How To Not Say The Wrong Thing

How often do you find yourself saying the wrong thing? Or saying the right thing, but at the wrong time, or even saying it with the wrong tone of voice. And it ends being totally misunderstood? And thinking you should have just kept your mouth shut.

Word are the most powerful tool in the world. They are a great equalizer; this potent tool of the mind is available to every human being with a brain. So it comes as no surprise that our lives revolve around how to wield these slippery slope mysterious tools that can get us into deep trouble.

Speaking emphatically and compassionately goes beyond the rules of etiquette. Here are a few tips to do next time you want to communicate something important:

• Listen Before You Speak. Listen to and seek to understand the person on the receiving end of your words, their situation, their wants, their thoughts, and their emotions. Listening to others is a vital component. Listening to others is a vital component of empathy. Ask yourself “Am I just waiting to talk or am I truly listening at all.” Don’t judge just listen. People don’t care that you know until they know you care.
• Be Humble. Words are a channel for communicating a truth much bigger that yourself. Don’t let you words become hijacked for for your personal gain. It’s best to keep them as transparent and age free as possible.
• Be Compassionate. Imagine yourself in that persons shoes and speak to that person the way that you’d want to be spoken to.

Words are so innocent and powerless as they are in a dictionary but so potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.

If we practice silence, humility, and compassion, our words will surely be potent for good. Though we can’t control the reactions of others. It’s possible to say the right thing, but still elicit an angry reaction.

But your responsibility is to assure that you have done everything in your power to express yourself clearly and compassionately. Words from the heart enter the heart. Even if the other person cannot absorb your words today, you have planted the seed for then to absorb tomorrow or the next day.