'Empathy in the workplace' is all the buzz. It's important for leaders, for employees and every client, customer and partner they have. It builds closer teams, increases effectiveness, retains more employees and lots more trendy buzzwords but...

The REAL reason we need it urgently is many of us spend more time with those at work than with our own kids or friends.... so why wouldn't we want to feel safe, understood and appreciated by our second family?

So how do we create empathy with our workmates? How do we overcome agendas, power-plays and toxic cultures? We'll look at some simple ways we can build it in ourselves and our teams.

Whether difficult people at work or tensions in families, Non-Violent Communication is a great way to find common ground with anyone anywhere. It's also a crucial tool for helping you work out your own needs and communicate them. Register for free now.

Kindness, compassion, empathy... call it what you like - we need it more than ever in our relationships. What benefits will it bring? How do we build it? How do we get it from others? We will look at the ways we can build our empathy muscles so we can build bridges, forge bonds and deepen friendships with all those around us. Register for free right now.

This workshop will explore how we ALL can be conversational narcissists sometimes - when we or others turn conversations back to themselves, miss the cues of listening and turn taking, and frankly... piss people off.

Why do we do it? Why do we fail to notice it and how does it get in the way of real connection? Register now and join in.

Human connection is what turns strangers into friends and friends into life long connections. It's the number factor in human happiness. It's one of the leading factors in long life.

In our workshops we'll work together to learn how to build human connection with friends, workmates or strangers through the skills of empathy, listening, humour and creativity.

Find out more - https://events.humanitix.com/super-human-connectors

Sex, politics and religion and, these days, practically any topic you can think about - conversations get heated. We fight to get our opinion across, we want to be heard and hope we can respect others points of view. How do you fight fair and keep your friendships in tack? We'll break up our time between learning, open discussion and break out rooms with exercises.

Join us- https://www.meetup.com/better-conversations/events/291220049/

How do we keep our friendships alive? As we get older, friendships often fall by the wayside. Why does this happen? How can we reverse it? We'll discuss at the importance of friendship in adulthood and how we can support, nurture and grow our friendships.

Join us - https://www.meetup.com/better-conversations/events/291219987/

What does the longest running study of happiness tell us about living?

The Harvard Study of Adult Development started in 1938 and has come up with the key to a good life and the secret to unlocking happiness whatever your age, status, location or personality.

Join us - https://www.meetup.com/better-conversations/events/291219921/

Do you have an environmental message to tell? Are you hoping to talk to the media or the public? BOOK A TICKET NOW

You put a human face to the climate movement and can make or break a story. This 2-hour workshop will walk you through the Australian media landscape, friendly and hostile media and the how to tell your story in interviews. Most importantly there will be lots of roleplay and practice. We will cover:

• Working out your personal climate story

• Preparing talking points for interviews and forums

• Getting your point across

• Tips and tricks for interviews

• Staying cool, calm and collected.

You’ll get to connect and practice with others in the environmental movement. If you hope to speak to journalists, forums or even just call back radio - this is an important workshop to get you ready!

Book a ticket for $20/$5 and take part in this interactive workshop

An Introduction To Copywriting with Purpose

Learn how to speak to the hearts of your audience and show your true brand.

Tickets through Laneway Learning

It’s time to craft the words that win people over! If you're looking to do good in the world, you'll learn the basics of powerful copywriting without industry jargon. We’ll share the simple ways you can remember to choose the right words to powerfully pitch your business, cause, not-for-profit, or personal brand. Through sharing the career insights of a recovering copywriter we’ll help you make a plan to speak to the hearts of buyers, supporters, donors or simply build your audience. 

At different points, we've all knew we needed a serious talk - with a partner, a boss, a friend. It was going to be difficult, emotional, heated and perhaps just thinking about that future conversation brought on fear. RSVP NOW ON MEETUP

So how do we step into those challenging chats? How do we get our opinions and feelings across, hear our friend out and keep our relationships in tact? We'll talk about staying calm, holding boundaries, being open and objective.

We'll break up our time between learning, open discussion and break out rooms with exercises.

Join us for some lunchtime learning on ‘Non-violent communication’. A proven way to find common ground with anyone anywhere. RVSP for free now.

In this short introduction we'll look at how to connect empathically with self and others to have more satisfying relationships. We'll do some exercises to practice some techniques and meet some fellow empathetic travellers along the way.

So enough about the weather already! Can we go from talking footy scores to talking deepest feelings? RSVP for free now.

