COM 230, communication
The Art & Power of Listening
Nobody listens anymore. Become the one who does.
Explore this course
Everybody's talking. Nobody's listening.
Six people at a dinner table and every one of them is looking at a phone. You're mid-story and you've already lost the room. Master Coach Dan puts the working attention span at about five to seven seconds, and if you fade after seven seconds in a conversation that actually matters, you're in trouble.
Meanwhile everybody's still leading with “let me tell you something.” But information is instant now. Nobody needs to be told anything, and telling people things is the fastest way to start an argument you didn't want.
What people want is to be heard. Almost nobody does it. Which is exactly why doing it well is an unfair advantage, whether that's in a negotiation, in a hiring conversation, or at your own kitchen table.
4 modules. 4 episodes. 18 rules.
- Module 1The lost art of listeningWhy “tell” is an argumentative word, why the elevator pitch is dead, and the three most powerful words in any conversation. Plus the four voices in your head that stop you hearing a thing.
- Module 2Questions & the first six rulesThe core loop, which is ask, shut up, listen, write it down, validate, then ask “what else?” Plus rules one through six, including the 10/90 rule that changes how the first meeting goes.
- Module 3The rules that change everythingRules seven through seventeen: clarifying and confirming, holding the empty space, the one word you should never use, and why pouncing costs you the trust you just built.
- Module 4Rule 18 & putting it to workThe last rule, the one nobody wants to hear, and then the part that decides whether any of it mattered: how to recover when you get caught drifting, and how to actually use what people tell you.
- ResourcesCheat sheet & companion workbookAll 18 rules on one printable page, and a workbook with the self-audit, the 10/90 tracker, the question bank and a prep sheet for your next real conversation.
Short course. Long shelf life.
Four video episodes
Master Coach Dan teaching the whole system end to end. Short enough to finish in an afternoon, and yours for life to come back to.
The 18 Rules cheat sheet
Every rule on one printable page, with the core loop and the phrases worth memorizing. Keep it in the notebook you carry into meetings.
Companion workbook
The honest self-audit against the four sabotaging voices, the 10/90 tracker, the question bank, and a one-page prep sheet for your next real conversation.
Knowledge checks
A quick self-graded quiz after every module, so the rules stick before you take them into a room with someone.
Master Business Coach Dan Creed
Dan Creed has spent 19 years as a professional business coach, building a seven-figure coaching company from the ground up — without ever giving an elevator pitch.
He's coached thousands of coaches across every discipline — life, business, executive, performance — and the number one issue he sees, everywhere in the world, is the same: brilliant coaches who can't make a living because they don't know how to sell.
Underneath all of it sits one skill he's been practicing for over 45 years, in front of executives, business owners and people who came to him with something hard to say. This course is that skill, taken apart and handed to you. Not theory. Not motivation. Eighteen rules and a loop you can use in your next conversation.
Frequently asked
Who is this course for?
Anyone whose results depend on other people. Master Coach Dan is explicit that this applies from grade school to the boardroom, so that covers sales, coaching, management, hiring, parenting and marriage. If you sit across from people and need to understand what they actually need, it's for you.
How long does it take?
One afternoon to watch, the rest of your career to use. Four episodes, four knowledge checks, and two downloads. It's deliberately short, because this is a skill you practice, not a library you work through.
How long do I have access?
For life. One payment, and the episodes and downloads stay in your GSDU library.
I already own Selling Coaching. Is this a repeat?
No. Selling Coaching introduces listening as one module inside a larger selling system. This is the full treatment: all 18 rules, the complete loop, and the material Dan didn't have room for there. They work well together, and neither one needs the other.
I'm not in sales. Does it still apply?
Yes. Dan teaches it as a life skill first and a business skill second. The rules don't change depending on who's across the table. The person could be a prospect, an employee, your teenager, or your spouse.
How do I get in after I buy?
You'll get a welcome email straight after checkout with your login and a link. Everything lives in your GSDU library and you can start the first episode within a minute of enrolling.
Be the one person in the room who's actually listening.
Listen closely enough and you earn the right to say the three most powerful words in any conversation: you told me. Everything changes after that.
More in communication
Explore this course
You are being tuned out.
The average adult attention span is now under seven seconds. A goldfish does better. So when you explain, pitch, present or persuade, most of it never lands — not because your case is weak, but because nobody needs to be told anything anymore.
Meanwhile the person across from you is waiting for something almost nobody gives them: a real question, followed by silence. Master Business Coach Dan Creed has spent a career watching what happens in that silence. People tell you extraordinary things. They tell you exactly what they need. They tell you, in effect, how to sell them.
This course is the system for getting into that silence on purpose — and knowing what to do once you are there.
Sixteen rules, four episodes.
- Episode 1Ask, don't tell: rules 1 to 4Why questioning is a deliberate strategy, not a courtesy. Pay attention. The questioner has control. Shut up and listen. And the 10/90 Rule — you talk a tenth of the time, they talk the rest.
- Episode 2Holding your tongue: rules 5 to 10Never interrupt — and the one exception. Pick your battles. Take lots of notes, and ask permission first. Why pouncing on the first opportunity costs you every other one underneath it.
- Episode 3Don't judge, give back: rules 11 to 16Why you must never become your opponent's conscience or their bookkeeper. Gratitude, admiration and approval — and how to turn a page of notes into a needs, issues and opportunities list.
