Trapeze wins four-way auction for Arthanayake’s conversation guide

Trapeze has signed Nihal Arthanayake’s  "game-changing" Let’s Talk: How to Have Better Conversations following a four-way auction.  

Editor Shyam Kumar acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Nick Walters at David Luxton Associates in association with Emily Rees Jones and Alex Fisher at M&C Saatchi Merlin. Let’s Talk will be published in hardback, trade paperback, e-book and audiobook on 18th August 2022.  

Arthanayake has built a platform of 1.2 million listeners a week on BBC Radio 5 Live “who regard him as one of the best people of his generation at having public conversations", the publisher said. His book aims to understand how he developed his skills and how he can teach us to have better interactions in our everyday lives.  

The publisher wrote: “Let’s Talk blends Nihal’s experiences as an acclaimed interviewer with expert and celebrity opinion on the secrets and psychology behind successful communication. Nihal speaks to conversational authorities including internationally bestselling author Johann Hari, hostage negotiator John Sutherland, journalist and bestselling author Matthew Syed, professor of social interaction Elizabeth Stokoe, presenter Lorraine Kelly, and many more to find out why good conversation has eroded over time and how we can fix it.”  

Kumar commented: “Growing up with my dad, a self-styled Del Boy on Petticoat Lane Market, I was always in awe of his gift of the gab. Unsurprisingly, I jumped at the opportunity to work with Nihal on this hugely fascinating subject. Let’s Talk is unlike any professional development book you’ll have read. From answering questions like ’How do speak to people who have tried to kill your family?’ with practical tips for your personal and professional life, Nihal’s book is an accessible and invigorating toolkit for having better conversations with anyone, any time.”  

Arthanayake added: “The whole reason I wanted to write this book was when I came to 5 Live, three months after the EU referendum, it seemed to me that the world was becoming increasingly more polarised and our inability to have good conversations was worrying me. A lot of listeners said I like your interviews because they’re conversations. I never understood or thought about what I was doing and then that made me think, if I can understand it, are they transferrable skills that other people can also learn?”