The Naked Truth Strategy

Because it is such a rarity in this day and age, direct, bold honesty can blow someone out of the water! When someone makes a nasty and hurtful comment to you, you have the option to tell her the “naked truth.” If you decide to use this strategy, you will definitely have thrown her off balance. No way was she expecting to hear how repulsive you think she was being when she said what she said to you.
Most likely, she will be intimidated by your direct honesty as you deliver the message to her in a projected and well-modulated tone, with an upright, heads-up posture. This is a perfect situation to illustrate how your daily verbal workouts can assist you in each of the strategies you choose to use. Incorporating good posture, direct facial contact, and a sonorous voice—techniques you learned about earlier in this blog—are essential if you want to be effective in getting your verbal message across to verbal abusers.
The Naked Truth Strategy often prevents verbal bombs from being hurled at you in the future. Your verbal adversary usually gains a newfound respect for you, because you have let her know in no uncertain terms that you are on to her verbal games and you will tolerate none of them. In essence, your self-respect—speaking up for yourself—made the verbal enemy have more respect for you as nwell.

Calm, Calculating, Questioning Strategy—Like Columbo

Remember the popular television series Columbo? Detective Columbo would calmly ask invasive questions in such a matter-of-fact, unassuming way that the criminal would unsuspectingly cooperate and answer his seemingly benign—but really quite calculated—questions. Then, of course, Columbo was able to solve the crime and save the day.
Just as Columbo caught his criminal by throwing him or her off balance, you too can use the same approach to throw your verbal opponent off balance.
If you use this technique, you must use a non-hostile, non-angry, unassuming tone. You will have more successful results if you take the following advice.
The purpose of this strategy is to ask someone a series of questions that require either a yes or no answer in a logical progression. It’s kind of like a courtroom lawyer who attempts to make an important point by having his witness respond to a succession of questions. In your case, however, you aren’t hostile.
In questioning, you have to begin by asking the most absurd question, which is guaranteed to elicit a no answer. Then keep going, asking less and less bizarre and over-the-top questions until the person gets the point.
Eventually, he is put in a corner and is forced to see how wrong he is. The “Talk Back!” section gives a clear example of what I’m talking about. The ignorant man who made a generalized racial slur did a complete turnaround in his thinking as a result of this strategy.