4 tips for more repartee!
Ready-made people always seem witty, alert and creative. They convince with originality and ingenuity, wit and acumen. Life is easy for them, no annoyance seems to disturb them. But how do you get so quick-witted? Here are the four secrets of quick-witted masters!
1. Enlarge vocabulary
The more words you know for the same thing, the faster your reaction time will be to find the perfect counter! Creating synonyms Associations and associations help you to be more quick-witted.
So: Nothing like the synonym dictionary! Who quickly thinks of the word "domicile" instead of "home" detracts? at least verbally? more impression among visitors in his tiny one-bedroom apartment.
Also to know similar words with other meanings helps with repartee. How about this joke proves: "Mr. Ober, the coffee was cold." ? "Good that you tell me that, the iced coffee costs more!"
2. Make up stories
Tip two is based on new associations: Learn to combine independent things with each other. The easier it is for you to associate things, the easier it will be for you to come up with surprising, funny answers (and nothing more than that makes you quick wit!).
How can you practice these new thinking processes? Actually, it's easy: Choose five completely different words. Then you can try to tell a coherent short story. This is how your brain learns to be more complex and think ahead.
Example: Make a short story with the words
- phone
- sky
- fear
- light
- cleanliness
Example solution:
When the phone rang, I was just looking out of the window at the sky. Suddenly I was scared, because just then the light went out in my room. Shortly thereafter, the haunt was over, the light went back on and I was blinded by the cleanliness of my freshly cleaned windows.
3. interpret conversations correctly
We communicate on (at least) two levels: the factual and the personal. Sometimes it is the pure information, sometimes it is the feelings that play the bigger role in a dialogue.
What we need to learn is to distinguish factual criticism from hidden attacks on one's own person. Here, the question always helps: Was this now a factual, constructive criticism of my work or a personal, levelless attack?
If it was constructive, one should also remain constructive with the answer. If it was meant in person, you should bring the other person back to the factual level ("It would be appropriate for you to stick to the matter at stake now.").
Tip: You should rather avoid (hidden) insults and not get down to the level of your opponent. This takes nasty attackers out of the sails.
4. Act right
Anyone who is already a Master of Mastery can, of course, always try to outdo the opponent with verbal accuracy. Those who are not yet confident can resort to one of the following reaction options:
- Yes-But-tactics: Anyone who talks to a conversation partner who only lets his own opinion apply should first make the opponent's voice soft, before giving him a counter-attack. First agree, then contradict, is the motto. This is how the conversation partner feels heard and understood and becomes more open to your point of view.
- Ask tactics: If the interviewee begins to generalize things, one can well ask him to become more concrete. "How exactly do you mean that?", "Can you give an example of when I've done / said xyz?" In this way, on the one hand the opponent must concretize his generalization (which he is not prepared for most of the time), on the other hand you have more time to think about a suitable counter-attack.
- Ignore tactics: To be silent is often more annoying to the attacker than answering a provocation. You spare your nerves and energy, the opponent leaves sooner or later from you.
- Empathy tactics: Behind snappy remarks from colleagues is often a private reason. Thus, in addition to envy and private stress burden the interlocutor, so that his vicious-looking behavior is only a subconscious call for help. Here it helps to inquire carefully at times how the colleague is doing at the moment.
- Peace tactics: As hard as it may be, but to keep calm and not let annoyance over what is said, can reassure even the aggressive opponent of conversation. Staying sovereign and cool makes you feel more confident? and unsettles especially the opponent.
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