Home (Leave Private Section)  Links to Resources   Crowd Breakers   Help 

 Taming Our Tongues

The Incredible Power of the Tongue

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me."  Do you agree with that statement? Why or why not? 

“The tongue has the power of life and death…” (Solomon)

The power of words is immense. A well-chosen word has often sufficed to stop a fleeing army, to change defeat into victory, and to save an empire. (Emile DeGirardin)

How to Tame the Tongue

Don’t you hate it when…

1.  ...people say the wrong _______ at the wrong ________?

Management guru Peter Drucker claimed that 60 percent of all management problems result from faulty communications.

            Timely, well-crafted statements can touch lives! 

2. ...people respond from ________ rather than ________?

“Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.” (Solomon)

3. ...people talk about others behind their ________?

The assassin and the slanderer differ only in the weapon they use; with the one it is the dagger, with the other the tongue. The latter is worse than the former, for the first only kills the body, while the other murders the reputation. (Tyron Edwards)

''Speak ill of no man, but speak all the good you know of everybody.'' (Benjamin Franklin)

4. ...people ________?

When a person regularly lies, what affect does it have on them? (People don't trust them and hesitate to get close to them.)

5. ...people talk _____ _______?

 “Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue." (Solomon)

Rx for the Blabber Mouth:

a.  Become truly _________ in other people, not just getting other people interested in you.
b.  Practice the "_________".  Try to get others talking 2/3 of the time by asking open-ended (cannot be answered by a "yes" or "no") questions.
c. Have a friend give you a __________ (like a tap on the shoulder) when you're dominating the conversation. 

d.  Other ideas?

6. ...people will never ________ it when they are wrong?

7 . ...people talk incessantly about __________?

“Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips.” (Solomon)

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than in 2 years of trying to get other people interested in you." (Success Expert Dale Carnegie)

8. ...people dwell on the ___________?

9. ...people don't __________?

Action Points: 

1.

2.

3.

(Copyright August, 1997 by Legacy Educational Resources)