CAREFUL COMMUNICATION
When Edmund Muskie was called to give his first political speech it was at a women’s luncheon. He consulted with his speech coach, and expressed a great deal of nervousness about the event. His speech coach reassured him, “You’ll do fine. You have an important message, and you will deliver it well.” Muskie told him, “Oh, it’s not the speech that I’m so nervous about, it’s the conversation at the table during lunch. What do I talk about.” The speech coach told him, “That’s easy. You simply turn to the woman on your right, ask if she’s married, ask about her children, and she will carry the conversation. If the woman on your right slows down, just do the same thing with the woman on your left!” After the luncheon, Muskie called the speech coach, and he was livid! “That advice you gave me got me in so much trouble,” he said. “What happened?” asked the speech coach. “Well, I turned to…
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