life. These 22 lectures present a unique and extraordinary opportunity, bringing a diverse group of renowned specialists together in one place for the first time to share their own personal experiences and their latest research, and to guide you through several mindfulness exercises.