your direction and it will be impossible to ignore by the time it reaches your
lap.
If possible, deftly flip your napkin to obstruct the current and keep
talking. Try not to miss a syllable of the sentence you started before the
oncoming tide. At this point, your companion might mutter incoherent
apologies. Adroitly weave a parenthetical Its nothing into your current
phrase and continue talking. On such small sands the castles of big cat
camaraderie are built.
Technique #78
See No Bloopers, Hear No Bloopers
Cool communicators allow their friends, associates, acquaintances, and
loved ones the pleasurable myth of being above commonplace bloopers and
embarrassing biological functions. They simply dont notice their comrades
minor spills, slips, fumbles, and faux pas. They obviously ignore
raspberries and all other signs of human frailty in their fellow mortals. Big
winners never gape at anothers gaffes.
How to Win Their Af fection by Overlooking Their Bloopers 299
If people hate to be reminded of the moments when theyre not shining,
there is another event almost as disillusioning. It is when a talker is shining
and the spotlight abruptly pivots to a more urgent matter. The speaker is
forgotten in the flurry.
Top communicators put the glow back in the gloomy gabbers eyes with
the technique that follows.
How to Win Their Heart When Their Tongue Is Faltering
In ancient Japan, if you saved someones life, it was their selimposed
task to spend the rest of their life serving you. Nowadays, if you rescue
someones story, a molecule of that ancient instinct still gushes through his
or her veins.
It happens all the time. Someone in a group is telling a story and, just
before their big point, BOOM! Theres an interruption. Someone new joins
the group, a catering person with a tray of crackers and cheese comes over,
or a baby starts crying. Suddenly everyones attention turns to the new
arrival, the nibbles on the tray, or the adorable little tyke. Nobody is aware
of the interuptionexcept the speaker. They forget all about the fact that the
speaker hasnt made his or her point.
Or youre all sitting around the living room and someone is telling a
joke. Suddenly, just before their big punch line, little Johnny drops a dish or
ooja
(Ooja)
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