- Episode 4You told me: closing by listeningThe phrase you have to earn, the one-for-one close, and the two small questions that surface everything they forgot to tell you. Done properly, the close stops being the frightening part.
- PlusKnowledge checks & downloadsA knowledge check after every episode, plus three printable companion resources you can keep beside you in a live conversation.
Everything you take with you.
Four full episodes
All 16 Rules of Questioning, taught in order, with the stories and the exact words to use. Watch at your own pace, revisit whenever a big conversation is coming.
The 16 Rules cheat sheet
Every rule on one printable reference, grouped into the posture, the discipline and the generosity. Keep it in your notebook and read it in the car before you walk in.
The live worksheet
The needs, issues and opportunities page you actually write on during the meeting — plus the match-up grid that turns those notes into a close.
The question bank
Every script from the course, written out word for word — opening, validating, refusing the argument, reviewing, and closing. Short enough to use under pressure.
Master Business Coach Dan Creed
Master Business Coach Dan Creed has spent nearly two decades coaching business owners and leaders, and built a seven-figure coaching practice himself without ever giving an elevator pitch. He is also Dean of GSDU.
His position on selling is unusual and, once you hear it, hard to argue with: the pitch is the problem. People can smell one coming, and it puts their guard up before you have said anything worth hearing. Replace it with a genuinely good conversation and the resistance never appears.
This course is the questioning half of that system — the part that works whether you are closing a deal, asking for a raise, buying a car, sitting with your child's teacher, or trying to understand what your own team actually needs.
Frequently asked
Is this only for salespeople?
No. The rules work identically in a job interview, a supplier negotiation, a performance review, a parent-teacher meeting or a difficult conversation at home. If it involves another human deciding something, it applies.
How long does it take?
It is deliberately short — four episodes you can finish in an afternoon. Everything in it is usable in the next conversation you have, not next quarter.
How is this different from a sales course?
Most sales training teaches you what to say. This teaches you what to ask, and then what to do in the silence afterwards. There is no pitch in it anywhere — that is rather the point.
Do I need any other GSDU course first?
Not at all — it stands completely on its own. If you want to go further afterwards, Negotiation 101: How to Negotiate Anything picks up once you are at the table, and Getting To Yes goes deeper on the psychology of small approvals.
How long do I have access?
Lifetime. Buy once, come back to it before every big conversation for as long as you like.
Enroll for $49Ask. Then shut up and listen.
Questions are the beginning and the ending of success at all levels. Sixteen rules, four episodes, and a conversation you can have tonight.
Explore this course
Most people sabotage themselves out loud.
I'll give it a shot. I hope I can. Maybe. I'll try. I'm okay, just getting by.
None of those sound like a problem. That's exactly why they're one. Every single one is an escape hatch, and the person listening hears it whether they can name it or not.
Around 90% of how you're perceived comes from how you speak and how you act. Most people have never once audited what they're actually saying — to a room, to a client, or to themselves.
Three episodes. One shift.
- Episode 1Survival mindset vs. possibility mindsetWhere the whole idea comes from, the exact phrases that give each mindset away, the three rules of a possibility vocabulary, and the one-word change that got a lifelong smoker to quit without trying to.
- Episode 2Power communication and the four personalitiesWhy this has to show up in every channel you use, not just the ones where you're performing. Then the four personality types, and the single power word that lands with each one.
- Episode 3Making the shift permanentWhy it's contagious in both directions, what it costs to stay in the wrong room, the sentence a leader uses to give people hope, and the bank president who hired Master Coach Dan without ever hearing a pitch.
Everything in one place.
Three video episodes
The complete course, taught start to finish by Master Business Coach Dan Creed. Watch it in a single afternoon.
A knowledge check per module
Short quizzes with a full answer key, so what you just watched actually sticks before you move on.
The quick reference
The swap list, the three rules, the words of confidence, and the power words for each personality — on one page.
The seven-day reset
One short practice a day for a week. Nothing takes more than a few minutes, and by day seven it's a habit.
Master Business Coach Dan Creed
Dan Creed has spent 19 years as a professional business coach, building a seven-figure coaching company from the ground up — without ever giving an elevator pitch.
He's the Dean of GSDU, and he's taught this material to audiences all over the world for years. It's one of his favorites, and the one he most often hears back about years later.
Not theory. Not motivation. Just a specific, repeatable change to what comes out of your mouth.
Frequently asked
How long does it take?
One afternoon for the three episodes. The Seven-Day Reset then runs a few minutes a day for a week, once you've finished watching.
Is this only for people in business?
No. It lands hardest if you lead, sell or own something, but it applies to interviews, parenting, leadership and how you talk to yourself. Dan teaches it to every kind of audience.
Is this just positive thinking?
No. It's a specific set of rules about tense, phrasing and word choice, with a list of exactly what to stop saying and what to say instead. You can apply it the same day.
How long do I have access?
For life. One payment, and it stays in your GSDU library to revisit whenever you want.
Do I need to have taken another GSDU course first?
Not at all. It stands completely on its own, and it's a good first course if you haven't taken one before.
Enroll for $49Change what you say. Change what opens.
Someone's always watching, and someone's always listening. The only question is what they're hearing.