Verbal judo

Dr. Joseph Barber

There are many situations where being able to use your verbal skills to diffuse a tense situation can be helpful in an academic environment. Whether you are talking with your PI or supervisor or working with students, it is helpful to know about conversational techniques you can use to help. Let’s hope you don’t need to use “tactical language” or “verbal judo” that often, but it is worth exploring. Watch this video to hear from Dr. George Thompson, who received a Masters and Doctorate in English from the University of Connecticut (1972), and completed post-doctoral work at Princeton University in Rhetoric & Persuasion (1979) before becoming a police officer. How’s that for an unconventional and alternative career path!

Verbal Judo: Diffusing Conflict Through Conversation from Columbia Business School on FORA.tv

 

 

Author: Joseph

Joseph Barber is a Senior Associate Director at Career Services serving graduate students and postdocs. He has a PhD in animal behaviour and animal welfare, and continues to teach these subjects as an adjunct professor at Hunter College (CUNY).