Take our chit chat with our colleagues and neighbours to a deeper level?
We'll go through the 4 key areas for creating deeper conversations - the recurring fundamental elements of creating richer, more interesting, more fun conversations that we often miss. So don't miss it!

Can we be serious for a minute? Wait… let’s not. We’re going to discuss having a sense of humour and how it bonds us together in conversation. RSVP for free now.

From telling jokes to just being silly, what can we do to bring more humour into to how we connect? How do we laugh with others without laughing at them? When should we be funny and when should we resist? And what the heck is ‘funny’ anyway?

Christmas should be a time for ‘ho ho ho’ not ‘no no no’! For every person we want to see there’s another who triggers us, fights with us or simply makes us feel uncomfortable. We’ll talk about simple things we can do to understand how our mind works, turn conversations around and make the holidays a time to celebrate again.

BOOK YOUR TICKET AT LANEWAY LEARNINGS

Ever thought someone crossed a line talking to you? Took advantage of your friendship or not respected your values? Healthy boundaries are the difference between healthy and toxic relationships. Book a free ticket here.

Why is friendship harder in adulthood? Let’s talk about how to make friends as grown ups. And how to keep them. TICKETS THROUGH LANEWAY LEARNING HERE.

Ever lost control of your emotions in conversation? Whether it’s firing off at someone in haste, retreating into yourself or wanting to run far away? FREE TICKETS HERE.

People say ‘just relax’ or ‘take a breath’ but it’s much harder than that. We’ll talk about fight, flight or flee and how our nervous system can hijack how we talk to others. We’ll look at identifying our emotions, managing our physical response and restructuring our thoughts so we can handle conflict and turn up as our best selves in difficult conversations.

Curiosity is powerful. It helps us think deeper, get creative and find solutions. For others we talk to, it build understanding and fosters empathy. As we grow up, we lose our inquisitiveness. So how can we get it back? How can we inject it into our conversations to grow our relationships and learn? We'll talk about getting deeply curious and asking the right questions of each other. Free tickets available here.

Are you really yourself in conversations? Book your free ticket now.

What act do you put on? We often try to put our best foot forward or to put others at ease. We sometimes pretend we're happy, acting like we're interested, attempt to sound smarter, funnier or cooler than we need to be. It's not our authentic self, and it can be damn tiring too.

We'll talk about how can can be more natural and honest when we talk to others while also allowing space for 'trying' to be better conversationalists.

No more talking about the weather. Here's how you create more meaningful conversations and connect with anyone, anywhere. Join AJ and learn a bunch of handy skills to create more meaningful conversations and deepen the relationships in your life. What will we cover? In this workshop we will learn: Key skills and secrets to bypassing small talk.

Book a ticket through Laneway Learnings here.

We need a kindness revolution and it starts with developing empathy. Compassion, caring, concern – call it what you will, empathy is the key trait we need to build connections with others in the modern world. Learn how to break out of your bubble and get past your ego, we’ll cover.

• Understanding the key types of empathy

• Developing each of the traits

• Practicing listening skills

• Bringing compassion into our conversations with others

Tickets available through Laneway Learnings here.

How do we keep our friendships alive?

As we get older, friendships often fall by the wayside. Why does this happen? How can we reverse it? We'll discuss at the importance of friendship in adulthood and how we can support, nurture and grow our friendships. Tickets are free but please book

How many close friends do you have? How do you go about making more? We often take our friendships for granted. It's only once we realise how hard it is to make new, close friends in adulthood that we get how important friends are.

We'll talk about now we're no longer in the playground how we can sustain our friendships, meet new people and go from small talk with interesting strangers to develop close meaningful friendships. Tickets are free but you need to book.

How do we talk to each other when we're struggling? You knew someone was coping with grief, loss, death or trauma but how do you ask them about? What if that person is you, how do you get the conversations going with those around you?

These are the hardest experiences to talk about but probably the most important. We'll explore how to console each other, listen to our friends and hold space for them while respecting their needs. Tickets are free but you need to book.

This is a free workshop/meetup for all of us to both share our experiences and kick lockdown in the butt in equal measure.  Get a free ticket right now

It will include:

• Tips on being present and connecting with others

• Inspiring stories from around the world.

• Discussing how kindness and humour can make any crisis easier.

• Breakout groups to share experiences

• Sharing what we're all watching, reading or listening to pass the time in our bunkers.

How are the friendships between men different to those between women?

Get a free ticket right now

Not all men are the same, not all women are the same but there are some pretty strong trends to how they talk to each other. We'll look at the ups and the downs of trying to have conversations with other men/women, what can we learn from how the other communicates and explore the benefits of having guy mates and gal pals.