Page 139 - Effective Communication Skills Mastery Bible 4 Books in 1 Boxset by Tuhovsky, Ian

monologue, preferably at the very beginning of it: “Oh yes, I

love this story!” This strategy requires you to say it with a

smile and joy in your eyes, as if you really enjoy what you are

going to hear. It will knock your critic off guard. It is very

useful when you are in a bigger group (at least a few people),

because then you can turn to others by saying, “Listen to this
carefully; it is really great!” It often applies lots of pressure on

your critics and gets them off track.

8. “Speaking of shoelaces…” If your interlocutor started

talking about something you don’t want to mention or discuss,
you can suddenly and surprisingly change the subject to

something entirely different. Change it to one that has

something to do with the issue this person wanted to bring up,

however, lead the conversation in a completely different

direction. Imagine that someone says to you, “Your shoes do
not fit the trousers you are wearing,” and you say, “Speaking

about shoelaces, have you heard of the world’s longest

shoelace, according to the Guinness Records book?” Or less

neutral: “Speaking of shoes, do you think that if I lubricated

your bald head with a black shoe polish, it would shine bright

like a diamond?”

9. Amuse yourself and others. Remember to use clever

retorts in order to lower the tension, to make yourself and

others laugh or simply to improve the atmosphere. It is not

worth doing it in an impolite or rude manner as it will just

generate unnecessary conflicts which can then escalate into
something worse. Whenever there is risk that your words will

ignite an argument, then the best retort is usually just silence

or ignoring the other person. The real master of the sharp

retort is a person who knows when to stop the discussion, even