Coaching practices for Catch Judgment Before Speaking

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Catch Judgment Before Speaking, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • Halfway through what someone’s saying I’ve already finished their sentence in my head and I’m just waiting for my turn to talk
  • In the heat of an argument the sharpest possible words just fly out of my mouth before I can stop them, and an hour later I’m sick about what I said
  • Before I’ve even said a word, my mind is already running this harsh, contemptuous commentary about the person in front of me
  • I’m dreading this talk because I know they’re already thinking the worst of me
  • The instant something lands

Practices that may help

  1. Suspend judgment for one conversation
    Enter a conversation committing to not completing the other person’s thought or forming a response before they finish.
    Beginner's Mind (Shoshin), Made Practical
  2. The speech audit: THINK before you speak
    Before speaking in a charged moment, check whether the words are True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind.
    Ahimsa: Non-Violence as a Daily Practice
  3. Catching harm before it reaches speech
    Notice aggressive or condemning inner commentary and name it before it shapes what you say.
    Ahimsa: Non-Violence as a Daily Practice
  4. The accusation audit
    Pre-empt their worst objections by saying them out loud before they can.
    Tactical Empathy
  5. Train your faculty of assent
    Practice pausing between an impression (a thought, feeling, or perception) and your assent to it.
    The Inner Citadel
  6. Remember what you can’t see
    You’re reacting to a sliver of their behavior with no view of the pressures behind it.
    Generous Interpretation
  7. Check the story before you conclude
    Ask what they actually meant instead of convicting them on your interpretation.
    Generous Interpretation
  8. Apply the view to interrupt anger
    In the moment of anger, use the zoom-out as a circuit breaker before you speak or act.
    The View from Above
  9. The accusation audit
    Say the worst thing they might be thinking about you — out loud, first — to defuse it.
    Never Split the Difference, In Practice
  10. Self-empathy
    Apply the same observation-feeling-need process inward before you respond to anyone else.
    Nonviolent Communication (NVC), Made Practical

Related concerns

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