Nice Ways to Wrap Things Up

The technique reminded me of something I’d been taught by another reporter at the Journal-News. When somebody is screaming you mustn’t hang up on them because they’ll call your boss right back, and they’ll be much angrier. ‘Uh-huh,’ you say ‘uh-huh, uh-huh.’ Make sympathetic noises, and wait until they’re done with their tirade. Finally you start to talk to them calming, and as if you have a lot to say. Talk for about a minute and then in midsentence hang up on yourself. Half the time, they won’t call back. If they do call back, they’re going to be easier to deal with. Now they feel you’ve both been wrong. – Selling Ben Cheever by Ben Cheever

I had a high school cross country coach who would just talk forever without saying anything important. My friends and I would wait until there was a pause her speech and I would pretend that I was swinging my arms around until my hands connected and clapped. Then someone else would follow it with another clap or stand up. About half the time she unconsciously mistake take that emphasis for her own poignancy – like when a captain yells BREAK! before going out onto the field – and decide to end on the high note.

Written by Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of Trust Me, I’m Lying, The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego Is The Enemy, and other books about marketing, culture, and the human condition. His work has been translated into thirty languages and has appeared everywhere from the Columbia Journalism Review to Fast Company. His company, Brass Check, has advised companies such as Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as Grammy Award winning musicians and some of the biggest authors in the world. He lives in Austin, Texas.