The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense at Work

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… afraid that it won't help anything and will in fact make matters worse. Metaphors are a terrific way to explain how people view the world. Joel Spolsky talks about the "Command and Control" management method, and what's really happening there is the boss is modeling the environment on a military team. Understanding what's going on there goes a long way towards dealing with the situation, even if your ultimate decision, as an employee, is to go somewhere else, though in fact Elgin describes a technique called "semantic modulation" where you slowly change the metaphor that people are using to communicate. Another thing she emphasizes is body language and tone of voice. In English, a tone of adult authority is deep, resonant, relaxed, and comforting all at the same time. Women aren't traditionally expected to speak that way, and their voice…