TCP skills and protocols

What would you like to get better at?

Explore 30 practical guides to communication and personal growth. Find something that connects with your everyday life.

What is a protocol?

In TCP, a protocol is a practical guide to a particular skill or everyday challenge. It combines a story, a step-by-step method, activities to try and questions to reflect on afterwards.

For example, EARS helps you practise listening. LINES helps you express and respect boundaries. FOCUS helps you stay with one meaningful task.

Start learning free

You can browse every guide here without an account. Starting is free, and the opening steps of your first guide do not need a card. A plan is required for the other guides and for activity planning.

30 guides

SPARK
Come back when you drift off
You meant to stay with something that matters, then a habit or routine pulled you away. Practise noticing that drift early and choosing one small step back to what you intended.
Skill you’ll develop
Self-Control
Especially useful for
Get Myself Under Control
Understand Myself & Find Direction
Related topics
Procrastination
Routines
Consistency
VOICE
Speak while you feel nervous
A meeting, a class, or a room full of people can make speaking feel risky. Practise taking part while the nerves are still there, instead of waiting until they disappear.
Skill you’ll develop
Confidence
Especially useful for
Build Confidence & Agency
Prepare for Something Important
Related topics
Confidence
Meeting
Expression
BRAVE
Approach what you have been avoiding
Something important keeps getting delayed because starting it feels too big or too uncomfortable. Practise turning that avoidance into one smaller step, then taking that step in a real situation.
Skill you’ll develop
Courage
Especially useful for
Build Confidence & Agency
Get Myself Under Control
Related topics
Taking initiative
Confidence
SPACE
See the shape of a hard topic
A subject can stay confusing when it only lives as a string of words. Practise turning it into a sketch, a pattern, or a set of relationships you can explain and use.
Skill you’ll develop
Clarity
Especially useful for
Understand Myself & Find Direction
Build Useful Capabilities
Related topics
Learning useful abilities
Expression
FOCUS
Stay with one meaningful task
Messages, tabs, and other jobs keep pulling you off the one piece of work that matters. Practise setting that task apart, noticing when your attention slips, and returning to the same work.
Skill you’ll develop
Presence
Especially useful for
Perform & Think Better
Get Myself Under Control
Related topics
Organization
Effectiveness
TRUE
Keep the story the size it was
A real experience can grow in the telling when you want to sound more impressive or more interesting. Practise stopping that upgrade and letting the actual size of what happened stand.
Skill you’ll develop
Authenticity
Especially useful for
Lead & Create Impact
Understand Myself & Find Direction
Related topics
Trust
Expression
OWN
Name the part that was yours
After something goes wrong, it is easy to take all the blame or to take none of it. Practise finding the part you could control, then making one change someone else could notice.
Skill you’ll develop
Ownership
Especially useful for
Build Confidence & Agency
Understand Myself & Find Direction
Related topics
Self-awareness
Trust
BRIDGE
Talk with someone unlike you
It is easy to walk past someone whose age, background, or interests feel far from your own. Practise getting curious about the world they live in, and offering a little of yours in return.
Skill you’ll develop
Connection
Especially useful for
Communicate & Connect Better
Get Myself Under Control
Related topics
Communication
Adaptability
EARS
Listen before you answer
While someone is still talking, your reply is often already forming in your head. Practise staying with what they mean, asking what you missed, and holding advice until you have understood.
Skill you’ll develop
Listening
Especially useful for
Communicate & Connect Better
Build Useful Capabilities
Related topics
Communication
Relationships
TALK
Leave room for other people to speak
A conversation can fill up with your explanations, your additions, or the silence you rush to cover. Practise noticing your share and making a real opening for someone else to enter.
Skill you’ll develop
Self-Awareness
Especially useful for
Communicate & Connect Better
Understand Myself & Find Direction
Related topics
Listening
Expression
LIGHT
Warm a room that has gone stiff
A meeting or a group can turn so serious that people stop feeling welcome in it. Practise adding a small human moment, with care for the timing, and without making anyone the joke.
Skill you’ll develop
Humor
Especially useful for
Communicate & Connect Better
Explore, Discover & Challenge Myself
Related topics
Relationships
Communication
PRESENT
Stay with someone through a hard time
When someone is hurting, the urge is to fix it, reassure them, or compare it with your own story. Practise remaining available over time, without trying to take their feeling away.
Skill you’ll develop
Support
Especially useful for
Communicate & Connect Better
Lead & Create Impact
Related topics
Listening
Communication
LINES
Make your boundaries clear
Learn to recognise your limits, express them respectfully and respond when someone crosses them. Practise respecting other people’s boundaries while making room for your own needs.
Skill you’ll develop
Boundaries
Especially useful for
Communicate & Connect Better
Build Confidence & Agency
Related topics
Independence
Relationships
Family
SIGNAL
Read the signals around the words
Tone, posture, timing, and facial expression carry part of what is happening between people. Practise noticing those patterns in the situation around you, and choosing your own signals with more care.
Skill you’ll develop
Nonverbal Awareness
Especially useful for
Lead & Create Impact
Grow My Career & Prepare for the Future
Related topics
Communication
STAND
Say where you stand, and stay respectful
An important disagreement can come out as a hint, a quiet retreat, or a fight. Practise putting your actual view in the room clearly, and keeping the relationship while you do.
Skill you’ll develop
Constructive Disagreement
Especially useful for
Communicate & Connect Better
Perform & Think Better
Related topics
Boundaries
Conflict
FRAME
Hold more than one side of the question
A decision gets thin when it is reduced to only the facts, or only the feeling. Practise keeping evidence, impact, process, and your own hunch in view at the same time.
Skill you’ll develop
Emotional Intelligence
Especially useful for
Communicate & Connect Better
