01
Elicitation
Begin with engagement statements that provoke a response and your conversation is underway.
Time-tested intelligence
Master Models for Your Next Conversation
Build trust. Find what matters. Move important conversations forward.
The conversation arc
Better conversations begin with elicitation.
The best conversations begin with elicitation, continue with careful questions, end with an exchange of information, and are wrapped in rapport to enrich the connection.
02
Effective and Efficient Questions
Minimize the use of questions employing Jim’s EEQ formula.
03
Information Exchange
Rapport, Respect and Trust are essential for information exchange.
Practical by design
The Strat Talk Approach
Conversational skills for the moments that matter.
Listen with Intention
Notice what is said, how it is said and what the moment may need next.
Maintain Genuine Support
Create a connection that makes a useful exchange feel comfortable and natural.
Exchange with Clarity
Keep the conversation purposeful while preserving respect and trust.
Your conversation’s friend
Meet Jim Pyle
Jim helps professionals strengthen practical conversational skills through teaching, writing and decades of real-world experience.
Strat Talk brings those lessons into clear useful models that you can apply to interviews, leadership conversations and everyday exchanges. Jim is no longer punching the clock but still traveling and training people in purposeful conversation.
Learn more about JimSee Jim in action
A conversation with Jim.
Get a feel for Jim’s warmth, presence and practical approach in this short video.
Get to know Jim
Strat Talk · Jim Pyle
Ways to work together
Work With Jim
Training & Workshops
Practical learning experiences built around conversation, elicitation and rapport.
Request a WorkshopSpeaking
Engaging talks that turn field-tested experience into memorable, useful ideas.
Invite Jim to SpeakPrivate Advisory
Focused guidance for leaders and professionals facing important conversations.
Start a Conversation
Electronic Language Simulator
A training innovation
Designed to make communication practice feel real.
Jim is named as the inventor of the Electronic Language Simulator in U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2010/0305939 A1.
The device was created to support realistic training in interpreted, three-party conversations while preserving voice tone, tempo and visual cues.
Publication date: December 2, 2010
A different kind of conversation
Holiday Encounters with Jim
Jim also takes on the holidays in character, offering Santa appearances for on-site visits and online encounters.
Availability is seasonal. Tell Jim what you have in mind and he can let you know what may be possible.
Ask About Santa Appearances
Ideas to explore
Books & Media
Explore Jim’s books, interviews and practical insights on communication, elicitation and human behaviour.
Books
Field-tested methods in a form you can return to.
Interviews
Conversations that bring Jim’s experience to life.
Articles
Short ideas for better exchanges in the real world.
Client reflections
What Clients Say
Words from people who have worked with Jim in the classroom and beyond.
James Pyle was one of the finest instructors we ever had when we trained intelligence and Special Operations officers at PCG. Universally respected by his colleagues, his students were effusive in their compliments at End of Course evaluations. He has brought a similar focus, attention and personality to his training programs and his writing ever since to audiences and students around the world.
Author of CONFIDENTIAL
Jim is an exceptional coach and mentor who combines deep learning and broad experience with a calming and positive manner. He creates such a positive environment for learning, and the skills I have picked up from him have had tremendous impact on my life, personally and professionally, and also for many others. I couldn’t recommend anyone more highly to learn from, whether it’s face-to-face, online or through his exceptional body of work.
Security, Risk & Communication Expert
I have known Jim for decades and he is the real deal for getting information in conversations. Nothing adversarial, hostile or aggressive, just conversation to get to the heart of the matter.
Begin here
Let’s start a conversation.
Tell Jim what you are working on and how Strat Talk may be able to help.