Image CHAPTER 33 Image

Keep the Ball in Their Court

The chief ends of conversation are to inform or to be informed, to please or to persuade.

—BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Charming people keep up their end of the conversation by passing the ball back and forth easily and naturally.

Your goal is to participate actively in the conversation while at the same time encouraging your conversational counterparts to take over as much as they want. You are like a tennis player who concentrates on keeping the ball in play. Like a tennis coach, you hit the ball so your student can ...

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