The questions I am actually asked
The substance of the first conversation, written down, so that you can judge whether this is right for your team before we speak.
The work itself
What is Words That Move?
A full day on rhetoric, persuasion, critical thinking, and speaking under pressure, run as eight short modules. Each pairs a reading with a discussion and a practice activity, and participants work throughout on a real situation of their own. The outline (PDF) lists all eight.
How is this different from a presentation skills course?
A presentation skills course works on delivery: the voice, the slides, the stance. This works on the argument. The strongest proposals answer the audience’s “yes, but what about X?” before it is asked. Delivery is taught here too, but as the last stretch of a case that already holds.
Who is it for, and is any background needed?
Any team that has to persuade people who do not share their expertise: analysts, managers, technical specialists, policy staff, and executives who have to carry a decision, not simply announce it. Typical situations are a business case going to an executive team, a regulator or select committee appearance, and a consultation meeting that has turned hostile. No background in rhetoric or philosophy is assumed. The vocabulary is built up from nothing in the first module.
What do participants take away?
A vocabulary for what is happening in a demanding conversation. A five-part structure they can run through in their head before any argument. A written action plan. And the workbook, marked up in their own handwriting and indexed by tool, so that a half-remembered framework can be found again the following morning.
What is a facilitated forum, and when is it the right thing?
When a question deserves a properly held conversation: views differ, the discussion has run across several meetings, and the person chairing is close to the outcome. A forum begins with a shared framing, states its norms aloud, is facilitated by somebody with no interest in the answer, and produces a written record of the arguments rather than an agreed line.
Practicalities
What does it cost?
One fixed fee per engagement, with the scoping, design, and preparation included. It depends on the format, the group size, and how much of your own material is rewritten into the session, so it is quoted after a free first call. A schedule of fees is sent on request.
How many people can attend?
Twelve to thirty for the full day, six to twelve for Questions Welcome, and ten to sixteen for the four-week programme. Below about ten the practice activities lose their variety; much above thirty the individual questioning has to be given up, which is the part participants remember.
Where is it delivered, and do you travel?
I am based in Auckland and travel nationally, with travel charged at cost. The work has been delivered in Auckland, in Kirikiriroa Hamilton, and at a symposium in Hobart.
Can it be delivered online?
Yes, and it regularly is. The full day is split across sessions rather than compressed, because eight consecutive hours on a video call teaches nobody anything, and the activities that depend on standing up are rebuilt for breakout rooms. In person is better; online is considerably better than not doing it.
How far in advance should we book?
Four to six weeks for a workshop, because your own material has to be read and the examples rewritten around it. A fortnight is the minimum for a keynote, since I write the talk to your audience rather than deliver one from a shelf.
What happens after the session?
A written summary within a fortnight, which you can circulate: a record of what was argued, in the case of a forum, or the patterns in your team's arguments, in the case of a senior session.
The method, and the person
What is whataboutism?
The argument that answers a criticism by pointing at somebody else's fault. The person using it is not trying to talk about the second thing; they are trying to make you stop talking about the first. It was the subject of my doctoral research and of my book for Palgrave Macmillan.
The practical skill is not spotting it, which is easy once it has been named. It is telling a genuine and relevant comparison apart from a deliberate change of subject, and then either parking the comparison honestly or holding the original question open until it has been answered.
Who is Dr Dmitry Zavialov?
I hold a PhD in politics from the University of Otago, and my book Whataboutisms in International Politics was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2025. Before New Zealand I built deliberative forums in Central Asia. There is a fuller account on the about page.
Where is the material tested?
In public, every week, on people who are not being paid to be polite. I founded Walk & Talk Auckland, I run The Civic Room, and I co-host Auckland Stoics. If something does not survive a park bench and a genuine disagreement, it does not go into your workshop.
Can we see you work before committing?
Yes, and I would encourage it. Walk & Talk Auckland and The Civic Room are open to anyone, so you can come along to a walk or a forum at no cost. There is also a clip of a workshop on the speaking page, and three participants speaking for themselves on the feedback page.