These five phrases appear to be nice, but really are not. They can be passive aggressive and should be avoided—face-to-face and online. These terms are usually used as a get-out-of-jail-free card following a mean comment. If you feel the urge to mitigate a mean comment using one of these phrases, that may be a signal the statement itself could have…
I surveyed my monthly Communique’ readers earlier this year, asking them this question: “What annoys you most about the way people communicate online?” The responses fell neatly into these three categories: Mistakes and Misspelling, Misunderstanding, Meanness. I’ve summarized the responses below almost word-for-word as received. I’ve also included duplicate responses in order to emphasize how annoying some online communication habits…
The word “no” may be easy to say, however figuring out how to say “no” can be difficult. Even when we know that saying “no” can help us draw healthy boundaries, it can still be challenging to do so. In my experience, I’ve found it helps to say “no” nicely by first acknowledging the other person’s request and then…
When we’re trying to handle criticism, it’s easy to feel defensive. We want to explain ourselves and defend our actions. However, while doing all that talking, we’re not listening. By being defensive, we can miss out on the opportunity to learn while we’re handling criticism. How to Handle Criticism: Grow From It We spend a lot of time and…
Have you found yourself in a situation that requires you to gain cooperation when you’re not officially in charge? Whether you’re communicating with a client, a boss, a colleague or even your family, figuring out how to pull rank when you have no rank to pull requires perspective, strategy and clear communication. The first step to gaining cooperation from…
“Please and Thank you, they’re called the magic words. If you want nice things to happen, they’re the words that should be heard.” These are lyrics from a song sung by Barney the Dinosaur and his sidekick kids in a children’s show my daughter and I watched faithfully when she was growing up. And, I think there’s a lesson in…