Behind the Brand with Bryan Elliott
Oct 9, 2026 · 25 min · 8 segments
*Vanessa Van Edwards studied hundreds of Shark Tank pitches and spent nearly 20 years on her new book, Conversation. Her verdict on smart founders is blunt. Here is what her playbook says about…
Vanessa Van EdwardsGuest
Bryan ElliottHost
People seek them out, so when they have an idea or an opportunity or an invitation, the master conversationalist just pop to head, pop to their mind faster.
And in that way, they are easy to interact with, and that is actually my goal in this book.
I think I approached conversations so incorrectly, and it was why I was so awkward for so long, is I thought conversation was about being impressive.
What I failed to understand is that conversation is actually a discovery opportunity.
Not only is it quite joyful, it's so wonderful to have good conversation.
But also that if you are easy to talk to, it makes everything else easier.
And so in that way, I feel like conversation is the vehicle to what we want.
But it's also so generic, right? Like, of course we should have great conversations.
Um, the real question is, what are we doing wrong, and how can I fix it to really get me to where I want to be? You know, like, um, if, if you have a partner or you're in a committed relationship, you know that one of the most important things in that relationship is communication.
And yet I am married to someone who, uh, I love to the end of the earth, but we're very different, hardwired the way we communicate, et cetera.
People seek them out, so when they have an idea or an opportunity or an invitation, the master conversationalist just pop to head, pop to their mind faster.
And in that way, they are easy to interact with, and that is actually my goal in this book.
I think I approached conversations so incorrectly, and it was why I was so awkward for so long, is I thought conversation was about being impressive.
What I failed to understand is that conversation is actually a discovery opportunity.
Not only is it quite joyful, it's so wonderful to have good conversation.
But also that if you are easy to talk to, it makes everything else easier.
And so in that way, I feel like conversation is the vehicle to what we want.
But it's also so generic, right? Like, of course we should have great conversations.
Um, the real question is, what are we doing wrong, and how can I fix it to really get me to where I want to be? You know, like, um, if, if you have a partner or you're in a committed relationship, you know that one of the most important things in that relationship is communication.
And yet I am married to someone who, uh, I love to the end of the earth, but we're very different, hardwired the way we communicate, et cetera.
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