The Psychology of Great Conversations: What The Chair Taught Me About Personality and Communication

How a basement studio experiment revealed the secrets of authentic workplace communication

Back in 2010, in our Greenwich basement flat, we accidentally created a masterclass in applied psychology. What started as "The Chair" – a simple interview series – became a fascinating study in how personality, environment, and creative communication combine to unlock remarkable insights from remarkable people.

Looking back through the lens of my work with personality and play at My True Talent, I can see how those early experiments contained all the elements that now form the foundation of effective workplace communication.

The Personality Puzzle: Understanding What Makes People Tick

Every great conversation starts with understanding the person across from you. With Ruth Elkins as our presenter – a journalist with The Times – we learned that the best interviewers aren't just skilled questioners; they're intuitive personality readers.

Ruth had an uncanny ability to adapt her approach to each guest's communication style:

With Toby Young (journalist and broadcaster), she matched his quick wit and media savvy, creating a rapid-fire exchange that brought out his sharpest insights.

With John Mitchinson (co-creator of QI, founder of Unbound.com), she tapped into his natural curiosity and love of knowledge, turning the interview into a mutual exploration of ideas.

With Peter Wardell (magician), she understood that his profession was built on misdirection and revelation, so she created space for him to demonstrate rather than just explain.

This wasn't accidental – it was personality in action. Ruth instinctively understood what we now know from psychometric research: that people communicate best when they feel understood and can express themselves in their natural style.

The Power of Psychological Safety

What made The Chair work wasn't just the questions – it was the environment we created. In that simple basement setup, something magical happened: we stripped away the performance pressure that usually accompanies interviews and created what psychologists call "psychological safety."

Our guests – Chris (Wolfgang) Wild (creator of The Retronaut), Julia Macmillan (founder of Toy Boy Warehouse), and Stewart Townsend (co-founder of The Alternative School) – all shared insights they might never have revealed in a traditional corporate setting.

Why? Because we'd created conditions where:

• There was no judgment, only curiosity

• Mistakes and vulnerability were welcome

• The focus was on authentic expression, not polished performance

• People could think and reflect without rushing to fill silence

These are exactly the conditions that unlock creativity and honest communication in the workplace.

Play as a Communication Tool

Looking back, The Chair was essentially structured play. We took the serious business of interviewing and turned it into something more exploratory and creative. The format itself was playful:

• One chair, one conversation – a simple constraint that sparked creativity

• No scripts, just curiosity – allowing for spontaneous discovery

• Time to think – giving ideas space to develop naturally

• Focus on stories, not facts – encouraging narrative and personal connection

This playful approach didn't diminish the seriousness of the content – it enhanced it. When people feel safe to explore ideas creatively, they share insights that formal structures simply can't access.

The Lessons for Modern Workplace Communication

Each of our six guests revealed different aspects of how personality and play combine to create powerful communication:

Toby Young showed how understanding media psychology can transform how we share ideas.

John Mitchinson demonstrated that curiosity itself is a form of play – and that the best teams are built on shared intellectual exploration.

Wolfgang Wild revealed how creative constraints (like focusing on historical photography) can unlock entirely new ways of seeing and sharing.

Peter Wardell taught us that the principles of magic – attention, misdirection, and revelation – apply to all forms of engaging communication.

Julia Macmillan showed how understanding your audience's real personality and needs can disrupt entire industries.

Stewart Townsend challenged us to think about how play and creativity can transform learning and development.

What This Means for Your Team

The Chair taught me that great communication isn't about techniques or tools – it's about creating conditions where people's natural personalities can shine whilst feeling safe to be creative and exploratory.

In today's workplace, this translates to:

Understanding personality differences: When team members understand each other's communication styles, collaboration becomes more natural and productive.

Creating psychological safety: Teams perform best when people feel safe to share ideas, make mistakes, and explore creative solutions.

Using play as a tool: Structured play isn't frivolous – it's a powerful way to unlock creativity, build relationships, and solve complex problems.

Focusing on authentic connection: The most effective leaders and teams are those who can communicate authentically, adapting their style to connect with different personalities.

The Ongoing Experiment

The Chair was just the beginning of my exploration into how personality and play transform communication. Over three seasons, each iteration taught new lessons about the psychology of authentic conversation and the power of creative approaches to serious business challenges.

What started as a simple interview series became a laboratory for understanding how great communication really works – not through scripts or strategies, but through genuine human connection, psychological insight, and the courage to play with new ways of expressing ideas.

In our work with teams and leaders today, we apply these same principles: understanding personality, creating safety, embracing play, and focusing on authentic connection. Because whether you're in a basement studio or a boardroom, the fundamentals of great communication remain the same.

Interested in how personality insights and creative play can transform communication in your organisation? Discover more about our approach to improving workplace relationships and performance at My True Talent.

The Road to Digital Inclusion: What We've Learned Since 2013

A decade after filming the Go On UK campaign, what's changed—and what hasn't?

Back in 2013, I had the privilege of filming an event that felt genuinely important. Go On UK, founded by Martha Lane-Fox (now Baroness Lane-Fox), brought together some of the UK's most influential digital leaders to tackle a pressing challenge: helping millions of digitally excluded people get online.

