I was at a sporting event recently and overhead several fans using what my mother would call “colorful language.” It happens. It happens so often in fact that a reader of mine wrote to me about how to deal with the foul language of others and I wrote a blog offering some […]
The Fine Art of Small Talk
I Don’t Like Your Tone. Why Email Can Cause Major Confusion.
Dear Debra: My brother-in-law (my husband’s brother) is getting married in South Carolina next spring and my husband and I are very happy for him and his fiancée. He has asked that we bring our children along (ages 2 and 4), which will prove difficult considering our two year-old is VERY much a two […]
What To Say When Someone Loses a Child
I can’t imagine losing a child. I don’t want to think about it. Ever. I am not one to lump all of the human race into one big group, but I hope I speak for most when I say that the death of a child seems unimaginable. Christina Boyer experienced such a loss and writes […]
Funniest Retort In Small Talk History
I try not to eavesdrop. Really. But my business in small talk and catching tidbits from other’s conversations could be considered research for my next book. Right? Right. Sitting at Elway’s at the Ritz-Carlton on a postcard-worthy Denver evening, I couldn’t help but tune into the exchange taking place between four women. I was […]
E-Etiquette in the Classroom? Some Students are Flunking This Course.
Evan Selinger’s recent piece, E-Etiquette in the Classroom, is not necessarily groundbreaking. After all, what is deemed appropriate or inappropriate in our new reality, namely the over-teched world where we try to electronically co-exist, has been a topic of conversation for a while now; and I’m guessing it […]
Talk Tyrants and Their Victims | A Small Talk Series | The Braggart
Beware: There are small talk criminals lurking everywhere. The coffee shop, your kids’ school, the gym, the office, the dinner party. These brazen bullies strike quickly and without warning – and they don’t care who they hurt. My ongoing series, Talk Tyrants, serves two purposes: it allows you the chance […]
