How to Be More Straightforward We prefer people who are ‘straightforward’: who are direct and unambiguous about their desires and characters. Becoming more so involves untangling the self-deceptions we constructed when we were young.

The more you talk, the greater your chance of shooting your credibility to pieces. Instead of doing most of the speaking, try to do more listening. Listening shows that you are teachable, and ...

Bird adds, “The more you assert yourself and practice communicating the more others will respect you, even if they don’t like or agree with what you have to say.” As painful as it might be for your subject to hear the truth, giving it to them straig