Difficult & Courageous Conversations Training
Behaviour-focused training that equips teams and leaders to navigate challenging conversations with confidence, clarity and mutual respect — designed to support psychological safety and real workplace impact.
Our difficult and courageous conversations training goes beyond theory. We help individuals and teams understand how to approach sensitive, high-stakes or emotionally charged conversations in ways that are thoughtful, practical and grounded in real life scenarios.
Trusted by organisations seeking constructive communication
We’ve supported people leaders, managers and teams in diverse sectors to handle tough conversations more confidently and with greater connection — from performance feedback to interpersonal conflict
and culture-shaping dialogue.
“Superbly run and moderated with energy and honesty.”
Most organisations understand why handling difficult conversations matters — performance, engagement, trust, retention — but translating that into practice is hard.
Teams and leaders often:
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Avoid conversations that feel tough or emotionally charged
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Rely on templates instead of judgement
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Fear negative reactions or unintended impact
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Say the wrong thing under pressure
So the real question isn’t whether these conversations are important — it’s:
How do we help people approach and hold these conversations in ways that are clear, respectful and effective?
Our approach: experiential, safe, behaviour-focused
We don’t teach difficult conversations as a checklist of techniques. Our approach uses scenario-based learning and reflective practice so participants can explore real-world challenges in psychologically safe settings.
Core elements of our approach:
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Realistic workplace scenarios tailored to your organisational context
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Facilitated reflection and sense-making
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Practice that builds confidence and judgement
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Focus on clarity, respect and constructive outcomes
Support for both managing and engaging in challenging dialogue
What this training covers
We tailor the content to your needs — but typical focus areas include:
Preparing for difficult conversations
clarity of purpose and desired outcomes
Feedback, performance and expectation setting
how to receive feedback as well as how to provide it
Managing emotions and self-regulation
staying grounded under pressure
Courageous conversations
tackling sensitive or high-stakes dialogue
Structuring conversations
for clarity and respect
Post-conversation reflection and learning
to continue training forward
This is training grounded in behaviour, not checklists or talk only.
Download your programme menu here
Team Building: The Training solution involved the management team, with managers being individually and collectively coached on management and communication styles. The Management workshop was facilitator led and explored the results from a management exercise they had all completed. This enabled managers to acknowledge each other’s similarities and differences and devise their own individual, team, and department action plans.
Working in partnership
Our collaborative process ensures relevance, safety and lasting impact:
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Listen & understand your people
We explore the kinds of conversations your people are facing and your organisation’s communication challenges. -
Co-design scenarios
We develop relevant, real dialogues that reflect your values, language and situations. -
Facilitated delivery
Sessions (in-person or virtual) that balance psychological safety with honest exploration -
Embedding practice
Tools, frameworks and follow-up that support sustained behaviour change.
Measurable impact & outcomes
This training helps teams and leaders to:
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Increase confidence in approaching difficult or emotional conversations
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Communicate with greater clarity and mutual respect
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Reduce escalation and miscommunication
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Build trust and constructive dialogue norms
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Strengthen leadership presence and influence
Clients consistently report improved confidence and better outcomes in real conversations following this training.
“You will not be unsurprised to hear that one of the proudest I’ve taken from my 34 years of service is the work you and your incredible team have done to change behaviour and culture in the army. It is a remarkable achievement, and you should be seriously proud of what you’ve done”.
Col Lindsay MacDuff
“The training is expertly run, interactive and really makes people think. Being able to step into someone else’s shoes and see the world from their perspective was enlightening and revealing. In terms of content, it was well-researched, realistic and recognisable. Everyone should have the chance to participate in this one – it is brilliant.”
Chief Superintendent Metropolitan Police Service