Talking with Queen Elizabeth II taught me a powerful lesson about the art of conversation

• James Rosebush was a Reagan White House official and is now the CEO and founder of GrowthStrategy.us.
• The Queen of England, clocking in as the world's longest reigning head of state, was to Rosebush by far the best purveyor of the art of conversation.
• From her, he learned to recognize and accept the fact that extreme self-centeredness is crippling, research the background and life details of the person with whom he was meeting, and not be afraid to ask questions.
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I have had the privilege of conversing with a number of the world's great leaders.

These conversations have not only yielded substantial information, but have been instructive on how to have a productive, enjoyable, and memorable conversation.

Through these talks I began to see that the delivery of the conversation is as important as the content itself, and that natural curiosity in others is one of the most valuable traits a person can have.

The good news is that this skill can be acquired.

I remember one of my first bosses, a senior corporate executive. I was incredibly frustrated because he had the habit of starting every meeting with at least 10 minutes of small talk before getting down to business. In my inexperience, I thought this was a useless waste of time.

I finally caught the strategy. During the introductory banter, he was building bridges that he could cross when the talk became more specific and detailed - maybe even heated. He was creating mutual trust through his natural curiosity in others.

The Queen of England, clocking in as the world's longest reigning head of state, was to me by far the best purveyor of the art of conversation. Having had the opportunity to talk with her on many occasions over several years, I was flabbergasted at how she had honed the skill to perfection.

"Jim," she would say, "what do you think about the increasing use of computers today?" (After I had arranged for one to be given to her from the American people for her personal use.) "What's in that drink you're having tonight? Tell me about it …" commenting on what I had ordered when she took us to dinner at Trader Vic's in San Francisco.

It could be anything. Trivial or significant. It was, however, always focused on me - as if I were the important one. She never, ever talked about herself or complained about anything. The focus was always on the other person and delivered as if she were really interested in my answers.

George and Barbara Bush had similar skills. They were expert at deflecting attention from themselves. I remember telling her she was doing a great job as First Lady - which was true. I wanted to tell her why I thought so.

She would have nothing of it. She immediately started asking me about my daughters and how they were doing in school. In this case, I had started the conversation about her and she miraculously turned it back to me!

George Bush had these skills as well, and is famous for his prolific letter writing and verbal communicating. Have a look at these letters and you see a person intent on showing interest in his subjects rather than himself.

Have you ever had a conversation and later realized that during the talk no one asked any questions about each other? There is a serious cost when leaders pay little attention to others. If you lack the ability to define the person, it is much harder to negotiate with him or her and conclude with a positive outcome.

Here are three ways to improve the circulation of ideas through useful conversation - and increase the likelihood of successful negotiations at the same time.