“Asking Others to Change by Using the DESC Technique”

This free exercise, and dozens of others, were created for our book, Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It. You can learn more about Clueless by visiting our site or you can buy it from amazon.com today.

Purpose of Exercise: Teaches a communication technique used to influence others without defensiveness.

How to Administer and Use this Exercise to Facilitate Behavior Change: We all have had experience (work or non-work) with someone that has been challenging, difficult or bothersome to work/interact with because of their interpersonal behaviors. It is often challenging to express our needs to those individuals. This exercise can help you communicate in a way that is candid, direct and assertive about what you want someone to do more, less or differently without raising defensiveness.