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Top Harvard Professor: The Psychology Of Why People Don't Like You!
Professor Alison Wood Brooks

Top Harvard Professor: The Psychology Of Why People Don't Like You!

Dec 15, 2025

Key Takeaways


Why do your conversations keep going wrong? Harvard behavioural scientist Professor Alison Wood Brooks reveals the SECRETS to better communication, real connection, negotiation skills and difficult conversations!

Professor Alison Wood Brooks is a behavioural scientist with 2 decades of experience in conversational science. She teaches a Harvard course on negotiation and communication, and is the bestselling author of ‘Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves’.

She explains:
◼️The ONE word that transforms anxiety into peak performance
◼️The TALK framework for mastering any conversation
◼️Why being "too polite" is secretly destroying your relationships
◼️Why 99% of apologies fail, and the exact formula that works
◼️The question technique that creates connection with anyone

00:00 Intro
02:20 People Need This to Communicate Well
04:24 Giving Wrong Impressions
06:09 Being a Better Speaker and Group Conversations
11:17 Experimenting With Communication Skills With My Identical Twin
12:26 The Science on How to Reframe Anxiety
18:33 If You're Nervous, You're More Likely to Make a Bad Decision
20:02 Asking for a Salary Raise
24:26 The Conversational Compass
32:31 How People Should Really Apologize and When It's Too Much
37:17 The Validation Trick in Any Dispute
41:46 Don't Do This When You Disagree
47:53 How to Be Liked
49:48 The T-A-L-K Framework
51:33 Easy Ways to Have More Casual Conversations
54:59 If You Want to Be Liked, Don't Do This
59:10 The Importance of Asking in Conversations and Dates
01:03:13 Never Do This on a Date
01:07:13 The Meeting Mistake You Shouldn't Make
01:09:14 Poor Communication Skills Might Be Holding Back Your Career
01:11:48 Ads
01:12:39 The Importance of Kindness in Any Conversation
01:17:06 When to Incorporate Levity
01:23:42 The Science Behind Introverts and Extroverts — Is It Real?
01:27:03 Your Contribution Score in a Conversation
01:41:46 Ads
01:52:43 10 Questions to Be Liked
01:56:29 How to Persuade People and Be a Better Salesperson
01:58:33 People Confuse Agreement With Listening
02:09:07 This Is the Only Conversation That Feels Real
02:14:44 What Happens When Replacing Myself With AI
02:19:09 Show Your Real Self at Work: Yes or No?
02:25:01 How to Teach Your Kids to Speak

Follow Alison:
Instagram - https://bit.ly/3YoQOc4
Website - https://bit.ly/4aH172A
TalkStudios - https://bit.ly/3MzbXxF

You can purchase Alison’s book, ‘Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves’, here: https://amzn.to/3L64JAY

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