It’s tempting, if we have a point to put across, to be rather full-on about it; to give the other person “the benefit of our wisdom” in short order, in the hope perhaps that the very energy and pace of what we say will convince the other person we’re right.
The trouble is…
We all need time to think; and especially we need time to think in a challenging situation.
Otherwise we’ll just get defensive. That’s all we can do.
And so the other person in our scenario here, being no different, is likely to struggle to respond intelligently and unemotionally.
Instead…
It might suit our purpose and lead to a better outcome if we slow it all down a bit, maybe taking it one step at a time…
And give them (and us) time to think.