Lead & Create Impact
Related topics
Disagreement
Expression
CLARITY
Give feedback someone can act on
Feedback often arrives vague, too late, or as a pile of everything that went wrong. Practise naming one important point, the view you are speaking from, and a workable next step.
Skill you’ll develop
Feedback
Especially useful for
Perform & Think Better
Build Useful Capabilities
Related topics
Teamwork
Leadership
KNOW
Hold your ground when someone takes over
Some conversations get swallowed by a person who interrupts, redirects, or uses up the time. Practise acknowledging a fair point, then returning the exchange to its purpose and its limits.
Skill you’ll develop
Conflict Resolution
Especially useful for
Communicate & Connect Better
Solve / Navigate Something
Related topics
Boundaries
Conflict
BROKER
Help two other people through a disagreement
You are between two people who are stuck, and the outcome is still theirs to make. Practise reflecting what each one means, and stepping back once they can speak to each other.
Skill you’ll develop
Conflict Resolution
Especially useful for
Lead & Create Impact
Solve / Navigate Something
Related topics
Teamwork
Leadership
FIRM
Help a group decide and move on
A team can stay among several acceptable options long after a choice is possible. Practise stating a real preference, narrowing the list, and closing the decision when it is time.
Skill you’ll develop
Decision-Making
Especially useful for
Perform & Think Better
Build Confidence & Agency
Related topics
Teamwork
Leadership
TRUTH
Correct a story that was not accurate
A misleading statement, or something you left out, has started to shape what other people rely on. Practise correcting it before the story grows, and taking responsibility for the repair.
Skill you’ll develop
Accountability
Especially useful for
Lead & Create Impact
Build Confidence & Agency
Related topics
Credibility
Difficult conversation
WORDS
Make a complicated idea easy to follow
A strong point can disappear inside jargon, a long buildup, or a request that never quite arrives. Practise saying it in human terms, asking clearly, and stopping when the point is made.
Skill you’ll develop
Influence
Especially useful for
Lead & Create Impact
Prepare for Something Important
Related topics
Communication skills
Presentation
CHANGE
Turn a shared complaint into a next step
People can agree that something is wrong and still never move on it together. Practise naming the actual issue, the person who can decide it, and one way others can take part.
Skill you’ll develop
Influence
Especially useful for
Lead & Create Impact
Build Useful Capabilities
Related topics
Leadership
Problem-solving
LEVER
Put your effort where the decision is made
Being visible, or repeating the same appeal, has not moved the decision you care about. Practise naming the result you want and the people or evidence that can reach the real decision.
Skill you’ll develop
Leadership
Especially useful for
Lead & Create Impact
Perform & Think Better
Related topics
Leadership
Presenting ideas
PIG RULES
Step out of a fight that goes nowhere
A disagreement can stop being about the problem and turn into a loop that rewards the next sharp reply. Practise recognising that shift and leaving once a useful exchange is over.
Skill you’ll develop
Discernment
Especially useful for
Solve / Navigate Something
Get Myself Under Control
Related topics
Boundaries
Self-control
PRESENCE
Show up fully, without taking over
Being with other people is separate from being the loudest person in the room. Practise noticing the room, giving real attention, and taking part in a way that is still yours.
Skill you’ll develop
Leadership Presence
Especially useful for
Communicate & Connect Better
Grow My Career & Prepare for the Future
Related topics
Speaking up
Relationships
VIVID
Make accurate work easier to remember
A report, lesson, or proposal can be accurate and still slide past people when it stays generic. Practise using concrete detail and real stakes, while keeping the account fair and easy to check.
Skill you’ll develop
Distinctiveness
Especially useful for
Lead & Create Impact
Explore, Discover & Challenge Myself
Related topics
Presentation
Communication skills
REAL
Stand behind only what you can support
People may treat your recommendation as stronger than the evidence behind it. Practise separating what you know from what you only think, and saying so before someone acts on your words.
Skill you’ll develop
Integrity
Especially useful for
Lead & Create Impact
Build Confidence & Agency
Related topics
Trust
Judgment
CULTURE
Notice when your usual way is not universal
Habits from home or work can start to look like the only professional or respectful way. Practise noticing that assumption and adapting to the situation in front of you, without a stereotype.
Skill you’ll develop
Cultural Intelligence
Especially useful for
Grow My Career & Prepare for the Future
Perform & Think Better
Related topics
Communication
Teamwork
COMMUNICATE
Keep a young person’s voice in the room
An adult’s help or authority can crowd out what a child or young person needs to say. Practise protecting space for that voice, including when another adult seems especially useful.
Skill you’ll develop
Ethical Judgment
Especially useful for
Communicate & Connect Better
Build Confidence & Agency
Related topics
Relationships
Communication

Start learning free

You can browse every guide here without an account. Starting is free, and the opening steps of your first guide do not need a card. A plan is required for the other guides and for activity planning.

Come back when you drift off

Speak while you feel nervous

Approach what you have been avoiding

See the shape of a hard topic

Stay with one meaningful task

Keep the story the size it was

Name the part that was yours

Talk with someone unlike you

Listen before you answer

Leave room for other people to speak

Warm a room that has gone stiff

Stay with someone through a hard time

Make your boundaries clear

Read the signals around the words

Say where you stand, and stay respectful

Hold more than one side of the question

Give feedback someone can act on

Hold your ground when someone takes over

Help two other people through a disagreement

Help a group decide and move on

Correct a story that was not accurate

Make a complicated idea easy to follow

Turn a shared complaint into a next step

Put your effort where the decision is made

Step out of a fight that goes nowhere

Show up fully, without taking over

Make accurate work easier to remember

Stand behind only what you can support

Notice when your usual way is not universal

Keep a young person’s voice in the room