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winded and that you're going to lose the other's attention. Make it a habit to relinquish the floor every 60 seconds until someone invites you to continue. |
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Tip 147: Distinguish succinctness from bluntness. |
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The difference is tone. Yes, you want to be succinct with the details, to choose words well. But a one-word answer often sounds blunt, curt, insolent, surly, discourteous. At best, it can be misinterpreted or unclear. Add a sentence elaboration just for the sake of tone, if not clarity. |
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CALLER 1: Do these staplers come in black? |
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CALLER 2: No. (Sufficient, but blunt.) |
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CALLER 1: Do these staplers come in black? |
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CALLER 2: No. They come only in gray and brown. (Succinct.) |
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CALLER 1: What did you think of his report? |
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CALLER 2: Boring. Long. (Sufficient, but blunt.) |
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CALLER 1: What did you think of his report? |
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CALLER 2: It contained little of value to me personally but others found useful information in it. (Succinct.) |
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Tip 148: Challenge the expert when the expert is obnoxious. |
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Try a little splash of irreverence. Instead of holding court with the rest of the admirers, confront an obnoxious expert with the confusion created: "I'm sorry, but you lost me." "Can you explain this so that someone outside your field can understand it?" "I'm afraid I couldn't agree to something I don't understand. I need to have an explanation without the jargon, the abbreviations, and the footnotes." If such directness doesn't persuade the know-it-all to be clearer, question him or her until you get the answers you need. After enough interruptions like, "What does that mean?'' "So what does that refer to?" "So why is that number significant?" most will usually come down off their lofty perch and speak plain English. |
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Tip 149: Judge people's content, not their delivery. |
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We've all heard stories about the shabbily dressed "guest" who turns out to be the owner of the entire hotel chain. We know that physical appearances |
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