ANECDOTE
NPR’s Karl Haas, host of Adventures in Good Music, was invited to come to Hawaii’s Academy of the Arts.
I’d been listening to him – and his marvelously resonant, deep bass voice – for years and couldn’t wait to meet my radio hero in person.
The night of his concert, the auditorium was packed. The emcee gave an incredible introduction… and out walked Karl Haas.
The audience gasped out loud. Much to our surprise, he was about 5 feet tall.
He could have gotten irritated as he’d probably experienced this reaction hundreds of times before.
Instead, he leaned toward the audience and, with a twinkle in his eye, said, “I didn’t know what YOU looked like either.“
Bada boom. We all liked and respected him even more because he chose to respond graciously and with humor rather than get hot under the collar.
Instead of getting frustrated or firing back, you might want to use this Talking on Eggshells tip to defuse what’s happening with humor.
ACTION
How about you? Have you been teased, trolled, or tempted to fire back?
Next time, how can you use humor to defuse the situation?
P.S. Want more ways to handle sensitive situations with grace, diplomacy, even humor? Get Talking on Eggshells on Audible for 60% off for a limited time only.