Conversation Lab Podcast

Jake McKee
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Management

The Conversation Lab Podcast is a podcast about the power of conversation, told through conversations with people who live close to it every day. Each episode features a candid discussion with an expert from an adjacent field - design, research, psychology, community, leadership, writing, or systems thinking - exploring how conversation actually works in their world and what the rest of us can learn from it. This isn’t an interview show chasing soundbites or hot takes. It’s a slower, thoughtful exchange focused on how listening, framing, silence, and trust shape outcomes, and how better conversations lead to better decisions.

  1. Jun 29

    Conversation Lab: Dr. Korey L. Watkins - S1E14

    Dr. Korey Watkins is a clinical psychologist in Austin, and he has spent more than 15 years doing work where the conversation is the whole job. In this episode, Korey and Jake talk about what it really takes to be present with another person, why silence can be the most powerful thing you say, and how to walk into a hard conversation without dreading it. You will hear how Korey built his conversation skills on purpose, why he treats every talk as two people sharing a moment, and the simple model he created for the hardest conversations of all. Whether you are a therapist, a product leader, or a parent, the lessons here carry over to any conversation that matters. In this episode How Korey learned conversation skills, and why he was not just born good at itThe grad school habit of saying hi to strangers to build his confidenceWhy he once sat in silence with a patient for half an hour, and what she remembered mostConversation as relationship, not a list of questions to get answeredHow to share part of yourself while still holding clear boundariesA fresh way to think about conflict so you stop avoiding hard talksThe trap of "one way is good, one way is bad," and why your style is your strengthThe CLEAR model from Korey's upcoming book, and how it works even for tough customer conversations About the guest Dr. Korey Watkins is a clinical psychologist based in Austin, Texas. He works at the VA, serves in the US Army Reserve, and runs a private practice on the south side of Austin. He is also writing a book called How to Tell Them, about talking to children and teens through life's hardest moments. Find Korey here: Website: https://www.drkoreylwatkins.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drkoreylwatkins/ Stay connected If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend or two. It is a huge help for a new podcast. Join the Conversation Lab, my free monthly event. Sign up at jakemckee.com/conversationlab.

  2. Jun 22

    Conversation Lab: Terry Miesle - S1E13

    Master Flavorist Terry Miesle has spent thirty five years building the flavors you taste in meats, snacks, and dairy. Jake sat down with him to talk about why the hardest part of the job isn't the lab work, it's the conversation. They get into turning a vague request like "a little more orangey" into a finished flavor, building a shared language so a team stops describing the same smell five different ways, knowing when good enough is good enough, and why so much of flavor lives in memory and association rather than just your mouth. If you build products or lead a team, the work will sound familiar. Terry is on the North American savory flavor team at Sensient:  https://sensientflavorsandextracts.com/. You can find him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrymiesle/ Find out more about Jake and the Conversation Compass at: https://jakemckee.com/ Signup for Conversation Lab event: https://jakemckee.com/conversationlab

  3. Jun 8

    Conversation Lab: Erik Summa - S1E12

    The customer's actual words and daily reality are often lost in translation on product teams. In Episode 12, host Jake McKee talks with UX and AI design consultant Erik Summa (formerly of Dell), whose job is to bring the absent user into the room and keep them there.1 The central question: What happens to that essential user-focused work when AI speeds up development so much that teams skip past the step of truly understanding who they're building for?1 Listen as Erik explains why the value of a project was never in its speed, but in the human connection. We dive into topics like "vibe coding," talking to AI in the car, and the irreplaceable human moment of an older patient whose call to the dentist might be their only real conversation all week. Ultimately, you must speed up the parts of a project that can be rushed so you can slow down on the parts that can't—and the one part that can never be rushed is understanding who you are building for. For more information about the Conversation Compass, head to https://jakemckee.com/ And if you'd like to signup for Conversation Lab, you can at: https://jakemckee.com/conversationlab

  4. Jun 3

    Conversation Lab: Conversation Traction Exploration - S1E11

    Episode 11 focuses on Conversation Traction, the fifth and final pillar of the Customer Conversation Compass, which serves as the ultimate test of whether customer conversations actually lead to organizational change. For more information about the Conversation Compass, head to https://jakemckee.com/ And if you'd like to signup for Conversation Lab, you can at: https://jakemckee.com/conversationlab

  5. May 25

    Conversation Lab: Josh Zerkel - S1E10

    Josh Zerkel has spent 20 years building brand communities at companies like Asana, Evernote, and CBS News. He just published a book called The Community Code. And his argument is one that a lot of community professionals have been trying to make for a long time: community isn't a support deflection tool. It's a go-to-market engine, and most organizations have no idea how to treat it like one. In this episode, Jake and Josh talk about why community keeps getting stuck in the "nice to have" bucket, how to speak about community impact in the language the rest of the business actually uses, and why showing confidence in your work is more effective than drowning stakeholders in metrics. Find more about Josh: Book: https://www.amazon.com/Community-Code-Strengthening-Go-Market-ebook/dp/B0GNJBXCPRLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuazerkel/Substack: thecommunitycode.substack.com

  6. May 25

    Conversation Lab: Conversation Amplification Exploration - S1E9

    Most product teams have one or two people who actually talk to customers. Everyone else makes decisions based on a summary of what those people heard. The problem is that a summary of a conversation is not the conversation. Tone disappears. Specifics get flattened. Surprises get buried. What's left mostly confirms whatever the team already believed. In this solo exploration episode, Jake walks through the fourth pillar of the Customer Conversation Compass: Conversation Amplification. That means getting the real customer voice, not a cleaned-up version of it, to the people inside your organization who need to hear it most. Jake covers the five blockers that stop insight from spreading internally and what to do about each one. Find out more about Jake's work with the Conversation Compass at: jakemckee.com

  7. May 7

    Conversation Lab: Lee LeFever - S1E8

    Lee LeFever started Common Craft back in 2003 with a simple idea: technology only spreads as far as people can understand it. His "In Plain English" videos broke down everything from RSS to Twitter using paper cutouts, hand-drawn art, and a whiteboard that lived on the floor of his house. Millions of people watched. Educators licensed them. A whole genre of explainer videos grew up around what Lee was doing. In this episode, Jake and Lee go back about 20 years to talk about how it all started, why simple beat slick, and what it taught Lee about explanation as a real skill people can learn. Find out more about Lee at https://commoncraft.com Find out more about Jake and the Customer Conversation Compass at: https://jakemckee.com/

  8. Apr 26

    Conversation Lab: Conversation Tuning Exploration - S1E7

    In this episode, Jake tells the story of the night a whiskey cart rolled into his private dining room at Eleven Madison Park. The staff caught a throwaway joke he made and acted on it. That single moment captures everything Conversation Tuning is about. This is pillar three of the Customer Conversation Compass. It's the skill of asking questions that actually get you the truth instead of the answer your customer thinks you want to hear. Jake walks through the three biggest traps that wreck customer conversations, plus a quick pre-flight check you can run on your questions before any customer call. For more information on the Conversation Compass, visit https://jakemckee.com

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About

The Conversation Lab Podcast is a podcast about the power of conversation, told through conversations with people who live close to it every day. Each episode features a candid discussion with an expert from an adjacent field - design, research, psychology, community, leadership, writing, or systems thinking - exploring how conversation actually works in their world and what the rest of us can learn from it. This isn’t an interview show chasing soundbites or hot takes. It’s a slower, thoughtful exchange focused on how listening, framing, silence, and trust shape outcomes, and how better conversations lead to better decisions.

Information

  • Creator
    Jake McKee
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Jake McKee
  • Show Website
    Conversation Lab Podcast