Let's Talk

Cognitive scientist Therese Huston coaches managers and leaders on how to build confidence, make better decisions, take risks, and give more constructive feedback.
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Speaking Engagements

Therese Huston is a cognitive psychologist, gender strategist, and the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Seattle University. A powerful speaker, she has led workshops at Microsoft, Amazon, the U.S. State Department, the Cleveland Clinic, and Harvard Business School on how to create more inclusive workplaces. In her talks, Dr. Huston uses research, stories, and activities to give advice on how to make feedback more useful and less biased, in the office or over video.

Physical & Digital Books

In Let’s Talk, Therese Huston presents her game-changing model for giving effective feedback to peers, employees, or even your boss–without offending or demotivating. Recent studies have revealed 37% of managers dread giving feedback, and 65% of employees wish their managers gave more feedback–yet many see it as an awkward chore instead of an earnest opportunity for growth. This handbook makes a once-stressful ordeal feel natural, and helps managers improve performance, trust, and mutual understanding.

Digital Content

DISCUSSION GUIDES

Guided by conversation-starting discussion questions, organizations get to the heart of what makes feedback not only valuable, but critical for building strong, communicative, superstar teams. Click here to download the discussion guide. 

Therese Huston is here to help with three worthwhile tips for giving remote feedback to peers, employees, or even your boss–that turn average performers into the hardest workers and stars into superstars.

Watch the video
“Therese brings a certain sage-like quality to her sessions. She is honest and realistic, yet empowering and positive.”
Cleveland Clinic
“Therese Huston delivers a pep talk, toolkit, and decoding of employee behavior, all in one. ”
Dolly Chugh, Author
“Therese is a master at telling stories that engage participants and at facilitating activities that challenge them to think in new ways.”
University of Notre Dame
“ Her work is so vital during this moment of change.”
Watermark Conference for Women
“Therese partnered thoughtfully with our leadership team to create a workshop that was tailored to our unique needs [...] relevant and engaging for the attendees.”
Microsoft

Program Topics

  • Mastering the Art of Feedback

    Few of us can be successful at work without feedback, yet chances are you aren’t getting the feedback you need most. And if you’re a manager, you’re wondering how to give feedback in a way that doesn’t crush souls or squelch motivation. In this highly interactive and research-backed workshop, Therese Huston reframes feedback so that it’s more useful and less threatening. She explores transformative principles offers simple tips for making remote feedback feel more natural and connected in a world that’s more virtual than ever. Participants leave with ten strategies for soliciting and giving better feedback that they can put into action immediately.

  • Breaking Unconscious Bias in Feedback and Performance Reviews

    If you’re working to improve diversity in your organization, here’s a question you need to ask: Do managers give men and women the same kinds of feedback? When managers give feedback to white employees and employees of color, do they convey the same messages? It might feel that way, but new evidence suggests they don’t. In this highly interactive workshop, Dr. Huston uses research, stories, and activities to reveal the six most frequent ways unconscious bias appears in feedback. These problems are common but solvable. She’ll work with your group to identify concrete strategies for giving and soliciting useful, unbiased feedback so everyone has a winning chance to excel.

  • How Women Decide: What We Should Know about Gender and Decision-Making

    Therese Huston has spent many years researching how women and men make decisions. In a society where we expect men in power to make the most crucial decisions, Huston argues that women’s decision-making skills are just as valuable and, in fact, necessary to maintaining group intelligence. In a talk that blends statistical data with cohesive analysis, Huston interrogates the challenge of good decision-making, how men and women approach it differently, and why it matters—in the workplace and beyond.

Let’s Talk

Let’s Talk

Make Effective Feedback Your Superpower

A game-changing model for giving effective feedback to peers, employees, or even your boss–without offending or demotivating.

How are you supposed to tell someone that they’re not meeting expectations without crushing their spirit? Regular feedback, when delivered skillfully, can turn average performers into the hardest workers and stars into superstars. Yet many see it as an awkward chore: Recent studies have revealed 37% of managers dread giving feedback, and 65% of employees wish their managers gave more feedback.

This trail-blazing new model eliminates the guesswork. Dr. Therese Huston, the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Seattle University, discovered that the key to being listened to is to listen. First, find out what kind of feedback an employee wants most: appreciation, coaching, or evaluation. If they crave one, they’ll be more receptive once their need has been satisfied. Then Huston lays out counterintuitive strategies for delivering each type of feedback successfully, including:

  • Start by saying your good intentions out loud: it may feel unnecessary, but it makes all the difference.
  • Side with the person, not the problem: a bad habit or behavior is probably less entrenched than you think.
  • Give reports a chance to correct inaccurate feedback: they want an opportunity to talk more than they want you to be a good talker.

This handbook will make a once-stressful ordeal feel natural, and, by greasing the wheels of regular feedback conversations, help managers improve performance, trust, and mutual understanding.

Available in Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook.
304 pages; January 26, 2021

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Let’s Talk

“Giving great feedback–whether recognition, coaching or evaluation–is a game-changer when it comes to helping each other do our best work. We know that. And yet, it’s incredibly difficult to do it well, in a way that’s useful, fair, and strengthen relationships. Let’s Talk breaks down giving feedback with the latest research, relevant stories, and actionable frameworks that we can all apply to turn feedback into a personal superpower.”

—Julie Zhuo, bestselling author of Making of a Manager

“If you’ve ever been afraid to deliver constructive criticism, this book is for you. It’s full of practical examples and tactical tips to show you how to become an expert on giving feedback that works, and the type of leader that everyone will want to follow.”

—Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy, authors of No Hard Feelings

“Let’s Talk belongs in the hands of every supervisor who wants to give effective feedback. Full of practical suggestions undergirded by workplace research, this user-friendly guide will give you the tools you need to bring out the best in the people you work with. Highly recommended!”

—Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD., author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Other Conversations About Race
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