We learn the easy to follow guide of the seven ways people will experience and can learn to express themselves at work: transparency, security, demonstration, feedback, acknowledgment, sensitivity, and follow-through. We are able to see how understanding how to effectively communicate in the workplace can help have a more productive and less stressful workplace.
Thank you to NetGalley Flatiron Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Flatiron Books for the ARC of Talk to Me Nice: The Seven Trust Languages for a Better Workplace!

Publishing July 22, this professional development read was right up my alley; I work in corporate communications and lead a team, so I’m always looking for practical ways to build stronger, healthier workplace dynamics.

In this conversational and easy-to-digest guide, Minda Harts introduces the concept of trust languages, seven ways people experience and express trust at work: transparency, security, demonstration, feedback, acknowledgment, sensitivity, and follow-through. She breaks down how understanding these languages can help us communicate more effectively, navigate conflict, and foster more equitable and productive workplaces.

I appreciated the overall framework and found several takeaways I can apply to my own work. That said, the tone occasionally felt like it was trying a bit too hard to be pop-culture savvy (there were quite a few movie and TV references that sometimes distracted from the message).

Still, this is a helpful, approachable resource for leaders, people managers, and anyone looking to strengthen communication and connection in the workplace.

Interesting read. Language and conversation are important aspects of organisational communication. This touched on that in an intriguing way.

I thoroughly enjoyed Talk to Me Nice by Minda Harts and found its insights so impactful that I couldn’t help but share them with friends and colleagues. Harts introduces the concept of the “Seven Trust Languages”—transparency, security, demonstration, feedback, acknowledgment, sensitivity, and follow-through—as essential tools for building and restoring trust in the workplace . 

What resonated with me was how Harts emphasizes that trust isn’t a one-size-fits-all concept. She illustrates that different individuals require different approaches to feel valued and secure in their professional environments. Her blend of personal anecdotes, practical advice, and a conversational tone made the book both relatable and actionable.

This book was informative and helpful. As someone who read the five love languages, I liked and appreciated what the author did by incorporating them into the workplace. Chapter 11 was my favorite as it talks about honesty and suggests that managers, 1) Acknowledge mistakes 2) Lead by example 3) Encourage diverse viewpoints 4) Show sensitivity with consistent check-ins, etc. These sound basic, but I am astonished by how many managers can't even do the first four suggestions. I've found them all to be very effective in the workplace and wish they were requirements of all leaders. I also liked "The weight of trust" section which provides seven questions you can ask your teams to get an idea of how your company is doing with trust. Also a very helpful tool! Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone in a leadership or management role IF they want to see actual change and improvement with their employees. Thank you Netgalley and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read it in advance!

Unfortunately, I DNFd this about 20% through. I could not get into the author’s writing style and was struggling to pull meaningful takeaways from the text. I was pretty bummed, I was hoping to take some insights back to the corporate team I manage. Maybe it will work for some people?

As a senior communications leader, I found Talk to Me Nice by Nicole M. Mason to be a compelling exploration of the power of language in shaping our personal and professional lives. Mason delves into the nuances of communication, emphasizing how the words we choose and the tone we adopt can significantly impact our relationships and self-perception. Her insights resonate deeply with the principles of effective leadership and organizational culture.

What sets this book apart is Mason's ability to intertwine personal anecdotes with actionable advice, making the content both relatable and practical. She challenges readers to reflect on their communication habits and encourages a shift towards more intentional and affirming interactions. For professionals aiming to foster inclusive and empathetic environments, Talk to Me Nice offers valuable perspectives that can enhance team dynamics and leadership effectiveness.

What if various people or departments in an organization spoke different “languages” of trust? Similar to “love” languages, where a parent or spouse might give love by giving gifts, but the another gives and receives love by quality time, or words of affirmation. The two won’t communicate love as well as they could, and they might even grow to feel unloved and unwanted, even though each is trying to express love. Harts contends that similar languages are at play in the workplace. She lists seven “trust languages.” My only critique is that the book doesn’t fully hit its goal. It’s more a list of seven ways of growing trust in the workplace: tips in areas like transparency, acknowledgement, security, feedback, or follow-through. But Harts doesn’t address how miscommunication can occur between those “speaking” different languages. She just covers how a person can be hurt from the supervisor or C-suite person failing at a language. For instance, what if an HR director cares too much about feedback? And the employee getting the review cares too much about sensitivity and acknowledgement? How does each learn that this is even happening? And then to what extent they should adapt, or ask the other to adapt? To go back to the author’s illustration of love languages, this would be like the parent who only gives material gifts to show love, but the child does not care about gifts and only longs for the words “I love you” or “I am so proud of you.”

This book reads as a conversation between you and the author, Minda Harts, as she outlines and describes the aspects and obstacles to building trust in the workplace. Yes, trust is important; it’s the foundation for all other efforts, especially engagement/motivation, personnel development, strategic buy-in and so on. Without it, many efforts are just viewed as manipulative.

Harts describes her advice as trust languages; sensitivity, security, transparency, feedback, authenticity, acknowledgement, etc. This framework might be slightly different than what you may have seen as dimensions of trust; competency, integrity, openness, vulnerability, reliability/dependability are the main ones. As the author goes through her aspects, she gives multiple examples and provides survey questions, self-reflection points, checklists, practical steps in order to build trust. If you’re looking for a way to augment or improve mutual trust, trustworthiness in your teams and organizations, there are some guides in this book.

While the languages are helpful and necessary in every workplace, I believe, I’m not sure if they are the stimuli for trust-building or the result of having built trust and then working on keeping the team aligned and motivated. Harts admits there are values such as mutual respect, maintaining dignity and such that start trust. Each person needs to start with a choice of believing the other person(s) is trustworthy or not. If they start with the stance that the other has to prove themselves trustworthy, no amount of trust language will convince them otherwise. Any slip, error, unfiltered moment will sabotage any trust built. Any “compliance” with sensitivity and so on will be viewed as just being politically correct (PC) or inauthentic obedience to the corporate “law.” Whereas, if the choice is believing the other is trustworthy, these languages will enforce that belief.

Likewise, while Harts shows different people with different wants/needs (such as how they want to be recognized), it seems the assumption that each person wants all of these languages “spoken” in equal amounts. Often on teams, you have to learn and discern who needs you to be reliable, who needs you to exhibit strong integrity, who needs you to be open and vulnerable, who needs to feel accepted… In the framework of this book, some may want more security while others want more sensitivity or acknowledgement. This might need a whole chapter in the book: how to balance competing needs with a team, department, organization.

This is not a bad place to start if you’ve haven’t thought about how to raise trust in your organization from a 4 to a 6, or an 8 to a 9.

I’m appreciative of the publisher sharing an advance copy of this book.

This book is great for leaders and employees. Chapter 2 was my favorite. Started by talking about the epic scene from a few good men where Kack Nicolas say to Tom Cruise. You want the truth you can’t handle the truth. Comparing that to how leaders feel that their employees can’t handle to truth. This book is chock full of relatable and actionable steps to improve the workplace, by building trust. Be honest the moments I have been all in with my director is when she has been honest and open. She treated me as someone she trusts, stopped playing Pattie cake. We are a family, we are a team, thanks for all your help you deserve all the credit. Later to give me no credit.

I have actually started to use this to help build trust with her.