34 Why PowerPhrases?
say,
I don’t believe I’ve made myself clear.Take responsibility for your role in the situation and avoid
poison blame that creates resistance.
Let’s Stamp Out Poison Phrases
A dear friend and I were talking about how she likes to play
devil’s advocate. She discovered that people often hear her
observations as complaints. She wanted to change her habit, but
she was concerned that if she stopped talking the way she always
has, she would have nothing left to say! That’s a risk worth tak-
ing! When you stop saying things that don’t work, you leave
room to discover the words that do work.
Now that you know about Respect-Robbing Poison Phrases and
Vicious Venom Poison Phrases, do a search to detect them in
your words. Hit deletewhenever you find them. Don’t worry—
you will have plenty left to say. You’ll have more room in your
vocabulary for PowerPhrases.
Before we move on to learning more about speaking in Pow-
erPhrases, let’s find out just how PowerPhrase proficient you
already are. It’s time for your first pop quiz.