Читать книгу The Leader Phrase Book: 3000+ Powerful Phrases That Put You In Command - Alain Patrick - Страница 5

This book was designed with flexibility in mind. You can read it all the way through to get a general overview of the topic, or you can work on one particular situation or aspect of communication that you find the most challenging or relevant. For example, you may feel very comfortable addressing the public in challenging times, but not as relaxed handling conflicts with others. Use the Contents and the Index to help you find the area that is most applicable to your situation.

Read all the sample phrases and familiarize yourself with the ones that seem the most natural or comfortable for you. Then, practice them until they flow naturally from your mouth. When the time comes, you’ll have no trouble summoning them and using them with confidence and aplomb. If you like, you can also add your own catch phrases in the margins; after all, everyone says things slightly differently. Remember that meaning is both expressed in and influenced by tone, body language, and timing (context). Thus, a humorous phrase that would be effective and appropriate in one setting could be construed as hostile and inappropriate in another, depending on how it is said, to whom you are speaking, and so on. So even though these phrases are “ready-to-use” in a certain sense, it is not a one-size-fits-all scenario. Use good judgment and let context be your guide. This is particularly important when you are considering using humor as a rhetorical device. Humor can sometimes come across as flip or dismissive, and not everyone will “get” your style. As always, nuance is required.

The visual accompanying each situation will help you anchor each “order of magnitude” in your mind, which will serve as a valuable mnemonic device down the road. For example, in the sample on page 17, the continuum indicator goes from Conciliatory to Argumentative. All of the phrases are sorted incrementally in terms of this scale. If you want to build bridges and smooth things over, learn and use the phrases toward the top. If you want to eliminate or ignore the niceties and cut to the chase, use the phrases toward the bottom.

Finally, I thought it important to note that I am not just working within the parameters of what is considered proper usage; thus, the reader will find colloquialisms and some slang. This is the English language as many people understand and use it in America. Obviously, the vagaries of expression will be much different in, say, Canada or Australia, or even in different parts of the States. Ultimately, our language, like all others, is a living thing. The field of linguistics is therefore in constant flux, with new words and idiomatic phrases continually being created, fine-tuned, modified, and, in some cases, eventually discarded. Therefore I’m prepared for the fact that the material in this book will need updating from time to time, as the way we express ourselves inevitably evolves. Please visit my Website, www.patrickalain.com, for the most up-to-date information to add to your linguistic arsenal. I also welcome your comments and criticisms of this work to help me in that process.

When Someone Is Picking a Fight

CONCILIATORY

ARGUMENTATIVE

• Clearly I have offended you; I am so sorry!

• I certainly did not mean to offend you.

• You seem really upset – what can I do to remedy the situation?

• Let’s keep this professional.

• I would rather work this out in a more civil fashion.

• I really would rather not escalate this any further.

• You don’t have to act this way, you know.

• There is still time to salvage this situation.

• A true professional puts his/her personal issues aside.

• You need to think about someone else besides yourself.

• Other people have feelings besides you, you know.

• You seem to be on the warpath today – I’d better stay out of your way.

• If you’re looking for a fight, I’d be more than happy to oblige.

• If you are looking for trouble, you’ve found it!

• Boy, someone sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed.