Communicate with Confidence: The Blueprint for Mastering Every Conversation

what you say is who you are the power to communicate is that you compress your entire personality into just what they hear you say because what is sent is not what is received so what you thought you said is not what they heard the question is what did you hear people will admire you more they will see you as somebody with more respect and more confidence every time when you say what you want to say fully no wonder so many people follow you hey it's your friend Mel I am so excited that you're here it's

always such an honor to spend time with you and to be together and if you're brand new welcome to the Mel Robins podcast family I also want to take a moment and just acknowledge you for taking time to listen to something that can truly help you live a better life I have been super stressed because I've got some big deadlines with my next book coming out and look I'm human I can try my best but there days where I still take my stress out on my family and when I snap at them I'm always quick

to apologize and I'm always saying I'm really sorry I didn't mean to be a jerk I didn't mean to use that tone of voice I was just so stressed well according to Jefferson Fischer who is in our Boston Studios today blaming your bad behavior on stress is a bad apology there's a better way for you to communicate and you and I are going to learn how to be a better Communicator from Jefferson Fisher let me tell you a little about him he's a trial lawyer who has millions of followers online who turn to him every

single day for his powerful and poignant communication tips Jefferson says what you say is who you are you can learn how to be more articulate confident and persuasive and you know what I love most about Jefferson is that the videos that millions of people are watching every day he's making them in the front seat of his car in between court cases and meetings with his clients his advice is simple packs a powerful punch so I tracked him down and Jefferson has put his cases on hold he's flown here from Texas to be in our Boston

Studios to tell you and me exactly what to say and when you should say nothing at all Jefferson welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast Mel Robbins thank you for having me oh my gosh I'm so thrilled that you are here where I would really love to start is Jefferson could you tell the person listening how their life might change if they take everything that you're about to share with us today to heart and they apply it in their life they will have the power to change everything they could want to about their life their relationships

and where they want to go because for the vast majority of people and especially any person who listens right now what you say is who you are the to people that's the only time they will experience who you are you can't be a kind person if you don't say kind things when you hear somebody say oh that person was nice well what you mean is they said nice things to me same thing with somebody's rude you hear something you don't like so it's the power to communicate in the tips that I give are short concise

of how they can be better and improve the next conversation that they have I freaking love I've never heard anybody describe the power of your words and the way in which you communicate that the things that you say is who you are it it's your entire it's the only way they'll experience you like they might see that kind deed vast majority of the time they're going to only hear what you say so you find that the power to communicate is that you compress your entire personality into just what they hear you say huh yeah now

I think everybody who is either like shy or a little insecure or feels maybe like they're an introvert is now like oh gosh because I keep my mouth shut can anybody learn to be a better Communicator anybody can it it doesn't matter if you say two words 20 words often you can say a lot with less than you can with more words so it's it's not about oh I'm an introvert I'm too shy I can never that's not the point more words is not better communication oh I love that too I I'm going to learn

a lot from you because I tend to be somebody who just vomits it all out and I feel like I could learn how to say less well that's not a bad thing sometimes it's not it's not bad to to say more either we'll see what you think about my communication style I'm curious because I love following you online millions of people have discovered you and love watching watching you as you sit in the front seat of your car you're squeezing this advice in in between cases that you're doing in court in between meetings with clients

how did you get started doing this and why do you think millions of people are following you and loving your advice well thank you I left a big defense firm that big law and I just I wasn't happy anymore I was a partner there and I went from having a team to just being by myself with my laptop and coffee shops and I started thinking well I need to get on social media and then that quickly turned into I feel like I'm selling myself you see all these billboards with personal injury attorneys I thought that's

not who I want to be what can I do to just be a light in the world what what's my legacy going to be and I I guide my principles on is this something my kids would be proud of so that really hits home for me of what kind of Legacy can I leave even if I'm not here and and so I decided I was going to teach people on something that I feel I know better than anybody in my world and that's how to communicate the lessons that I've learned so I got my phone

and my car and made my first how to argue like a lawyer video wow and the rest is history and the rest is history so it's been almost two years and millions and millions of followers online and why do you think people follow you the videos are short uh-huh they're very succinct mhm and they give them that light bul moment of oh I could do that what I talk about is very practical uh what I talk about is not hypothetical it's not based on some study it is in the trenches it's real conflict that we

deal with from opposing attorneys to having to argue before judges you have your own clients that may or may not agree with you so it's communicating at all different levels that's very practical and relatable and giving it to them in a way that they're like hey this guy's he's an attorney but yet he's in his car and he's talking to me like I'm a real human it's you it's not that hard well what I love about what you're saying and this is true is that most of us I believe especially when we are either uncomfortable

or we have to have a difficult conversation we focus on this idea that you have to win MH and a lot of people see lawyers and they think oh it's all about arguing and winning and you forget the fact that no you actually have have to navigate judges and juries and Court officers and clerks and other attorneys that you're going to see and the ability to have people listen is just as important what do you think most of us get wrong about how we communicate that arguments are something to win not something to unravel I

teach that arguments are are not in the conversation and what gets worse is when you pull pull your way and I pull my way versus looking at it and saying help me with the knot how can we unravel this how can we smooth it out never win an argument if somebody's telling you or teaching you or you read some book on how to win every argument they're just selling you something okay then let me give you an example you ready I'm ready last night we go out to dinner it is my mother-in-law's 87th birthday happy

birthday yes happy birthday to Judy and so we're out with the family and I of course have a conversation that happened at the table I said something that I immediately wanted to take back my husband and I are now leaving we've all been there right you have stuck foot in mouth your partner is now angry with you we get into the car I was not driving somebody else was driving so we hop into the Uber and Chris turns to me he's like why did you have to say that yeah and so can you explain in

this situation that I think we can all relate to where now you you are about to have an argument with somebody and you are describing that arguments are like a notot so what do I do in this situation where I'm about to go into fullon defend me mode how do I get out of this mess yeah well sometimes it just takes a big shovel but anytime there's miscommunication it is because what is sent is not what is received so what you thought you said is not what they heard m and often you're just on different

frequencies if I were to turn my radio to '90s Country yes which I love and you turned it on I don't know let's say 2000s R&B okay you'd be going this sounds great I'm like uh no this sounds great and we're still rocking to our own sounds and we're not on the same channel and so when you're in that back seat and you're talking with Chris and he's going why' you say that the question is what did you hear oh and so it's that understanding of what did you hear when I said that because I

know what I meant what did you hear and so it's this pushing of when it's only going how you say it in your head nobody else is hearing that what did you hear right that's amazing because the second he said why did you say that I felt attacked of course and as I sit here in the like bright daylight right and I've got distance from it I don't actually think I put my foot in my mouth MH I know what my intention was you know yes yeah and so the next time you're in an argument

with somebody and that not starts to build and you can feel yourself yanking on it because you go into a mode of Defending yourself if somebody says to you why did you say that or they attack you on something your response is what did you hear exactly wow well and to your defense to ask somebody why you said that that why word puts everybody on the defense because it sounds like you're attacking you're undermining their credibility okay so let's reverse the rules here let's say my husband Chris says something really stupid or like you know

that I'm like why would he say something like that if I'm now the one and in the car with him mhm and he has said something at a party or like around family that I just wanted to reach out and choke them obviously I wouldn't but what would you say instead of why would you say that I would use the word what instead of starting with why which puts you on the defensive because when you say why the first thing you want to say is because I said so that's why right uh that autonomy that

you feel but instead it's the the what what was going through your head when that happened or what made you say this it's that Curiosity of I'm just curious of of how you got there instead of the pushing the why why'd you do this why'd you do it that way I love that because you're right one is judgment and the other is curiosity right one is poking and the other is leaning in it's the whole student versus uh teacher mentality instead of feeling like you're having a push you're having something to to learn about it

no wonder so many people follow you what what do you what is the secret to getting better to talking to people it's not really a secret as much it is a process of wanting to express yourself in a way of saying what you mean more because often you want to say the thing but you're hesitant about it you're not sure exactly how you want to to put it across so you feel like you need to kind of dance around it okay and often you just need to jump right in that sounds scary for a lot

of people it is scary but I mean you you cold plunge uh you know so it's it's worse when you go inch by inch so can you give us an example especially as you're listening to Jefferson if you have a conversation or there's something that you wish you could communicate more effectively how do you do it let's put it in terms of a difficult conversation for them so whoever's listening I want you to imagine you were about to walk into somebody's office and there's going to be that hard conversation in the room and let's just

say it's a topic of something that is it's bad news put your mind wherever it is it is you walk in and somebody goes so uh so how are you how are you lately you've been good pickle ball games all right well that's that's good well um your family's good well listen uh hey uh I I have something that we've been talking about and listen I I know it's not that big of a deal and I I want you to understand you're making me panic I'm listening to you Jefferson ex because it's that fear of

the unknown metal versus let's say the different scenario you come in say thank you for meeting with me well I have bad news you deliver that bad news versus this isn't going to be a fun conversation you say that this isn't going to be fun for us to talk about this isn't my favorite conversation I have you prepare them for it often you're afraid to disappoint people and what that really is is you don't believe that they have enough emotional resiliency to handle it so you need to to Baby them to tiptoe into the water

instead of Dipping right in people will admire you more they will see you as somebody with more respect and more confidence every time when you say what you want to say fully wow do you do that with your kids too as much as I can but of course I'm in a very loving way gotcha yeah I mean it makes sense because I think a lot of the advices and I will admit I think I've even given this advice in the past is like okay well make a sandwich got to say something positive and then you

stick in the meat which is the negative part and people see see it coming yeah I don't like the sandwich okay you just go right for the meat well you can put in some bread but I feel like it's disingenuous to make them have to go what do you mean what are you saying what do you you kind of have to just sit there and wait and it's painful rather than going right into it I there's still a place to be kind there's still a place to be very direct and and how you talk to

your kids depends on your kids's age how I speak to my four and six-year-old is different how my father spoke to me when I was 16 when I would come to him and complain and he and he'd go you don't have to like it you just need to understand it right and it's that whole different mentality of I can deliver all the truth and still be kind I want to pull that thread for a minute because one of the reasons why we do not communicate directly with people is because we believe that if somebody can't

handle the truth or if they're going to have a an emotional reaction or if they're going to feel like upset or disappointed in themselves that somehow it's kinder to avoid it or soft pedal it or not be as direct and what you teach in a very effective way is that it's actually one of the cruestv truth to lie to their face and treat them one way but then go behind closed doors and actually complain about what they're doing and not tell them wholeheartedly and that somewhere along the line we have confused kindness with actually lying

to people and that's actually cruel in one of the worst ways especially for people that you love whenever you skirt around the truth whenever you come at a conversation in a very indirect way you are saying to them I don't believe you're emotionally strong enough to handle this versus me saying well I'm telling you this because I know you can handle it now you strengthen them and often what you say you you you're giving them the the armor to handle it you're giving them the backpack for the trip that they're about to be on o

I love that and you know what else I loved is I love that thing you added there so you I want to make sure that as you're listening you are sticking these takeaways into that backpack that Jefferson just alluded to and so you said first of all that you just go right in like just jump right into the deep end of the pool don't be tap dancing around the topic And Delay getting to it this is not going to be an easy conversation but then you have just added this thing that I loved which is

but I'm telling you this because I know you can handle it and I want you to hear the truth or I want want you to know how I feel about this or I you don't have to like it but you need to know this and you just lifted me up a little bit when you said I'm telling you this because I think you can handle it and that makes me go yeah I think I can too so lay it on me even though it's kind of suck yeah exactly you have to in many ways what

you say to them is going to give them the value that you want them to hold so I'm telling you this because I know you believe in transparency I'm coming to you with this and I know it's not to talk about you're somebody who can handle it I know you have big shoulders you you tell them the quality that you want them to have and they and they will rise up to it they'll stand up straight into it oh I love that you tell someone the qualities that you want them to have and people rise

up into it every time when you say something to them for example let's say Mel I know that you're somebody that takes value in people's words or that you value patience they go oh yeah and in their mind they're thinking yeah oh yeah I'm patient yeah hey Greg I'm telling you this because I know you you have an open mind all of a sudden Greg's like I do have an open mind yes I do and so it is you you you tweak the you can do that in same thing when you walk into a room

so if you don't feel comfortable saying it directly about the person you can say what this room is what do you mean what does that mean you walk and say I want to make sure that this room is one that I can be entirely truthful in so where would you you use that like at work yeah let's say you're in somebody's office okay it doesn't have to be like the room of truth I'm just saying like wherever you are you say it to yourself or you say that say that out loud I want to make

sure that this is a place of honesty I want to make sure that I'm speaking in a place that's free to say what I need to say are we good with that and they go yeah I love this because you know in then lawyer speak You're basically leading a witness oh yeah but it works like a charm and I've never really thought about that as a strategy to tell people how I want you to react to something and you add that on to what I call a a frame in the in the conversation so you

you tell somebody you go a step further and that is you tell them how you want the conversation to end okay so tell me this so let's say uh you made a comment at dinner yes last night okay yes okay so and and it's this concept of you tell them what you want to talk about you tell them how you want the feel after you end the conversation and you get their agreement to it you'd step into it and say i' like to talk to you about a comment you made last night at dinner and

I want to walk away from that conversation knowing that this isn't a topic you're going to bring up again in front of other people that sound good that that sounds like I'm in trouble je Jefferson so now I'm Lally going I'm not going to bring it up ever again but but you get what I mean or or let's say um a comment that you made at a meeting last week and I want to make sure that you and and I are on the same wavelength the next meeting that we have does that work and they

go that works and now you have a frame and now you know exactly what the conversation is about and what it's not about because if you talk about everything then you you really talk about nothing you've had those meetings where all right everybody we got a we got a lot to do today we have a lot to talk about and you leave those meetings feeling like you really like every meeting you didn't talk about anything yes that that's every meeting that I lead so now I'm going to use your Technique um question for how do

you talk to somebody that you don't like nobody wants to feel fake but what do you do well if you're in a position where you have to talk to somebody you don't like yes that does not give you any reason to be less likable it's that mentality of you know don't argue with a fool because onlookers won't know the difference um forgot who said that quote but it's that that idea of if you're talking to somebody you don't like well you're going to talk to them as if you do how do you do that you

just be who you are understand that you're not trying to convince the other person to like you or convince yourself to like the other person you're convincing the people around you because they're watching you they're watching how you talk to somebody they're watching how you treat other people and if you need to just just go neutral just just stick with basic facts instead of trying to get cute and make these off-hand comments and roll your eyes and cross your arm arms instead just be very neutral in the conversation they ask you what time it is

instead of going well you know uh if you were here or are you so you don't got to watch okay uh instead of doing that you just tell them the time be very quick with it get in get out you don't need to have more conversation than you need to but you never want to give somebody a reason especially somebody who's not in the conversation not to like you how do you handle somebody that kind of belittles you they're like picking on your weight or their constantly like are you still single like you know like

you know like you know how people like especially people that you're close with have a way of belittling you right what do you do in those situations when somebody's belittling you or giving you a insult that hurtful comment you make them say it again because what they're hoping to do in that belittling comment is get that reaction out of you and instead you find a way to take all the fun out of it so when you ask them to repeat what they said you're not giving them that hit of dopamine that they were expecting from

your reaction they're not getting that that response time from you instead you're delaying that gratification for them then it's just not worth it then it's just not fun and so when you ask them to repeat it to say I need you to say that again we need to role play this sure um I'm trying to think of a scenario you just said right there um you're still single I need you to repeat that yeah you so exactly I'm not going to want to say that again because now that Spotlight is on me and then also

what you lead up with that is you ask questions of intent for example did you say that to hurt me and now it's this mirror that they feel like why did I say that oh okay and then they start to backtrack then you don't have to say anything so if uh somebody says to you uh oh so you're still single I need you to say that again most likely they're not going to say that again but if they do then you can even repeat what they said I'm still single that's what you ask me and

all of a sudden they realized this isn't fun they're not going to ask that kind of thing again wow or you just asked that question of did you say that to embarrass me did you say that to offend me oh no no no no I didn't say that what I meant was and all of a sudden they're backing away because they know you're going to stand your ground wow this is like very eye openening because I can see both situations where I need to use it and I can see situations where I probably say things

and I'm thinking particularly to my adult kids MH that probably feels belittling I can think about like our daughter out in Los Angeles and every time I see her she's wearing a piece of clothing that I don't recognize and so I think to myself and often times I will say is that new and I'm thinking in my mind where where do you get the money for this you know like that kind of thing and then she's like yeah I thrifted it and there's this little tiff thing but if she were to say to me yeah

if if if she were to ask you are you trying to embarrass me like exactly are are you trying to insinuate something uh are you trying to say something that you're not wanting to tell me cuz you're right the question is what I'm saying on the surface but what I'm actually accusing her of is not being responsible with her money it's that mirror yes yeah yes and so it takes away the power of their insult wow when you can take all the fun out of it you take all the oxygen out of their room and

they realize that they're not going to be able to control you with that reaction that they were hoping to get from you how do you respond to disrespect a lot of Silence so often if you just wait 10 seconds you're going to add distance between what they said and how you're going to respond because what they're wanting when somebody's disrespectful is same way with belittling they're saying this to get something out of you because in that moment they're feeling something whether it's a fear or an insecurity whatever it is you're not going to deliver on

that same plane that they are you're not going to be on that same level so if somebody says something disrespectful you give enough silence to make sure that it's a little awkward and then you're going to say something to the effect of that's below my standard for a response and then all of a sudden they feel like the the dynamic has been flipped something as simple as that all of a sudden you're now making it clear that what you just said was beneath me and I don't respond to things that are beneath me in that

way and so now you're taking control of it now you're leaning into it what they thought was meant as a disrespect they're now understanding that they're in the wrong place I was with somebody yesterday who had just visited their mother and I said to her you know like how did it go and she said well it was fine but it's my mother and the thing that drives me crazy is she is extremely disrespectful to anybody that is waiting on us at a restaurant like so much so that the owner came over and said something to

her is there a way to respond when someone else is throwing a fit or is being disrespectful is there something that you could say to somebody in that situation depends how your relationship is with that person I would advise that whoever they're disrespecting you don't join in it and you make it clear that that is not your behavior so you're going to be person that is kind to this person I've had it before my grandfather came with me to Walmart this terrible time uh and he was he was in a bad mood and he was

crot to everybody we talk to but I was the one that was thank you so much for helping us I appreciate it thank you so much being overly hey I understand thank you and then you have that conversation I had to have that conversation with my grandfather and how did you do that I had to put a boundary uh a very firm boundary of if this is the way you're going to talk to people I can't come with you if you don't change the tone of what you're talking to people Papa I can't I can't

I can't come and so it very was uh what what what am I saying you're not being respectful to people yes I am I would not be telling you this if you had been respectful to people it's the people you love often you have to be their biggest mirror of protecting them also for how other people see them and so I love my grandfather I want other people to love him and that means I also have to make sure that I need to prepare him in a love way of being very direct this is how

you're talking to people has he changed he has wow you also just don't go to Walmart so go it's just saying I feel instead of I think it is I feel if that is a feeling that you actually have in other words um separating the person from the problem for example let's say you need to criticize a proposal that somebody had or a presentation okay instead of using the word you with that your presentation that's going to get them defensive instead make it a third person The Proposal the presentation the presentation could benefit from a

few changes instead of your proposal wasn't that great so you find ways of objectifying the you're separating the person from the problem itself so that's a way of expressing how you feel about a certain thing can I stop you right there of course because I immediately see an application as a parent or as a roommate where as a parent personally I will throw myself under the bus here I have never done that your room is a mess your stuff is everywhere it's accusation accusation accusation so how would you use this yeah technique to be more

effective at communicating when you're talking to kids or you're talking to somebody that you live with and you want to use this strategy of removing the kind of wrong right from the thing that you want them to do can I give the listeners a thought absolutely you can do whatever you want so let's say well you and I are at a table right now out and let's say you and I are disagreeing about something okay and in the middle of the room let's just put this as the problem okay this is the problem this is

how I see the problem and you're going to argue this is how you see the problem right great now the issue between us is not each other it's the problem but in the real conversation it's hard to get out of that instead it's me pulling my chair and saying Mel come over here come sit next to me let's talk about this problem what are we going to do about this so instead of your room's not clean I see the room is still isn't clean what should we do about it it's that idea of trying to

get them to let's look at the problem together uh how do you find ways to that that's what I mean by separating the person from the problem instead of getting on to you and saying now you're lazy you don't understand you're so stupid you're such an idiot instead of that the problem is the problem on the table come sit next to me and let's talk about the problem and now instead of opponents were teammates your kids are screwed I mean I you are I I had this whole visual as you were saying this of me

like frustrated yelling or stressed or exacerbated about like the pile of laundry or the state of the room or whatever it is and then making a fuss about the problem which only puts somebody on the defensive every time versus like imagine if you're standing in front of the kitchen sink with your family or you're standing in front of the living room with your roommate right and you're like this room's pretty messy mhm what should we do about it exactly completely different approach without a doubt and it's this idea of having kind of a need check

of saying let's take a time out I want to make sure that I have time with y'all to do ex activities we also have a need to do the dishes I need help with that or I have a need for your room to be clean I have a need for this house to be clean what's your need how can we help with that so when you use the word help people love to be helpful mhm this ability to instead of just attacking them that you don't understand you don't get it you're lazy or you don't

care those are all words I just cut for no reason when your problem is not them the problem is the issue wow you could use this with anything anything you could use this if if somebody's playing too much video games you could use this if somebody's not taking care of themselves the problem isn't the person it's the issue that is bothering you and this need that you have to see somebody either doing better or to see the house picked up or to see like people helping out that's freaking genius I'm a little concerned because given

that I'm a talker it's easy for me to take this advice and just go blah blah like I can apply it immediately because I'm not uncomfortable talking to other people and I haven't had social anxiety since law school but there are a ton of people that listen who do and I can think of a particular friend of mine who is so amazing and the second she's around other people she just kind of clams up do you have any specific strategies or advice for somebody who would like to be better about just speaking and feeling more

confident about it or feeling like I can display Authority a certain way if there are certain phrases or strategies like what how do you coach people and becoming more comfortable in that regard I coach people the same way I coach my legal clients okay and I walk them through a series of steps because you know as well as I do when we send somebody out to be cross-examined we're giving them up to the Wolves right in many ways I mean their credibility you have somebody who wants to hurt their credibility there's somebody who wants to

prove them wrong call them a liar so how do you you equip them with the armor to to take that on some of the basics of what I talk about is I want them to feel that they can say things very succinctly meaning often people who are nervous to talk have that social anxiety they say too much then they felt like they didn't say anything at all afterwards and that just means they're watering down what they're saying okay let's put this in a scenario okay so sorry to PA email uh but I have this well

I mean it's not really this thing but it's okay so essentially what I what I really want to say is this isn't really something I'm too too comfortable with you know but I mean that is what you see the 99% of yes the 1% says takes a breath let their breath be the first word that they say and says this is not something I'm comfortable with period you see how different it is the same thing same bull I mean it's the same objective one is water down the other is serve to you straight and so

you find ways to eliminate the water from uh your drink so to speak you got to get rid of all the ice cubes the over apologizing the um putting your words down before you even get them out that's where you experience real growth and real change in your sentences I want to make sure that as you were listening to Jefferson you actually heard that because the single most important thing that you said was taking a breath is the first word exactly and so if you're somebody that just opens your mouth and all kinds of stuff

starts coming out and then you start to of course feel more anxious because you've lost control of what you're saying and then that just makes you keep going and then you get flustered and then your face turns red and then now you're like I'm never talking again and I didn't even say what I meant to say yeah your breath is the first word and then you're coaching us to really think about what do you actually want to say and so for somebody that has a hard time in a social setting and you are walking into

a party you don't know a lot of people you're walking into a networking meeting you don't know a lot of people and you want to prepare yourself to be able to say something is there an opening line or a way that you recommend that people start to just practice the art of just talking to other people because a lot of people find it very challenging to just strike up a conversation with someone yeah that that is difficult I would say that just focus on one person okay even though it's a room of Plenty you can

be in a room and feel like you talk to everybody but you just scratch the surface trade that for a real conversation with just one person so there's plenty of times where you've left a meeting or you've left an event you go man I really like this person who I got to spend a quality six minutes with Y versus just a bunch of pleasantries of oh hey how you doing how as your kids we should get together and you never get together right um so I would tell them one quantity does not equal quality when

it comes to networking or any big rooms like that it's it's not how it should work just focus on one person two if you want to break the ice about something you can always start with something of just how they're doing in their life what they're excited about what they're looking forward to okay when you ask the just how are you people talk about the past they rarely talk about the future the future is a lot more exciting because then you can go about something people typically tend to speak ill of what's been going on

they're bad on it they're more negative on it they're typically more positive about the future oh that's a great tip so you take a breath and then you ask somebody so what are you excited about or why are you here what what would you say if you were walking into a networking meeting I would say what are you most excited about today something as simple as that wow well I'm most excited about talking to you Jefferson yeah same here Jefferson one of my favorite videos of yours is where you give advice about answering the question

how are you I mean you hear it every day it's the first thing we tend to ask anybody you can handle that question a lot better if instead of answering that question talking about the past in other words typically people like to say I'm good I'm fine and it's been okay today or the Another Day in Paradise kind of thing that you hear I live in the dream uh is to talk about what you're excited about instead of being backward looking look forward you tell them what you're looking forward to I'm looking forward to see

my kids today I'm excited about the game on Friday if you talk about the future it's always a lot more exciting and also don't be afraid to be truthful so if somebody's asking you how you are instead of just saying I'm actually doing really bad it's okay to say I'm just feeling a little overcast today you put it in terms of the weather oh it's it's uh it's a lot easier for people that you don't have to worry about the little details you don't have to worry about the little complexities of do I need to

explain to them everything that's happening that day just put it in terms of the weather it's kind of an overcast day for me it's a sunny day bad thunderstorms for me today find different ways to talk about the weather and instantly they know how you're doing that's really cool I'm realizing that I'm a massive oversharer so when somebody asks me how are you I go into a diet tribe of information that they don't need well it's not that they don't need it say oversharing can be a hindrance in the long term it often stems from

what I've seen with clients is this need to feel believed in other words uh you feel like they're not buying all what you're saying so you need to say more so that they know how knowledgeable you are you know how much you know but the weird thing about that is typically the more you say something the less it appears you know about it so the more words it takes to tell the truth the more it sounds like a lie and so you have to be careful about oversharing and what I like to tell my clients

is instead of being a waterfall being be a well you know be the place that they can draw information from rather than feeling like you have to overwhelm them and put them on the life raft Jefferson you just changed my life oh good cuz I am an avalanche and a waterfall yeah and I love this idea that you could be a well and keep it closer to the chest and people can dip in and get the information exactly that you want to give them a bucket full instead of just barfing all the information out that's

another way to put it can you give us advice on how you stand up for yourself so one is like we talked about let your breath be the first word that you say because what that does is tell people that you heard them and that you're acknowledging there's a difference between if you just ask me a question you say hey how are you doing Jefferson I'm go good good real good real good I didn't really listen versus if you ask me that question again how you doing Jefferson and I said I'm good I'm real good

now it feels like you've stepped into it often when it comes to standing your ground it is just slowing down your words not feeling like you have to rush anything nobody can make you say anything that you don't want to say if you just find ways to give it a beat and figure it out you're going to be a whole lot better off too often people wait till they're talking to figure out what they want to say oh my God that's me they take off it's like going to the airport and just flying and getting

on the plane you go where are you Landing I have no idea I'm just I just got on the plane I don't know you get in the car and they're like where where you going who knows I'm just going I say all that to say like they finally kind of they just go a circles on their plane and they're waiting you got to help people land the runway often I feel like that is me at work and in life but I'm one of these people that needs to talk it out and where I start is

never where I land and I'm realizing at as I'm listening to you that there's a lot of pre-work that I could do before I walk into a meeting or before I just start blabbing with my family yeah and it would be way more effective and helpful for people if I actually knew where I was going before I opened my mouth it always helps to have a goal in the conversation it helps to have conversational values it helps to have conversational goals so talk to me about that what do what does that mean to have a

conversational goal and a convers ational value if you go back to the original thing that you teach us which is you get to choose what kind of person you are based on the things that you say and how you say them conversational goals is simply where you want to end the conversation you want to make sure you understand what this person meant by this comment that's your goal often we start talking and then we lose track of where we're going because we're listening to respond we're not listening to understand often when you go to trial

and you're listening to a witness in their direct examination where bad attorneys go wrong is they just start planning out their next question regardless of what the witness says versus waiting to hear that whole answer and adapting to it so conversational goals is just simply where you're headed it's the destination of where you're going conversational values are how you feel authentic to yourself to get there so I have conversational values that I use in every conversation that I have to make sure that no matter what happens in the conversation I can't control anything else but

myself it's my values that drive my response for example one of my key conversational values is if I can't be a bridge be a lighthouse in other words if we can't meet in the middle if we can't connect in some way I'm still going to be a lighthouse for them I'm still going to be a source of light that if they need to come back they know where I'm at I have another one that I use and that is if there's room for kindness I will use it I get that from my mama I come

to her with a complaint and she'd say well were you kind I'd say well Mom you you don't understand this person this person this person she go well I still think you should be kind it's like you know what if there's always room for kindness if there's any room at all that's a chance to use it the last one I use is uh tell them who I am without telling them my name so that's that idea of letting my words inform them of who I am without anything of my identification or my status or you

where I am is it the value of how I make people feel in my words so how do you apply those values I'm having a conversation with opposing attorney he says something that he you know how some of them do they tell you how great their case is right I mean every case they have is full of sunshine no bruises so you have that chance to say well could I just give them a piece of my mind and tell them how bad their case is and how I'm going to Railroad over them or is there

any room for kindness in this conversation and if there is any room at all then I'm G to use it that gives me the chance to say you know what Howard I gotta tell you you're great at your job and you really care about your clients I can tell I can really tell you care about your clients and he goes oh yeah yeah you know I do I really do and I feel great about that and all of a sudden he goes you know what in that rule 11 you want it that's I think we

can agree to that that's no problem if I can inject my values I don't have to worry about what to say I don't have to worry about some Zinger I to to to send if there's room for kindness I'll use it so you find ways to use value to control the conversation well you never regret not being kind it's that's a great one yeah and I always regret when I'm not yeah and so one of the huge takeaways that I have is that a lot of us don't stop and think about what the intention is

of a conversation and how we want to be perceived and what we want to demonstrate about ourselves by being in it and it's everywhere from how you walk into a meeting if you think about what you want to get out of it or how you want to be perceived then that actually dictates how you're going to show up it's like you can use this in absolutely any area of your life and I think most of us are just sort of going through the day and surviving and there's a completely different way to think about the

way that you communicate I 100% agree in that if you look at where you are in life from your romantic relationships to where you are at work there is a large percentage of that that is solely based upon what you said to that person that just meant there are thoughts that came from your brain that to your mouth that you spoke out loud that have influenced where you are you said something to that person and they liked it and now they want to date you and they said something you liked and there it is they

you you met over coffee at you know the airport or where you are at work at that promotion that you want you have ways of just simply using the power of your words to influence everything and it can change even if you said things in the past that you regret or things you wish you would have said better you can change everything about your life by what you say next are there a couple steps that somebody could take to just walk themselves through the kind of person that they want to be through their words because

I feel like there's this step Jefferson that we don't really take with intention of getting clear that I want to be this kind of person and it's one thing to kind of use kind words it's a whole another thing to have a Reckoning with yourself where you say this is an area of my life that I want to take control of and I can take control of it are there particular questions that somebody could ask themselves that help them get to what their values might be in terms of how they want to change the way

they communicate what they want the world to think about them like I often think when I go into a meeting what do I want people to say when I leave and it's a trick that I learned when I was a public defender working for legal aid which is what do I want the jury to say the second that they get out of this courtroom and they get into that meeting with one another what do I want them to say and I use that now before I go into a meeting what do I want them to

think about me and then I align the way that I show up based on the impact that I want to create in that room I love that I do I'm very similar that's the what energy am I bring into the room if everybody's at a table and you walk in and you're coming in what do you want the feeling to be oh this person's here what's that energy that you're bringing because every one of us has a different energy that affects the room that they're in is it oh no somebody's here or oh great somebody's

here or is it the oh man somebody's here everyone's a little bit different the biggest tool that somebody can use is ask the question to themselves and also to the person that loves them the most more than anybody who do my words say that I am who do my words say that I am and that is a great question to ask yourself or you ask somebody else who do my words say that I am because often what you say is doesn't match exactly with who you want to be I would encourage somebody to ask uh

a friend a spouse what the way that I speak what kind of energy does that give does that give anxiety do I Rush my words do I speak too fast do I speak too slow H how do you want to tweak the room to understand how you want to communicate with that next person so I would encourage in terms of action steps it's the question that you need to answer of yourself of who do you want to be with your words then what words are you going to use I think what you have to say

is awesome of think long term of just kind of call your shot I want to leave that room feeling like I am somebody who's confident right I think it's such an important point because you do have so much power over your reputation M you do have power over the impact that you make with other people and taking a beat before you walk in the room or you walk in the meeting or you walk into the party or you walk up to the sidelines at your kids soccer game to really remind yourself what kind of person

do I want to be and now let me align what I say and the energy that I bring to represent that that's the crazy part about it it's also the most simple part about it and that is it is simply within your control when you walk away from an interaction from somebody and you go I really like that person what was it what was it that you liked they said something nice about me they uh they smiled they didn't criticize other people it is all has to do with your communication their experience of you is

going to be almost entirely the words that you use right in front of them and how they made that person feel how you made that person feel right then and there love this what what are your best tips to be more effective at communicating at work tip number one would be have something to learn not something to prove so anytime you're in an argument and it's not just work really anything when you're in a conversation with somebody have something to learn from them rather than something to prove even if you want to prove yourself I

want to prove who I am that doesn't come from you pushing your own own agenda it comes from you being curious about other people and so if you want to be known as somebody who's respectful in the workplace or somebody who's kind you use kind words if you want to known somebody's respectful you use respectful words so that means if you talk about somebody and gossip and do something negative that's what people are going to associate you with because it goes even wider than that then if other people associate with you that bad person well

then you people are going to think differently about them so it's these Circles of communication of what you said oh you're a friends with so and so you friends with so and so that are going to influence that if you want to be more respected at work use words that show more Authority you can use words like Direction I'd like to set the direction of this conversation I don't like the direction of where this is going all of a sudden it sounds like you're captain of the ship yeah so you're just using the word Direction

so you find ways that can influence who you want to be for good what's one change somebody can make today to communicate more effectively with their family when you need to have this hard conversation at all times show them that you love them that you care and you do that with the words meaning you tell them that I'm telling you this because I love you often I know people and you know people that they had really hard childhoods and they just never heard that from a parent that I'm proud of you that I love you

so you find ways to inject that into the conversation I'm talking to you right now cuz I want us to learn from in this conversation or I'm learning too when you're having that you need to deescalate an argument with a spouse or a kid hey I'm learning too this is my first time to be a parent this is your first time to be a kid I'm learning too don't be afraid to apologize don't be afraid to own that I think from a position of strength you can really really own that apology when you need to

I am stealing that I often say I'm doing the best I can but I like I'm learning to yeah that's a beautiful thing it's good for spouses too you I mean you can be dating forever but soon as you get married and live together I mean it's it's a whole new world it is I once I just recently heard somebody say that uh second marriages are amazing particularly if it's with the same person and this idea that any moment you can change your relationship because you can change yourself and how you communicate and that's the

only thing you can't control I can't control the other person you can only control how you respond to it I am going to steal everything that you just taught me and I'm so excited that you get to listen and be here and learn from Jefferson too we're going to be leaving here going Direction kindness and I got to tell you this what are your parting words to anybody who's listening my parting words to you are this you have a power that you haven't tapped into yet and that is just the power of your words if

you want to be seen as somebody who strong strong you use stronger words you want to be somebody who has seemed to be more decisive somebody who stands up for themselves it is not a course you have to take it is not a book you have to read it is simply how you need to change the next word that comes out of your mouth it is something that can be learned at any point it doesn't matter how young you are to how old you are what you say next has the power to change anything and

if you use it for good and you use it for light you're always going to go right oh my God Jefferson I didn't mean for that to rhyme but I love I'm like love you I I that sounds like creepy but you are a huge light thank you thank you and my parting words to you I hope you take absolutely everything that Jefferson just shared with us and you use it you use it to create better relationships to speak with authority to have your words reflect the kind of person that you really want to be

and in case no one else tells you this I wanted to be sure to tell you I love you and I believe in you and I believe in your ability to create a better life and as Jefferson just taught you it's all in the power of your words you get to say how cool is that I'll see you in the next episode and I want to thank you for being here on YouTube and making it all the way to the end of this incredible episode and if you made it this far do me a favor

please click here I know that you're the kind of person that wants to support people that want to help you so that's one way that you could do it just click subscribe we good awesome because it's the one way that I know that you're actually enjoying the content that we're creating for you and if you loved watching this episode with Jefferson fiser on how you can communicate better you're really going to love this next episode this one is with Vanessa van Edwards and you're going to learn all about body language and how you can use

it to be more confident I cannot wait to to see you there