
Explain what the person does that is acceptable and what is unacceptable. Character assassination is unnecessary there’s a difference between citing flaws and being snide. If you need to discuss whether to continue using a vendor or whether to keep an employee, negative comments might be appropriate. In a business setting, if you have the responsibility to provide your input on a decision, you should be timely and candid about your feelings. When someone rubs you the wrong way and you feel as if you’ll have a heart attack if you don’t vent, negative talk is almost always inevitable. These people can’t be stopped they are going to let their negative comments slip, and all you can do is prepare yourself for it and leave. These people are so competitive, they want the limelight so badly, that they can’t contain themselves, and they let little deadly comments drop here and there.


Some people say negative things in a sneaky way where you can’t always tell if they are talking trash. However, not all trash talk is so blatant. Say something like, “You know, she’s my friend and I would rather you didn’t talk about her like that.” This will stop the conversation and make these people think twice about talking trash in the future, and they will respect you for doing the right thing. If you hear a person talking negatively about a friend or team member of yours, you can easily stop it by approaching the trash talker. Part of building your reputation for positive talk means stopping trash talk when you hear it taking place. Unless you sequester yourself from other people, you’ll hear negative conversation. Then you won’t say anything you might regret later. When someone wants to lead you down the trash-talking road, change the subject to something completely neutral. Three kinds of minds exist in this world: small minds just talk about people medium minds talk about things but the great minds talk about ideas. You can say, “The weather is so nice today, don’t you agree?” Or, “You know what happened to me in the grocery store last night?” Now the conversation has a new direction. When you associate with these people, they will only try to get you involved.īefore you get sucked in to their trash-talking session, change the subject. You know who these people are they always have some kind of dirt on someone else. You can also avoid talking negatively by removing yourself from gossip groups. When you let a negative comment slip out of your mouth, think about the message you just sent out…is that the way you want to be perceived? Make a conscious commitment to diminish this type of behavior. But you can, if you choose, rise above these negative thoughts. So what can you do to stop the talk and to prevent yourself from joining? Consider the following situations:Īs part of the human condition, people periodically have negative thoughts and feelings about other people, such as their boss or their competitor. Worse, you won’t be able to respect yourself. They won’t respect you, and they won’t see you in a professional light. Whoever hears you talking negatively - your customers, prospects, co-workers, employees, etc.


You must avoid trash talk, because in the end, you’ll regret it. Why do people talk trash? They might feel inferior, they might have had an important mentor somewhere along the way who chose to trash his competition, or they might believe that trash talking is an appropriate way to advance their career.īut it isn’t appropriate, especially in business situations. It destroys trust and often comes back to haunt you. Regardless of how much trash people talk, it never has a positive outcome. Especially in business, some people always seem to have something negative to say about their competition, their co-workers or their clients. Sadly, “trash talk” is an inevitable part of life for far too many people.