The energy in that room was electric. Digital mavens, tech pioneers, and policy makers—all united around a mission that mattered. I spent the day capturing their insights, their passion, and their ambitious plans to bridge the digital divide.

The resulting video montage was full of hope and determination. These weren't just talking heads - these were people who'd built the digital world we live in, and they were committed to making sure everyone could participate in it.

Fast Forward to 2024

Eleven years later, the statistics tell a sobering story. Research indicates that 27% of UK workers say they lack the sufficient digital skills required for their job role¹. With the UK workforce numbering approximately 33 million people, this suggests around 9 million workers are struggling with digital skills gaps. Meanwhile, projections show that an estimated 20% of the workforce - potentially 6.5 million people—will be significantly underskilled for their jobs by 2030².

While the number of completely offline people has dropped dramatically (from 5.5 million in 2016 to 1.6 million today), the skills gap remains stubbornly persistent. More concerning still, almost three in five workers (58%) say their employer has never provided them with training to improve their digital skills¹.

The WhatsApp That Changed My Perspective

Last week, I had a WhatsApp conversation that brought this home in a very real way. Jo, a small business owner, was dealing with a complete network failure at her flat. Three different providers, all down in her area.

"I was going to advertise my business this week but with no way for anyone to contact me I'm lost," she wrote. But it wasn't just the technical problem—it was the emotional weight of it. "It's completely baffling and it feels personal 😂"

That emoji hid real anxiety. When digital infrastructure fails and you don't understand why, it doesn't just disrupt your business—it makes you feel isolated, helpless, even paranoid.

I was able to help Jo understand that all her providers used the same network infrastructure and showed her a tool called Downdetector. Her relief was immediate: "Thanks for your help! Definitely seems less awful now I know it's all 3 related."

The Gap We're Still Bridging

Here's what struck me: the knowledge I shared wasn't particularly sophisticated. I knew about Downdetector because I've been troubleshooting tech issues for decades. But for Jo, that basic digital literacy meant the difference between anxiety and relief, between feeling isolated and feeling understood.

This is the human reality that sits beneath all our policy discussions about digital inclusion. It's not just about access to technology—it's about the confidence to use it, the knowledge to troubleshoot it, and the emotional support when it doesn't work.

The data supports this human experience. In the UK, 58% of workers say that lacking digital skills has affected them negatively in the workplace¹. More than a quarter (26%) didn't receive a promotion because of their lack of skills, while 20% said it stopped them from applying for a new job¹.

What the Go On UK Campaign Achieved

Don't get me wrong—the Go On UK campaign wasn't a failure. Those Liverpool results were impressive: a 55% reduction in offline adults in 18 months. The campaign raised awareness, created momentum, and helped thousands of people get online.

But looking back, I think we learned something important about the nature of digital exclusion itself. It's not just a problem you can solve with a campaign, however well-intentioned. It's an ongoing challenge that requires sustained, human-centered support.

The current statistics bear this out. Despite years of digital inclusion efforts, 92% of businesses say that having a basic level of digital skills is important for their employees, yet 244,000 businesses in the UK (88% of all businesses) report they lack at least one area of digital skills in their staff³.

The Lessons for Today

As we face new waves of technological change—AI, automation, whatever comes next—Jo's story reminds us that inclusion isn't just about access to the latest tools. It's about creating systems that help people feel confident, supported, and understood when they encounter digital challenges.

The scale of the challenge is becoming clearer. With 82% of job descriptions in the UK now listing digital or technology skills as a requirement⁴, and young people from low socioeconomic backgrounds disproportionately affected by digital inequality, we're not just talking about workplace efficiency—we're talking about social mobility and economic participation.

The experts in that 2013 room had brilliant insights and genuine commitment. But the gap they were trying to bridge isn't just technical—it's deeply human. It's about the anxiety of not knowing why something isn't working, the isolation of feeling left behind, and the relief of having someone explain things in a way that makes sense.

Moving Forward

The digital divide isn't going away. If anything, it's evolving. As new technologies emerge, we need to remember that behind every statistic—whether it's the 27% of workers lacking digital skills or the projected 6.5 million who'll be underskilled by 2030—is someone like Jo, trying to build a business, feeling confused when things don't work, and needing not just technical solutions but human understanding.

That's where the real work begins. Not in conference rooms full of experts, but in the everyday moments when technology fails and people need help making sense of it all.

At My True Talent, we believe that the most powerful solutions come from understanding both the technical and human sides of any challenge. Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs happen when we bridge the gap between expertise and everyday experience.

References

1. AND Digital - Skills Gap Report. Available at: https://www.and.digital/hubfs/The%20nature%20of%20the%20UKs%20Digital%20Skills%20Gap%20whitepaper.pdf

2. Industrial Strategy Council - Skills Mismatch 2030. Available at: https://industrialstrategycouncil.org/sites/default/files/UK%20Skills%20Mismatch%202030%20-%20Research%20Paper.pdf

3. British Chambers - Business Barometer Report. Available at: https://www.britishchambers.org.uk/media/get/The%20Open%20University%20Business%20Barometer%202022%20report.pdf

4. UK Government - Employer Demand for Digital Skills. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/807830/No_Longer_Optional_Employer_Demand_for_Digital_Skills.pdf