Chosen by Training Media Review as the BEST Training Video of 2004!

Below is a review of Dialogue: Now You're Talking (#16038-16041). Based on our partnership with Training Media Review, we thought it would be helpful for you to see another review of a program available from Business Training Library. To see more reviews, go to www.tmreview.com or call 877.532.1838. Make sure to give your account code, BTL02, to ensure your Business Training Library special 10% discount.



Real Dialogue (and We Mean Real!)
Bill Ellet


Series: Dialogue: Now You're Talking
Media: Video and DVD
Production Year: 2004
Click here for online previews and support material.


Robert Rosell and his collaborators have accomplished something unusual in Dialogue: Now You’re Talking! They have managed to combine compelling content with a level of dramatic realism that I have never seen in a training program.

The content is the dialogue process described in The Magic of Dialogue, a book I reviewed and highly recommended in 2000. It is a process of talking that seeks to discover how the parties to a conflict perceive it and seek a resolution that respects differing perspectives. It has much in common with talking therapy and the principles of Getting to Yes and other conflict resolution approaches. The magic of this VHS-DVD program is not in the content, however. You can understand the approach by reading the book. What the video does is show you how the process works—with emphasis on show. In the interest of time, most training programs take a reductive approach: They show the process achieving an impossibly ideal victory—the training equivalent of the Hollywood happy ending.

This program is different. It has the courage to demonstrate the process more honestly. It’s taut with feeling and detours into dead ends. It does achieve some understanding and forward progress. But, in the end, everyone understands there is more work to do—a lot more.

Here’s an example from program 2, Dialogue for Cultural Understanding. Cleo is a Latina supervisor who has been passed over for the big job in the department. When the facilitator from HR asks her at one point to comment, she refuses. And in that moment of refusal, we sense all of her frustration and anger. At this point, we assume that she’s angry about ethnic bias that she thinks has allowed an outsider to be brought in over her. In time, as the dialogue slowly and painfully peels away the layers of defensiveness and emotion, we find that the CEO has promised to promote Cleo and encouraged her pursuit of an education to prepare her for that. When the moment of truth arrives, though, she feels she has been betrayed, and all of her wrath is focused on the person who got the job instead of her. In the end, she’s relieved to have been heard, but her hurt and frustration are not going to be washed away quickly.

Training videos have long been known for their tendency to ape television and the movie industry. There’s no problem for which a training video can’t fabricate a happy ending, in which everyone learns the skills being taught and those skills magically remove whatever problem is creating an obstacle to better performance.

The extended vignettes in Dialogue show progress being made, but it is made honestly—with ups and downs and tangents. The dialogue is edgy and unpredictable. It demonstrates unproductive behavior. In the end, success is by no means assured, but all of the participants have gotten past their initial positions and revealed something of the truth as they see it.

Another Training Media Review writer, Lynn Monaco, has a different take on this program, and I respect her views. One of her criticisms is that it doesn’t pause during the vignettes to show how a mistake by a participant can be corrected. I think the intention is to show a holistic process, to show how it unfolds and why it requires patience and a tolerance of “mistakes.” Eventually, if the process is followed, participants will come to a vastly better understanding of the underlying issues and obstacles. Even then, there’s no guarantee that all problems will be solved.

Pieces of the program
This four-part program consists of an introduction to the dialogue process and three applications (cross-cultural, gender, and age), but the general application topics include a multitude of issues encountered at work: nepotism (real or perceived), position power, and so on. I think the first module is a prerequisite for the other three. The process is reviewed in brief in each program, and the facilitation guide provides additional support. But I think that if you’re going to invest training time in this program, you will get the best value by making sure everyone is well grounded in dialogue. With the total running time of better than 90 minutes for the four parts, you may want to focus just on those that have the highest immediate value in your organization.

Dialogue differs from other forms of oral communication. Given the lousy models of public discourse on display in the media (shock jocks, politicians, self-appointed cultural critics), people need to understand the need for a different approach to talking in organizations that are actually trying to get something done. Some percentage of employees and managers will reflexively pooh-pooh a program like this as touchy-feely. But more broad-minded individuals in organizations that are more realistic about what goes on in the workplace will rush to embrace Dialogue: Now You’re Talking!

The support materials have a difficult challenge. They have to support a process that isn’t a lockstep one-two-three affair, as is the case with many training programs. Real dialogue is characterized by twists and turns, and learning it is not well served by pat linear versions. So the producer has done a reasonably good job of trying to capture on paper what is happening in the video. The support materials also have to make the assumption that some buyers will not be using the first program or that the training on the application videos will occur well after training on the first module. Thus, the facilitator’s guide has a series of appendices that provide training on the basic dialogue process. The entire support package, including video transcripts and PowerPoint slides, is available on CD, which makes reproduction and editing a snap.

The real strength of this program lies in the second video introducing common workplace issues that might not be perceived as diversity issues. The excellent facilitator’s guide has well-thought-out participant exercises that get trainees personally involved with the issues. The guide is clear, easy to navigate, and flexible. Three different programs, ranging from one hour to a full day, are coded by numerical steps to the guide so that customization is straightforward. The PowerPoint presentation is also useful. The guide includes a full transcript of the video dialogue.

Score: (1 through 4 rating scale; 1 being poor and 4 being outstanding)

Holds viewer interest - 4
Acting/Presenting - 4
Diversity - 3.5
Production quality - 4
Value of content - 4
Instructional value - 4
Value for the money - 4
Overall rating - 4

Considering membership in our Lending Library of video, CD-ROM and DVD training programs? Click here to sign up for your free 30-day Trial Membership!


Bill Ellet is principal and editor of Training Media Review; wellet@tmreview.com. Product evaluations are provided by Training Media Review and do not imply endorsement by T+D or ASTD. For more information, contact TMR at 877.532.1838; www.tmreview.com.