Much time and thought has been spent analyzing how a style of discussion influences its content and character. Socrates used questions to tease out what his students already knew to be true. Without parliamentary procedure, many political bodies would descend into chaos.

How do you manage your communications with clients? How do you propel negotiations and encourage useful feedback? How do you make it easier to get paid? Charm will get you places but the right technology can help too.

One way to create a better style of business conversation is to pull your discussion on to a site like Mavenlink where all of the important logistics of white-collar contracting are taken care of. You can invite clients into a space and clearly define the parameters and pay for a project. Then you can post your work as you progress and invite realtime comments as you go. It's like what eBay did for the folks trying to hawk goods over the phone.

As the saying goes, "It's not just what you say, it's how say it."